>Also, I realize that our discussions center almost exclusively around
GUITAR 
>pop, but jesus, why didn't anyone tell me the Pet Shop Boys were so damn 
>good? Dance music or no, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe write some of the 
>catchiest songs. My current fascination began--oddly enough--in the grocery

>store, where I heard their new-ish single "Home and Dry". It's decidedly 
>adult contemporary and not a "dance" track at all, but it was so pleasant
and 
>catchy that I picked up cheap used copies of "Bilingual" and "Nightlife" as

>well as borrowed my roommate's copy of "Discography". 

Couldn't agree more with your assessment of the Pet Shop Boys.  In fact,
"Home And Dry" was nestled snugly within my top 5 songs of 2002...and each
of the other two albums you cited have had a track that ended up in my faves
of that year:  "Bilingual" had "Up Against It," and "Nightlife" had "In
Denial," which also made me re-assess Kylie Minogue before much of America
decided to follow suit.  (Anyone who can show on their resume that they've
worked with Nick Cave, the Pet Shop Boys, and Robbie Williams is okay in my
book.)  I think my all-time favorite album of theirs is still "Very," but,
at the same time, I don't think there's much in their oeuvre that I don't
listen to with some regularity...well, except perhaps the "Disco" albums.