"Liberation" is a song by English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

duo

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

, released as the fourth single from their fifth studio album, '' Very'' (1993). It peaked at number 14 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, making it the lowest-charting single from ''Very'' in the United Kingdom. The single's B-side, "Decadence", featuring Pat O'Brien was on the ''Further Listening: 1992–1994'' re-release of ''Very'', and the B-sides compilation ''

Alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

''.

Critical reception

In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

wrote, "The single makes a strong showing, not least due to the fact that the gorgeous

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

is one of the best tracks from the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

. What gives it an extra boost is the innovating virtual reality video, currently touring the country in a roadshow whereby punters can climb into a booth and experience the state of the art computer graphics at first hand. Even the standard 2D version is a wonder to behold, whatever happens to the single it is surely a candidate for video of the year." Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated the song four out of five, naming it Pick of the Week. He commented, "Sleek and sophisticated in its original mix, expensive strings underscore

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and a ...

's typically mournful vocals. ..The fourth hit from the PSBs album ''Very'', and a big one." Mark Sutherland from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' also gave it four out of five, writing, "This is not the Pettoes at the absolute pinnacle of their powers, but "Liberation" still has more than enough going for it to merit mass swooning. ..This is a touchingly tender tinkle through an achingly sad song, with Neil's vocals at their very wispiest, so may I suggest a smart top hat and tails, in day-glo lilac with matching feather dusters. The song's absolutely marvellous, by the way." Jonathan Bernstein from '' Spin'' remarked its "sigh of surrender".

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song, directed by

Howard Greenhalgh Howard Douglas Greenhalgh (born 19 February 1963) is a British director of music videos and advertising. Biography Greenhalgh was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire and studied at the Royal College of Art, setting up the firm Why No ...

, is almost entirely CG, an early example of exclusively CG output. The only live-action footage the video features is Neil Tennant's face, seen singing on gold circles. Other features in the video are reminiscent of the duo, including several disembodied heads wearing tall pointy caps (like those seen in the video for "

Can You Forgive Her? ''Can You Forgive Her?'' is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in serial form in 1864 and 1865. It is the first of six novels in the Palliser series, also known as the Parliamentary Novels. The novel follows three parallel stories o ...

") and animated versions of the object on the cover, a 3D rendering of Neil and Chris's silhouettes. The video was used as part of '' CyberWorld'', an early 3D cinema demonstration, on

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

screens across the UK and elsewhere in 2000 and 2001.

Track listings

* UK and Australian CD1 # "Liberation" # "Decadence" # "Liberation" (E Smoove mix) # "Liberation" (E Smoove 7-inch edit) * UK and Australian CD2 # "Liberation" (Murk Deepstrumental mix) # "Liberation" (Oscar G's Dopeassdub mix) # "Young Offender" (Jam & Spoon Trip-o-Matic Fairy Tale mix) # "Decadence" (unplugged mix) * UK 7-inch and cassette single; European CD single # "Liberation" – 4:06 # "Decadence" – 3:55 * UK 2×12-inch single :A1. "Liberation" (E Smoove 7-inch edit) :B1. "Liberation" (Murk Deepstrumental mix) :B2. "Liberation" (Oscar G's Dopeassdub mix) :B3. "Liberation" (Murk dirty club mix) :C1. "Young Offender" (Jam & Spoon Trip-o-Matic Fairy Tale mix) :D1. "Young Offender" (Remix No 2)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1993 songs 1994 singles Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh Parlophone singles Pet Shop Boys songs Songs written by Chris Lowe Songs written by Neil Tennant