Yes (Pet Shop Boys album)

Yes (Pet Shop Boys album)
Yes is the tenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 18 March 2009 by Parlophone. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and was produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Xenomania also co-wrote three of the tracks. Guitarist Johnny Marr and string arranger Owen Pallett appear as well. "Love Etc." was released on 16 March 2009 as the album's lead single.
Background and release
Yes debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 27,639 copies, the duo's highest-placing album since Bilingual (1996). Early sales figures predicted that the album would enter at number one, but its release was beset by distribution problems and Yes proved unable to hold onto its midweek position. The download version erroneously went on sale through the iTunes Store three days before its official release date, rendering 2,500 sales ineligible for the chart, while, the following week, a number of suppliers of the physical album reported stock level problems.
The closing track "Legacy" was subject to censorship in China for political sensitivity reasons, as it contains the lyric "governments fall". The song was changed to an instrumental.
The album was released in multiple formats, including a digital version that included a 48-minute track-by-track commentary on the album, and an 11-disc vinyl version limited to 300 copies, with each disc containing a different album track on the first side and a corresponding instrumental version on the second. The double CD edition of the album incorporated a bonus disc titled Etc., which featured mostly instrumental dub mixes of six album tracks, as well as a new song called "This Used to Be the Future", which features guest vocals by Philip Oakey of the Human League. A standard, single-disc vinyl LP was also issued, but did not coincide with the international CD and download release.
Yes spawned three further singles. On 1 June 2009, "Did You See Me Coming?" was released worldwide on a number of physical and digital formats, backed with three new B-sides. A limited German-only "Beautiful People" CD and download followed in October. The five-track Christmas, Pet Shop Boys' first EP release, was released on 14 December 2009, with "All Over the World" acting as the principal radio promo and gaining a music video.
The album was nominated for Best Electronic/Dance Album at the 2010 Grammy Awards.
Yes was supported by a comprehensive world tour that stretched across 2009–2012. A recording of the tour made in London in December 2009 was released in a CD/DVD package on 15 February 2010 as Pandemonium.
Yes was re-released on 20 October 2017 (along with Elysium) as Yes/Further Listening 2008-2010. This reissue was digitally remastered and contained two bonus discs of B-sides, demos, remixes and rarities from the era.
Artwork
The album sleeve was designed by Mark Farrow and Pet Shop Boys. The tick on the cover consists of 11 coloured squares, each one representing a track. It was inspired by German artist Gerhard Richter (who is referenced in the album's opening track, "Love Etc."), specifically his 4900 exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery and the stained glass window in Cologne Cathedral.
The album's cover was nominated in the 2010 Brit Insurance Design Awards shortlist in the Graphics category.
Track listing
Personnel
Pet Shop Boys
Neil Tennant – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
Chris Lowe – keyboards, programming
Additional musicians
Tim Powell – keyboards, programming ; backing vocals
Fred Falke – keyboards, programming
Matt Gray – keyboards, programming
Brian Higgins – keyboards, programming ; backing vocals
Owen Parker – keyboards, programming ; guitar ; backing vocals
Sacha Collisson – keyboards, programming ; guitar
Xenomania – backing vocals
Andy Brown – brass arrangement, brass conducting ; London Metropolitan Orchestra conducting
London Metropolitan Orchestra – brass
Pete Gleadall – keyboards, programming
Kieran Jones – keyboards, programming ; guitar
Nick Coler – keyboards, programming ; guitar
Jason Resch – keyboards, programming ; guitar
Johnny Marr – guitar ; harmonica
Carla Marie Williams – backing vocals ; guest vocals
Jessie Malakouti – backing vocals
Alex Gardner – backing vocals
Owen Pallett – orchestral arrangement
Cathy Thompson – London Metropolitan Orchestra leader
Miranda Cooper – backing vocals
Mike Kearsey – brass
Steve Hamilton – brass
Mark Parnell – drums
Toby Scott – keyboards, programming
Technical
Brian Higgins – production
Xenomania – production
Jeremy Wheatley – mixing
Andy Dudman – London Metropolitan Orchestra recording
Dick Beetham – mastering
Artwork
Farrow – design, art direction
Pet Shop Boys – design, art direction
Alasdair McLellan – photography
Etc. bonus disc
Pet Shop Boys
Neil Tennant – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
Chris Lowe – keyboards, programming
Additional musicians
Philip Oakey – guest vocals
Pete Gleadall – keyboards, programming
Tim Powell – keyboards, programming
Technical
Brian Higgins – production
Xenomania – production
Jeremy Wheatley – mixing
Pet Shop Boys – remix
Xenomania – remix
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Release history
References
2009 albums
Albums produced by Xenomania
Parlophone albums
Pet Shop Boys albums