This duo worked hard before this debut album broke through in the mid-1980s. Formed in 1981 after a chance meeting in a record shop, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe (the former an ex-Smash Hits journalist) made endless demos before their first version of "West End Girls" flopped in 1984. It wasn't till November 1985 that the song hit No.1, and only then after an early release of "Opportunities" fell flat too. Which explains the maturity and sly, camp ennui that infuses this record, from the title to Chris Lowe's occasional sardonic voiceovers. Tennant possesses a voice that is affecting because of its imperfections, which, heard at the start of their career, sound even more touching in his faltering falsetto. The music underlying Tennant's sad words is fantastic--hard, sleek synthesisers that revel in their lack of human input. --Charlie Porter