New Order Albums (8)
'Waiting for the Sirens' Call'
Release Date 4/12/2005
Tracks 12
Label Warner Brothers
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
When New Order returned in 2001 with their first new record in eight years, the album they created (Get Ready) was given a great deal of leeway by fans (if not critics). Was it original? Not very. Although the band never recycled a riff, many of the songs recalled not just the band's salad days, but often specific performances from '80s touchstones Brotherhood or Low-life. What saved Get Ready from irrelevance was a brace of great songs, a new look at the band as capable rockers, and what's more, that uncanny ability to produce timeless, everfresh recordings. Almost as surprising as that comeback record was its quick follow-up, Waiting for the Sirens' Call, which followed two and a half years later. If New Order's ambition were only to reinforce themselves in their fans' imaginations as members of a working band (à la their contemporaries Echo & the Bunnymen or even Duran Duran, for that matter), then the album is a success. Unfortunately, however, the adjectives that need to be attached to this record -- workmanlike, customary, unembarrassing -- aren't going to make music fans flood the record stores seeking copies. Unaccustomed to needing another album's worth of material so soon, Bernard Sumner quickly showed the effects of writing drought, returning to old musical themes he'd visited (and revisited) before, and writing lyrics that make their 1993 single "Regret" a career classic in comparison. Titling a dramatic rocker "Dracula's Castle" may be perfectly acceptable, but then making explicit mention of that metaphor within a set of clumsy lyrics ("You came in the night and took my heart/to Dracula's castle, in the dark") is taking the easy way out, to say the least. The first single, "Krafty," makes the band's ties to Kraftwerk obvious, but while the German motorische experts manufactured cleverly simplistic productions, they never reached the rudimentary levels of this single. (And they surely knew better than making it sound like they meant it, as Sumner does, with the awful rhyme "But the world is a wonderful place/with mountains, lakes, and the human race.") Even the mainstream dance tracks, "Jetstream" and "Guilt Is a Useless Emotion," evince a cold heartlessness that the band never strayed into during the '80s. If New Order continues making albums every three years instead of every decade, critics will quickly begin to strain for new ways to describe Peter Hook's plangent bass work or Sumner's half-bemused, half-baffled songwriting and vocal delivery. Still, that's nothing compared to what New Order might be reduced to recycling. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Instead of settling down in front of the mixing board for another dance album (a lá Technique or Republic), New Order returned in 2001 with a sound and style they hadn't played with for over a decade. Unsurprisingly bored by the stale British club scene circa 2001, the band opened Get Ready with a statement of purpose, a trailer single ("Crystal") featuring a host of longtime New Order staples: a sublime melody, an inscrutable set of lyrics, a deft, ragged guitar line kicking in for the chorus, and Peter Hook's yearning bass guitar taking a near-solo role. Though there are several allowances for the electronic-dance form New Order helped develop, Get Ready is a very straight-ahead album, their first work in 15 years that's focused on songwriting and performance rather than grafted dance techniques. (Of course, the band proved themselves far more than studio hands at several points, stretching back over twenty years to Joy Division's landmark Unknown Pleasures, as well as later New Order LPs like 1985's Low-life and 1986's Brotherhood.) Listeners familiar with the blueprint of early New Order work will find much to love on Get Ready, from the tough rockers "60 Miles an Hour" and "Primitive Notion" to pastoral downtempo material like "Turn My Way," "Vicious Streak," and the melodica-driven closer "Run Wild." This naked songcraft, however, does reveal a few of the band's deficiencies. Bernard Summer's lyrics drift toward the inane: "I'll be there for you when you want me to/I'll stand by your side like I always do/In the dead of night it'll be alright/cuz I'll be there for you when you want me to." And the band can't help but identify with a younger generation of music-makers, inviting Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie over for "Rock the Shack" and turning in a dense, chaotic production that's all but de rigeur for Gillespie but very strained for New Order. (The other main collaborative track, with stranded Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, is surprisingly unembarassing.) Even for fans who don't need any convincing, Get Ready is a true "grower," an album that reveal its delicious secrets -- sublime songcraft, introverted delivery, collaborative musicianship -- slowly and only after several listens. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Pulling back slightly from the raw, dance-oriented Technique, New Order took a break for four years and then crafted another slice of prime guitar pop. In keeping with previous work, Republic simply borrows elements of contemporary innovations in club music to frame a set of effortlessly enjoyable alternative pop songs. As on Technique, the singles ("World," "Spooky") are the most danceable on the record, while lyrical concerns are among the most direct of the group's career, including "Ruined in a Day" and "Times Change," sure signs of the demise of Factory Records. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Tastes and sounds were changing quickly in the late '80s, which prompted New Order's most startling transformation yet -- from moody dance-rockers to, well, moody acid-house mavens. After the band booked a studio on the island hotspot of Ibiza, apparently not knowing that it was the center of the burgeoning house music craze, New Order's sure instincts for blending rock and contemporary dance resulted in another confident, superb LP. Technique was the group's most striking production job, with the single "Fine Time" proving a close runner-up to "Blue Monday" as the most extroverted dance track in the band's catalog. Opening the record, it was a portrait of a group unrecognizable from its origins, delivering lascivious and extroverted come-ons amid pounding beats. It appeared that dance had fully taken over from rock, with the guitars and bass only brought in for a quick solo or bridge. But while pure dance was the case for the singles "Fine Time" and "Round & Round," elsewhere New Order were still delivering some of the best alternative pop around, plaintive and affecting songs like "Run" (the third single), "Love Less," and "Dream Attack." Placed in the perfect position to deliver the definitive alternative take on house music, the band produced another classic record. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
