Bilingual (Album)
Bilingual is the sixth studio album by the Pet Shop Boys. It appeared in the September 2, 1996 with Parlophone. It reached number 7 in Germany and in the UK # 4 on the charts.
Creation and reception
The pieces were mostly written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. The music of Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is) was created with the participation of Nego Do Barbalho, for It Always Comes as a Surprise a sample of Stan Getz was used. The recordings took place in New York and Moscow.
In 1997 a special edition was released with remixes on a bonus CD. The released in 2001, remastered version contains the bonus CD Further Listening 1995-1997 with alternate versions and unreleased songs.
The album has influences from Latin music. Neil Tennant described this as a reaction to the boom of Britpop and as an expression of his opinion that the Pet Shop Boys are an international band.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic awarded for Bilingual 3 of 5 stars. He described it as a multi-faceted, subtle and optimistic.