Elysium received generally positive reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average score of 67, based on 20 reviews. Simon Price of
The Independent on Sunday wrote, "If
Elysium has a weakness, it is the absolute absence of thumping
disco-pop monsters. Once you accept that, and surrender to the tranquil beauty of
Chris Lowe's synth textures, you quickly realise that
Neil Tennant is on top lyrical form".
Robert Christgau of
MSN Music quipped that although the album "may well seem too restrained", the duo are "at peace with the fate of their fame and their retirement accounts. And the understated beats suit their elysian equanimity." Kevin Ritchie of
Now described the album as one of the duo's "most serene and sonically consistent efforts to date", adding that the song "Hold On" "exemplifies why
Elysium is one of the year's most beautiful pop albums."
Drowned in Sounds Jon Clark viewed the album as "a cohesive and strong effort that can stand up with some of [the duo's] best", calling it "a wise and knowing homage to the life of a pop star".
BBC Music's Nick Levine commented that although
Elysium "isn't quite a top-drawer Pets album like 1988's
Introspective or 1993's
Very", it "could be Pet Shop Boys' warmest, wisest album yet." Owen Myers of
NME characterised the album as "a massive foamy middle-finger to retromania, running elegantly from jangly indie to kraut jabs". David Jeffries of
AllMusic referred to
Elysium as "an interesting, sour, and insider-aimed dispatch from backstage, interrupted by some big moments that sound entirely commissioned."
The Guardian critic Jude Rogers opined that half of the album "harks back to 1990's reflective masterpiece,
Behaviour, with songs about ageing [...] and escape [...] exerting poignant pulls", but the other half "feels bitter and flippant", concluding that producer Dawson "provides a light LA gloss, but not the heavenly direction the duo deserve." In a review for
The Observer, Phil Mongredien cited "Your Early Stuff" and "Ego Music" as highlights, while noting that "elsewhere [the duo are] on autopilot too often for this to be anything more than just another solid Pet Shop Boys album." Despite dubbing album opener "Leaving" "excellent",
musicOMH's Laurence Green felt that "the rest of the album never materialises in the way you'd quite hope it would." Green continued, "[I]f
Elysium is tainted by a slight tang of disappointment, it is a disappointment tempered in part by its recalling of
Behaviour."
Under the Radars Dan Lucas complimented keyboardist Lowe's work on the album, stating, "There may be no stand-out musical line that will live long in the memory, but even more naïve melodies such as 'Winner' constantly shift and change, never growing dull." However, he criticised singer Tennant, claiming his "vocal lines often struggle to fit the songs". Douglas Wolk of
Pitchfork wrote that "Tennant's mature gift as a lyricist is for sentimentality tempered by slyness, and he pulls that off a few times", but found that "[t]oo much of
Elysium [...] misplaces its subtlety." Andy Gill of
The Independent expressed that
Elysium is "bookended by two of the best songs the Pet Shop Boys have written in years ['Leaving' and 'Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin'], but flags badly in between", naming "Hold On" the worst song on the album. ==Commercial performance==