New Order had been so good at integrating synth and guitars (often on the same song) that fans who greeted 1986's Brotherhood with the realization that it was split into a rock side and a dance side couldn't help but be a little disappointed. Still, the songs and the band's production had reached such a high level that the concept worked superbly, without calling undue attention to itself. The rock side comes first, revealing more of the emotional side of Bernard Sumner's singing and songwriting, even leading off with acoustic guitar for one song. But Brotherhood was also a little harder than what had come before; Sumner often sang with a come-on sort of brio, matching Peter Hook's seething work on the bass. The songwriting was excellent, and the album was delivered with great pacing, especially on the first four tracks -- sensuous and roiling for "Paradise," bright and emphatic on "Weirdo," reflective for "As It Is When It Was," then back to direct and upbeat on "Broken Promise." The synthesizer side was similarly assured, beginning with one of their brightest singles (and biggest transatlantic hits), "Bizarre Love Triangle." There was no dark side to Brotherhood, as there was with Low-life; after "Bizarre Love Triangle" came only the Middle Eastern fusion of "Angel Dust" and the simple, pastoral synth pop of "All Day Long" and "Every Little Counts." For better and worse, this was a New Order with nothing more to prove -- witness the tossed-off lyrics and giggles on "Every Little Counts" -- aside from continuing to make great music. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
New Order's third LP, Low-life, was, in every way, the artistic equal of their breakout, 1983's Power, Corruption & Lies. The point where the band's fusion of rock and electronics became seamless, it showed the bandmembers having it every way they wanted: heavily sequenced and synthesized, but with bravura work from Bernard Sumner's guitar and Peter Hook's plaintive, melodic bass; filled with hummable pop songs, but still experimental as far as how the productions were achieved. The melodica-led pop song "Love Vigilantes" was the opener, nearly identical as a standout first track to "Age of Consent" from Power, Corruption & Lies. Next was "The Perfect Kiss," one of the first major New Order singles to appear on an album. (The band being newly signed to Warner Bros. in the United States, it made perfect sense to include such a sublime piece of dance-pop on the LP.) Even as more and more synth-heavy groups like Eurythmics and Pet Shop Boys began approaching New Order's expertise with the proper care of electronics in pop music, the band still sounded like none other. "This Time of Night" and "Elegia" evoked the dark, nocturnal mood of the album's title and artwork, but none could call them mopey when they pushed as hard as they did on "Sunrise." Only "Sub-Culture," tucked in at the end, has the feel of a lost opportunity; remixed for a single release, it became much better. But there was no mistaking that New Order had reached a peak, experimenting with their sound and their style, but keeping every moment wrapped in an unmistakable humanness. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
'Power, Corruption and Lies'
Release Date 1/1/1982
Tracks 10
Label Qwest
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
A great leap forward from their funereal debut album, Power, Corruption & Lies cemented New Order's place as the most exciting dance-rock hybrid in music (and it didn't even include the massive "Blue Monday" single, released earlier that year). Confident and invigorating where Movement had sounded disconsolate and lost, the record simply pops with energy from the beginning "Age of Consent," an alternative pop song with only a smattering of synthesizers overlaying an assured Bernard Sumner, who took his best vocal turn yet. Unlike the hordes of synth pop acts then active, New Order experimented heavily with their synthesizers and sequencers. What's more, while most synth pop acts kept an eye on the charts when writing and recording, if New Order were looking anywhere (aside from within), it was the clubs -- "The Village" and "586" had most of the technological firepower of the mighty "Blue Monday." But whenever the electronics threatened to take over, Peter Hook's grubby basslines, Bernard Sumner's plaintive vocals, and Stephen Morris' point-perfect drum fills reintroduced the human element. Granted, they still had the will for moodiness; the second track was "We All Stand," over five minutes of dubbed-out melancholia. Aside from all the bright dance music and production on display, Power, Corruption & Lies also portrayed New Order's growing penchant for beauty: "Your Silent Face" is a sublime piece of electronic balladry. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Movement is the first hesitant step in the transition from Joy Division to New Order. Despite a relatively assured debut single ("Ceremony," which didn't even appear on the album), the first New Order album revealed a band apparently caught up in mourning for its former lead singer. (But of course, themes of loss and isolation were hardly novel for them.) Movement encompassed songs written just after the suicide of Ian Curtis, and it was recorded with alternating vocal spots to see whose would fit best -- although neither Peter Hook nor Bernard Sumner sounded worthy of the mantle. (At times, their hesitancy makes it sound as if they were recording guide vocals for a Joy Division LP, expecting Ian Curtis to come in later.) Despite the band's opaque lyrics, critics and fans were spotting references to Curtis all over the record, with despair and confusion reigning especially on "Senses" ("No reason ever was given") and "ICB" ("It's so far away, and it's closing in"). More so than on any Joy Division record, it also revealed a group unafraid to experiment relentlessly in the studio until it had emerged with something unique. Spurred on by producer Martin Hannett, despite his antagonistic relationship with the band (and perhaps, because of it), New Order produced a ghostly, brittle record, occasionally uptempo but never upbeat, with drum machines rattling and echoing over dark waves of synthesizers and Hook's basswork. A masterpiece in the career of any other post-punk band, Movement only paled in comparison to the band's later work. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
