I absolutely love Pet Shop Boys. They started out pretty much at the same time as Morrissey and have managed to have a prolific, dignified and an admirably consistent career over three decades now. Sure, some albums have been better than others, but even the weaker ones have their moments, and each era is consolidated with some great b-sides and stray tracks. Their cover art, live shows, the reissues with loooong interview booklets and extra tracks, the best ever fan club magazine Literally (nowadays Annually)... Everything they do shows the care and intelligence placed in every aspect of their career.
In 2006 I interviewed Neil and after the interview he asked me what I thought about the new Morrissey record (Ringleader). I asked him why he asked me that, and he said that I seemed just like somebody who would be interested in Morrissey. Apparently Chris liked the album a lot, Neil was still sitting on the fence about it.