No single, but a varied mini-album!

The Pet Shop Boys have "Winner" brought me with her latest single to do something that I had actually given up for years: buy music CDs. I partout not half-hearted mutilation of songs myself - often disguised under the euphemistic name "Remix" - can enjoy, I actually bought in recent years barely Single CD's because it simply did not seem to me sensible to buy songs I have already on an album of the artist. But in the case of "Winner" Single you can as a fan so do not say 'no': all three full B-Sides, remixes were not, the song donated - every respect! And it is this B-Sides are the curious linchpin of the CD: namely, they are all better than the actual music.

That now may sound exaggerated hard, and "Winner" is by no means a bad song. But honestly, one of banality not be surpassed chorus with the line "You're a winner / I'm a winner / Let's enjoy it all while it lasts" is admittedly even in the Olympic year is not acceptable, at least when one considers that Messrs Tennant & Lowe wrote in her long career already real masterpieces like "Being Boring". This banality and a certain stale aftertaste pull unfortunately through the whole song, so it can not be saved by a furious finale. A solid, of thematic pop song is "Winner" all, but not more. Average food and for many other artists certainly perfectly okay, but for PSB standards clearly too little. But there is still the B-Sides ...!

And there are absolutely in itself, wow. Let's go with a pop, disco and guitar-based track with bass sounds and an almost unpronounceable title: "A certain 'je ne sais quoi'." A real power number in which Neil Tennant puts almost unimagined emotions in his voice. From start to finish - and the latter reached the song after proud 5 minutes - this song is absolutely intoxicating. Described therein is a kind of global jet-setters, the seemingly all over the world is well received and is popular. Why? He has that certain something that you can not put into words - "A certain 'je ne sais quoi' 'Exactly! Be it in Moscow, Berlin, New York or Tehran, the sung wrong person everywhere in the High Society. The many names of towns in the verses and the French phrase in the chorus give the song then those same international flair, it needs to convey this issue authentic, made very intelligent. Overall, "A certain ..." a song that definitely has a-side potential and can appear just as well on an album or even himself would as a single. No typical B-Side!
However, a typical B-Side is for the next track, "The Way Through the Woods". This musical setting of a poem by Rudyard Kipling is highly experimental and seems almost mystical at, with its many superimposed sound tracks and effects in the background. Definitely not a song that you would ever hear on the radio, but that's not necessarily a negative. A jewel for fans, but that will certainly divide the minds and those PSB supporters who are more into more pop and "more direct" Songs is certainly not tear off the stool.
The last song of the CD is a very faithful cover version of the Bee Gees classic "I Started a Joke", intended as a tribute to the recently deceased Robin Gibb. That Neil Tennant's crystal-clear, high-pitched voice is made for a Bee Gees song to be understood - not least have the Pet Shop Boys here well waived to make a creative reinterpretation (such as their cover hit "Always on my mind" and "Go West"), but remained close to the original. Why even if the cover has just so, great sounds with no changes?

Overall, you get a lot here PSB for little money, and the (not-so-young) guys have managed to capture 4 very different songs on this single, making them almost like a "mini-album" acts and brings a lot of variety with them. Excellent!

For those who do not like to read long texts, there's still out my review of each song in the overview:

- Winner: 6.5 / 10
- A certain 'je ne sais quoi': 9.5 / 10
- The Way Through the Woods: 8/10
- I started a joke: 8.5 / 10