Actually | ||||
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Studio album by Pet Shop Boys | ||||
Released | 7 September 1987 | |||
Recorded | 1986–1987 | |||
Studio | Sarm West Studios, Advision Studios, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 47:52 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Pet Shop Boys chronology | ||||
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Singles from Actually | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
Los Angeles Times | |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 |
The Village Voice | A− |
Actually (stylised as Pet Shop Boys, actually.) is the second album by English pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 7 September 1987 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and by EMI Manhattan in the United States and Canada. According to Neil Tennant and music historian Wayne Studer, the album is a loose critique of Thatcherism, the political zeitgeist of the 1980s, and had been recorded in anticipation of Margaret Thatcher's re-election.
Actually is featured in the 2005 musical reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and in 2006 Q magazine placed the album at No. 22 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s". In 2012 Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 88 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".
Actually was released on 7 September 1987 by record label Parlophone in the UK and EMI Manhattan in the United States and Canada. In TV commercials (in the UK, at least) for the release, Lowe and Tennant were shown in black tie, blank-faced against a white background. The former seems unimpressed by a radio DJ-style Alan 'Fluff' Freeman voiceover listing their previous hits and the new LP's singles, while the latter eventually 'gets bored' and yawns, with the image then freezing to create, roughly, the album's cover shot.
Actually spawned four UK Top 10 singles: the No. 1 lead-off single "It's a Sin", "Rent", "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" – a duet with fellow Parlophone artist Dusty Springfield which peaked at No. 2 in both the UK and US and led to a major resurgence of interest in Springfield's earlier work – and another UK No. 1 in April 1988 with a remixed version of the song "Heart".