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Fundamental (Pet Shop Boys album)

Fundamental
PetShopBoys Fundamental.jpg
Studio album by Pet Shop Boys
Released 22 May 2006
Recorded 2005, Sarm West Studios, London
Genre Synthpop, electronica, disco, dark wave
Length 48:39
50:26 (Fundamentalism)
Label Parlophone
Rhino (US)
Producer Trevor Horn and Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Battleship Potemkin
(2005)
Fundamental
(2006)
Concrete
(2006)
Singles from Fundamental
  1. "I'm with Stupid"
    Released: 8 May 2006
  2. "Minimal"
    Released: 24 July 2006
  3. "Numb"
    Released: 16 October 2006
  4. "Integral"
    Released: 8 October 2007
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5 stars
BBC (Favourable)
CANOE 4/5 stars
CBC (Favourable)
The Guardian 4/5 stars
The Independent 5/5 stars
Pitchfork Media (6.5/10)
Slant Magazine 4.5/5 stars
Robert Christgau (2-star Honorable Mention)
Q 4/5 stars
Yahoo! Music UK 3.5/5 stars

Fundamental is the ninth studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released in May 2006 in the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, and Canada, and was released in late June 2006 in the United States. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number five on 28 May 2006 (see 2006 in British music). In the US the album peaked at #150 selling 7,500 copies in its first week. As of April 2009 it had sold 46,000 copies in the US and 66,000 copies in the UK. Fundamental earned two Grammy nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards for Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Dance Recording with "I'm with Stupid".

The album was produced by the Pet Shop Boys and Trevor Horn and it features eleven new Pet Shop Boys compositions, and "Numb", written by Diane Warren (Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe originally planned to have "Numb" be one of two new tracks on PopArt, but opted instead for "Miracles" and "Flamboyant").

The liner notes show that the album is dedicated to two executed Iranian gay teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, who were hanged on 19 July 2005. Some reports have suggested the two may have been executed for engaging in homosexual behaviour, though the official Iranian report was that they were hanged for raping a 13-year-old boy. The album was very well received by critics, some considering it to be their best album since Very, but its sales failed to improve much on the underwhelming sales of their last two albums.

The album has been noted for being more political than any other of the duo's albums to date; even the title, in one sense, is a reference to religious fundamentalism — portrayed here in a light, critical manner, which singer Neil Tennant attributes to the relatively relaxed status of religious freedom in the United Kingdom.


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