Disco 3 is the third remix album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 3 February 2003 by Parlophone. The album consists of five remixes of songs and B-sides from their previous album, Release; three new tracks; a new recording of "Positive Role Model" from their 2001 musical Closer to Heaven; and a cover version of "Try It (I'm in Love with a Married Man)", originally by Oh Romeo, the band of former Pet Shop Boys producer Bobby Orlando. Disco 3 reached number one on Billboard magazine's Top Electronic Albums chart in the US.
Background and compilation
Disco 3 was the third in a series of remix albums of that name. The duo originally chose the title London/Berlin for the album, but cover photographer Wolfgang Tillmans suggested they use the Disco name to make the theme clear.
The dance-focused remix album followed within a year of the downbeat, guitar-driven Release (2002), which had received a muted response from some critics and fans; Neil Tennant called the decision "damage limitation mode". Several of the songs appearing on Disco 3 had been written in the three-year period leading up to Release, "Positive Role Model" also appeared as a B-side on the Germany-only single of "London" in 2002. The cover "Try It (I'm in Love with a Married Man)" and Pet Shop Boys' own "If Looks Could Kill" both originated in 1983 and had been debuted by the duo during a 2002 Peel Session.
Release
Disco 3 was released by Parlophone on LP, cassette, and CD on 3 February 2003. It debuted at number 36 on the UK Albums Chart
In the United States, the album came out the next day, 4 February, on the Sanctuary Records label. It entered the Billboard 200 at 188,
The album cover photo (pictured) was taken by Wolfgang Tillmans, depicting the London skyline at night.
| rev2 = Drowned in Sound
| rev2score = 8/10
| rev3 = NME
| rev3score =
| rev4 = PlayLouder
| rev4score =
| rev5 = Release Magazine
| rev5score = 9/10
Niklas Forsberg of Release Magazine described Disco 3 as "One part remix album and one part kick-ass-new-dance tracks album ... a journey through realms of synthpop, techno and club ventures". David Medsker of the Chicago-based music website PopMatters noted that the word "disco" had a negative connotation in the US, unlike the UK, where Pet Shop Boys epitomised "thinking man's disco". Describing the state of dance music at the time as "sterile" and "homogenized", Medsker observed, "It is therefore very telling that for Disco 3, the Pet Shop Boys chose to put more emphasis on new material than to remix the new standards". He characterised "Positive Role Model" as "a sunny raver" and "Time on My Hands" as "one of the friskiest songs the Boys have done in ages, an icy slice of robotic synth pop the likes of which Gary Numan can only dream of making anymore"; whereas Felix Da Housecat's remix of "London", while "quite good" as a dance cut, "has absolutely nothing to do with the original song".
Several reviewers compared Disco 3 to its predecessor, Release. Iain Moffat of Playlouder wrote: "Now this is more like it. Not that 'Release' wasn't a great album — au contraire, it actually housed some of the sweetest songs to ever come with a Tennant/Lowe credit — but, unusually, the fact that they were embracing their more, shall we say, organic side just as the rest of the world was toppling into ever more sparkling electronic frippery suggested that perhaps their eyes had left the ball somewhat. Well, so much for that. 'Disco 3', as well as being a useful companion piece to its two predecessors, is a shameless bid to not only make up lost ground but also show their spiritual offspring exactly how it's done…"
Pet Shop Boys
- Neil Tennant
- Chris Lowe
Additional musicians
- Pete Gleadall – programming
- Chris Zippel – programming ; additional keyboards
- Christian Hayes – guitars
- Mark Refoy – guitars
- Robert Matt – Steinway piano
Technical
- Pet Shop Boys – production ; remix ; original production
- Bob Kraushaar – mixing, engineering
- Pete Gleadall – engineering ; mixing ; vocal recording
- Chris Zippel – production, engineering ; original production, original engineering ; mixing
- Florian Richter – mixing
- Kai Diener – mixing
- Felix da Housecat – remix, additional production
- Tom Stephan – remix, additional production
- Piet Blank – remix, additional production
- Jaspa Jones – remix, additional production
- Andy Kaufhold – remix, additional production
Artwork
- Scott King – sleeve art direction, design
- Wolfgang Tillmans – photography
Charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Chart performance for Disco 3
! scope="col"| Chart (2003)
! scope="col"| Peak<br/>position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 153
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)
| 17
|-
|-
! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)
| 59
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 196
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}