I think it still sounds overloaded and compressed. Miles away from the outstanding productions in the 80s/90s.

I waited long, maybe the album YES will be released with a better mastering than the original was on the CD versions. Further Listening also this LP come out and i am dissapointed. The album is overloaded yet/again, the bass is too rough, troubled, almost un-enjoyable on my lovely track "Did You See Me Coming?", same "distorted" like previously was on the album, on the singles or on promos. Anyway the release itself is fine, the print/artwork is very good, the output volume is very high. A must have - but 4/5.

The album remastering is better than original. More peaks, less compression. Little, but an improvement. Audibly almost no difference though. The packaging is absolute great: thick brochure and a 3 CD jewel case. The only criticism I would put into this is that, as it happens with the Further Listening series, the Bonuses always feature something I was not looking for: for example, there are silly short demos that can't be used even as a b-side and "Leaving", in its demo version, sounds just like the 2012 Leaving album version. So you may question Chris and Neil's picks on these tracks. I expected a lot the two great b-sides "The former enfant terrible" and "After the event" to be in this Further Listening set (after all, they were released in the "Did you see me coming" singles series), but it happens that Pet Shop Boys placed these tracks in the Fundamental reissue (just because they are older dated) - and I find no reason to acquire Fundamental because the original has a better mastering than the 2017 reissue. Solution: Format will be my choice to get those two b-sides because not only they are better remastered in Format, but the remastering is superior to Fundamental reissue and also superior to Did You See Me Coming singles. Another downer was that the incredible Dubs made in "Yes Etc", could be inserted here, but instead the band chose boring remixes and more demos into this. I will have to hunt down the Dubs myself by acquiring, "Yes Etc.", or supposedly re-acquiring the album and one duplicate track (This used to be the future). Indeed, Pet Shop Boys, "let's make lots of money".

I actually agree with you about the quality of some of the bonus tracks (part of why I have this digitally rather than physically), and also think the era's bonus tracks sound much better together (as they are on Format) rather than across the Release, Fundamental, Yes and Elysium reissues. All I was getting at is that the logic behind it makes sense. Of the new ones, I've physically picked up just Nightlife and Release (the latter of which is significantly better, and an amazing package overall). Fundamental and Elysium I didn't like as albums, so bonus tracks aren't really going to save those, though I'd maybe get them at cheaper bargain prices for completeness.

To each their own. I'm happy that you liked Further Listening Series.To me, to my taste, "Doomplings, doomplings" is just the bottom of the well. Pure trash.Where's that band who created "West End Girls" and "What Have I Done to Deseve this?"I'm sorry we have different opinions. But don't you mind. I sold my box and my crusade goes on.

A decent improvement over the 2009 pressing. The top end that was weirdly rounded off there, possibly because the master recording was so hot and compressed, has been reinstated, meaning details like the clicky hihat that drives Did You See Me Coming? are returned to the front of the mix. Whether this is down to more space in the new remaster or just a better cut I'm not sure, but it's the pressing the album deserves and was denied first time round. The artwork is identical to the original, down to the printed inside of the inner sleeve, so this is definitely the version to get.Edit: worth noting there are two differences in the actual mix, one on Love Etc. under the Gerhard Richter line, and one in the intro of Building A Wall that you'd probably call a glitch. But it's certainly not enough to negate the big improvement overall.

The strings on Beautiful People are much, much more prominent on this pressing to my ears. On the original issue, you can hardly realise how much orchestra is actually on this track. When I read the notes and they say it's actual strings recorded by Owen Pallett, I had a proper listen. Sounds great.

A frankly unexpected return to form. An album full of enthusiasm for pop, sounds and songwriting. Even adds a bunch of all-time classics to their immense list: Love etc, Pandemonium, The Way It Used To Be. The first side has a few less-than-perfect moments, but even when they play psb-by-numbers (Did You See My Coming?) it sounds like they're enjoying themselves. Building A Wall is pure genius: an up-song about dark societal tendencies (and incidentally my most played yes-track, according to iTunes). More Than A Dream is light but has a few inspired parts. King of Rome goes on for a bit and still is one of their most beautiful-sad-ballad tracks. Lastly, once you get over that infamous line in Legacy ("The carphone warehouse boy has been on the phone, he wants to upgrade the mobile you own"), it actually serves as a fitting – even if a tad overambitious – conclusion to an album that's on par with the best of their late 80's/early 90's works.

An absolute object of desire. A collectible. A musical jewel. Pet Shop Boys and Mark Farrow at their best. Music and Graphic / Industrial design.

Another fake home-made CD-R made by the usual Brazilian team. Maybe it was done using the MP3 files shared on the Internet recorded from the vinyls.

It is a shame folks down in Brazil do this.Are they trying to compete with Russia? They will never win. :-)

As you correctly say the frequency cut-off of the PCM tracks featured on this CD-R is 22.1 Khz (a proper CD audio).The person who encoded the tracks from the vinyl box-set did it into WAV and AIFF formats.Those original tracks sounded very rough because the vinyl noise could be heard.These files were shared for FREE and there are many people who have them.Some people took these files and they cleaned the sound.With these remastered files these people burned this CD-R.In the circles of serious Pet Shop Boys' collectors is very well-known this is a counterfeit copy.So far it does not exist the 'Yes' box-set on a CD.

Just take a look at the past. This "Yes" era has produced more than 6 Brazilian promotional CD-R's. That's just absurd. In 25 years of career there were only over 3 or 4 Brazilian promotional records (Drunk in 2000, Always on my mind (1987), Retrospective (1988)...) and now more than 6. And, of course, all of them recorded on printable CD-R's.I witnessed how another "Together (Remixes)" promotional CD-R was made 2 days after the MP3's, from the genuine UK copies, were shared on several sites on the internet.I'm sorry but I DON'T believe these CD-R's are genuine ones.I hope to warn people from here because these shameless people are making a lot of money with this business.

I just have checked the frequencies on this CD - it's up to 22 kHz, as it should be for a proper audio CD (MP3 files have a very sharp cut up to 19 kHz , depending on bitrate). Of course, its origin is not that very obvious, but it really can be a promo. My copy have a sharp silk-screened text/logos on non-playing side, not a blurry inkjet printing, so it's definitely not home-made.

Superb album by Pet Shop Boys. Could it be their greatest ever? A great statement for synth pop music! My favourites are the first two songs "Love Etc." and "All Over The World". "The Way It Used To Be" and "Did You See Me Coming?" are also great. Pure Excellence! Really happy cheesy music that will make you wanna sing, smile & dance. "All Over The World" includes house elements, but what a triumph. A huge crowd pleaser! Album rating: 5/5 I can't find any reason for Pet Shop Boys to retire...