Brotherhood

1986 was a tough year for New Order. The Hacienda, their beloved nightclub interest in Manchester, was losing money hand over fist. They were obliged to keep gigging and releasing records in order to keep both Factory Records and the club afloat.

The musical climate was changing too: the synth revolution had began to lose momentum as the guitar backlash gathered steam, the Order's Mancunian contemporaries The Smiths sweeping all before them both commercially and critically.

Brotherhood's predecessor Low Life took a lot of beating and Brotherhood struggled slightly in its shadow but tracks like Paradise, with Barney's insistent chorus vocal, and the stunning Bizarre Love Triangle go a long way to ensure it's not seen as an also-ran album. Indeed, BLT is the only track they regularly do live from this album, although there are several other contenders.

The album is divided sharply between 'electronic' songs and 'acoustic' songs (their definitions at the time), As It Is When It Was being the highlight of the latter, with its minimal opening setting up for some fierce vocal menace later: "The streets are so empty at this time of night/I'd rather walk on my own by right..." sings Barney and you understand he's not a man to be trifled with.

Side two, the "electronic" side, features All Day Long, a song that dares to comment on child abuse and Angel Dust, a song about drug use (AD being a name for PCP), the two songs not being up to par writing-wise. As fas as I know they've never been played live.

Wrapping things up on the final track is Every Second Counts. With its slight resemblance to Lou Reed's classic NYC sleaze-fest Walk On The Wild Side (NO claim they had no idea it sounded similar although no-one believed them at the time, they being Reed/Velvets fans through and through!), the song builds and builds, Sumner cracking up at just how poor the lyric was he'd written for it, resulting in him giggling and muttering a few lines off-mike.

The construction of the song is impeccable, with Gillian Gilbert's sequencing superb throughout. The curtain comes down on the album as the notes merge into a giant drone, a huge wall of noise which is then curtailed by the sound of someone becoming irritated by the vast cacophany, violently removing the needle from the groove (good old days of vinyl!), quickly followed by a short burst of an ancient song...and that's your lot!

Between the career highs of Low Life and Technique, Brotherhood stands up as an underated album but is a solid document in any case.

Ps the cover design is from a flightcase panel.


Not the greatest New Order album...   February 8, 2003
Jason Parkes (Worcester, UK)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful

but one I love all the same.

Brotherhood came out in 1986, following the release of the patchy Shellshock & State of the Nation singles (& the second Peel Sessions ep). I don't think it's as great as Low Life, or career best Technique; it's probably more of a 3star album, but emotional attachments make me give it a higher rating.

It roughly breaks down as one side guitar-based & other side more synthetic- though opener Paradise is more electronic than rock. This is an odd song- certainly beating Depeche Mode & U2 to the blend of electronica & guitars both bands would be doing in a few years. It also seems to reference Dolly Parton's Jolene; the synth pulse & Hook's bass-sound make it a must.

The following four tracks are guitar-based, Weirdo is slightly lacklustre- not quite as poor as Bunnymen material of the following year but a definte example of Sumner's sometimes poor vocals. As it is When it Was reminds me of 1984's Lonesome Tonight, probably one of the most traditional NO-songs; when I heard this I was mortified- was this the great electronic band New Order? Broken Promise is a standout track, as the previous year's Sunrise it is the closest NO had come to the classic Joy Division sound. The final track from the guitar-side is Way of Life, which opens with Atmosphere/In a Lonely Place drums before breaking into something lighter (I think 1989's Guilty Partner does this much better).

The second side opens with Bizarre Love Triangle, which along with Thieves Like Us, True Faith & Temptation is one of the greatest NO-singles. It's a contender for one of the best pop songs ever, even the extended Shep Pettibone mix that sounds like Stevie Wonder's I Just Called to Say I Love You. There's a reason why Douglas Coupland namechecked this in Girlfriend in a Coma. All Day Long is probably the weakest track on the album, sounding like an OMD track from Junk Culture- an example of the sometimes pedestrian nature of New Order. Angel Dust is much better, a dirtier take on the territory of Confusion & Perfect Kiss- this sounds like electro filtered through Joy Division's Komakino. Great stuff. Final track Every Little Counts begins a little like Atmosphere, but has more in common with Lou Reed with it's couplet "I think you are a pig/you should be in a zoo" & some laughter- reminding you of NO's hilarious performance of Blue Monday on TOTP a few years before (Barney cracks up).

Pity that there are no bonus tracks- though State/Shame of the Nation was a major dud, perhaps 87's vintage True Faith, 1963 & Touched By the Hand of God (or Salvation! tracks like Skullcrusher & Let's Go) could have been added to this release. Certainly not the greatest album ever- Aha's Scoundrel Days & Depeche Mode's Black Celebration were much more electronic- but it does that Proustian thing, so is a must purchase.


A broken paradise for weirdos and such   November 8, 2000
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

It's not hard to see why 'Brotherhood' is New Order's most under-rated album, it being the follow up to the exhilarating 'Low-life' as well as the pre-cursor to 'Technique', both widely regarded as their best work to date. But this album simply cannot be ignored. Setting aside the classic 'Bizarre Love Triangle' (if such a thing can be done) standout tracks include 'Paradise', 'Broken Promise' and 'Every Little Counts'.As a whole the album tries to blend a mixture of their electronic sound with acoustic guitar, thereby laying the musical & lyrical foundations for what would later culminate in 'Technique'.An ambitious album by a band known for experimenting and exploring different musical landscapes, breaking new ground in the process.