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| “Elysium”
was released on September 2012 and it’s the eleventh studio album of the
Pet Shop Boys. The name of the album is a reference to ‘Elysian Park’,
near where they recorded the album in Los Angeles, but it's also a synonym
for the Elysian Fields, a conception of the afterlife in Greek mythology,
in the specific sense of the afterworld of the blessed. The implication
is that, somewhere in there, Pet Shop Boys slipped into the great beyond,
and Neil is now singing to us from the other side. |
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The
artwork, designed by Mark Farrow with photos by Gary Stillwell (cover)
and Ann Summa (PSB), is also a reference to ‘Elysium’, also know as
‘The Fortunate Islands’ or ‘Isles of the blessed’ located in the western
ocean at the end of the earth. A shot of ocean water reflecting a sunset
sky is used for the cover with a white square in the middle with the
album title and the name of the band, used in different sizes for the
CD and LP; both of them were issued in gatefold sleeves with spot varnish
on the images and included 12 tracks, and an extra vinyl is included
in the LP format with instrumental versions of all 12 tracks.
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| A LimitedEdition
Box Set of “Elysium” was released in UK, Europe and US featuring the regular
album and an extra CD with the instrumental versions, as the LP; each
CD comes in a cardboard sleeve, one with a purple square, one with a blue
square and a 12-page booklet with a light green square in front. The photo
on the cover show the sunset originally reflected on the ocean water of
the regular cover. The Japanese version of this box set comes with the
traditional Japanese Obi strip, a gold reflective sticker and includes
the bonus track “The way through the woods” as well as a second 46-page
booklet mostly in Japanese with lyrics, and interview and promotional
PSB material. |
