''Yes'' is the tenth studio album 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 on 18 March 2009 by

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and was produced by

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 2005. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 but as the 26th since 2013, includes Buffalo and N ...

and his production team

Xenomania Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenoman ...

. Xenomania also co-wrote three of the tracks. Guitarist

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

and string arranger

Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett (born September 7, 1979) is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their erstwhile moniker of Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album ''He Poos Clouds''. Pallet ...

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 The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

with first-week sales of 27,639 copies, the duo's highest-placing album since ''

Bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

'' (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 The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

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 Philip Oakey (born 2 October 1955) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and cofounder of British synth-pop band the Human League. Aside from the Human League, Oakey has enjoyed an e ...

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

. 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 Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

'', 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 The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards — a ceremony that was established in 1958 — to recording artists for quality albums in the dance music and electronica genres. Honors in several cate ...

at the

2010 Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Pe ...

. ''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 Elysium (, ), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields ( grc, Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, ''Ēlýsion pedíon'') or Elysian Plains, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philos ...

'') 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 Mark Farrow was named Designer of the Year in the Creative Review Peer Poll in 2004, voting him ‘the most important graphic designer working today’. His career began in the early 1980s designing experimental sleeves and posters for Factory Reco ...

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 Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary German ...

(who is referenced in the album's opening track, "Love Etc."), specifically his 4900 exhibition at the

Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, ...

and the stained glass window in

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of ...

. The album's cover was nominated in the 2010 Brit Insurance Design Awards shortlist in the Graphics category.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Yes''. Pet Shop Boys *

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 ...

– lead vocals ; keyboards, programming *

Chris Lowe Christopher Sean Lowe (born 4 October 1959) is an English musician, singer and songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Neil Tennant in 1981. Biography Lowe attended Arnold School, an independent ...

– 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 *

– guitar ; harmonica * Carla Marie Williams – backing vocals ; guest vocals *

Jessie Malakouti Jessie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jessie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jessie (surname), a list of people Arts and entertainment * ''Jessie'' (2011 TV series), a 2011–15 Disney Channel ...

– backing vocals * Alex Gardner – backing vocals *

– orchestral arrangement * Cathy Thompson – London Metropolitan Orchestra leader *

Miranda Cooper Miranda Eleanor De Fonbrune Cooper (born 1975) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and television presenter. Miranda Cooper has worked in the music industry since 1996 when she gained her first recording contract. She wor ...

– backing vocals * Mike Kearsey – brass * Steve Hamilton – brass * Mark Parnell – drums * Toby Scott – keyboards, programming Technical *

– production *

– production * Jeremy Wheatley – mixing * Andy Dudman – London Metropolitan Orchestra recording * Dick Beetham – mastering Artwork *

Farrow Farrow is a hypercorrected form of Ferror (''Farrar''), an occupational surname for a blacksmith or an ironworker, an old name of early Medieval English and French origin. The name derives from the Middle English and Old French terms "ferrer, ferr ...

– design, art direction *

– design, art direction * Alasdair McLellan – photography

''Etc.'' bonus disc

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the special edition of ''Yes''. Pet Shop Boys * Neil Tennant – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming * Chris Lowe – keyboards, programming Additional musicians *

– 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

{{Authority control 2009 albums Albums produced by Xenomania Parlophone albums Pet Shop Boys albums