Fundamental (Pet Shop Boys album)

Fundamental is the ninth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released in May 2006 in the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan and Canada. It was released in late June 2006 in the United States. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number five on 28 May 2006. In the US the album peaked at number 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".

Fundamental
Studio album by
Pet Shop Boys
Released22 May 2006
Recorded2005
StudioSarm West (London)
Genre
Length48:39
50:26 (Fundamentalism)
LabelParlophone
Producer
  • Trevor Horn
  • 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
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Blender
Entertainment WeeklyB+
The Guardian
The Independent
NME6/10
Pitchfork Media6.5/10
Q
Robert Christgau
Slant Magazine

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 sales of their last two albums.

The album re-entered the UK Album Chart at number thirty-two in 2017 following the album's Further Listening 2005-2007 reissue.

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