Bilingual is the sixth studio album released by the band. The album reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, lower than their previous five studio albums which had all reached the top three. It yielded five singles which all reached the UK top 20—all but one of which charted inside the top 10.
The band had previously experimented with Latin-style rhythms and this album is a continuation of that. Songs like 'Se A Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)' and 'It Always Comes As A Surprise' are good examples.
Personnel[]
Biliungual has the largest crew roster of any studio album up to this point. Guest musicians include She-Boom, mainstays Sylvia Mason-James, J. J. Belle, and Katie Kissoon. Johnny Marr plays guitar and the Choral Academy of Moscow is featured on two tracks.
Releases and Versions[]
Bilingual was released worldwide on CD, cassette and vinyl.
In 1997, a year after it's release, it was reissued as a 'special edition' with a second disc called 'Bilingual Remixed', including the extended mix of 'Somewhere', which was not featured on the album itself.
In 2001, the album was reissued again under the 'Further Listening' series with a second disc containing previously unreleased tracks and tracks not released on CD.
Track Listing[]
4:37
Discoteca
4:03
Metamorphosis
4:58
Electricity
4:00
Se A Vida É (That's The Way Life Is)Single Release
Mark Farrow once again took the reins for the visual design of the album. Photos were taken by Chris Heath, José Sea and Andy Earl.
Farrow had several different ideas for the CD presentation, including a rigid, curved opaque case and a sandblasted front. Both proved to costly for production. In the end, they settled for a screen printed dirty varnish on the jewel case which displayed the album title in knockout text. The 'PETSHOPBOYS' artist name was printed on the booklet's first page and showed through the letters where the plastic was not varnished.
The Special Edition 2CD release was housed in a slipcase.
