Movement

whether the band are aware or not this album is an artwork, as much as PCL and Low Life. it captures losing a friend,
a singer, a world gone by. I came to this album retrospectively in '83 [as would be the want of the band], and it hooked me
in. I couldn't believe the band that created PCL made this stuff, they had worked hard at clearing their tracks.

Intensity gave way to optimism: time heals. NO became something new, something they do very well. a devotee to the band, both Brotherhood and Technique surprised me and that's creativity at work.

back to the tracks - everything makes up the whole, a whole that is as genuine as you could wish from any outfit. stand out tracks would be Dreams Never End, Chosen Time, and Denial for sheer drive, drive that gave NO weight which they never emulated. ICB, The Him, Doubts Even Here make you ponder the weight, the hope, the feeling.


Is it unique or not?....... I like it anyway.   July 16, 2004
A.S. Darkly (UK)
8 out of 13 found this review helpful

By no means do i think this album is bad, although i am a Joy Division fan. I can understand why New Order fans wouldn't rate this album compared to the rest of their albums as it is more like a Joy Division genre in SOME ways but not in others. Yes the album is quite dark, like Joy Division but, unlike the majority of Joy Division songs, it isn't as lively, its more relaxed and relaxing.

The use of a synthesiser is frequent and the drum beats are quite different to the majority of Joy Division songs - more like Japanese traditional drumming as they adopt a fast pace. I think the drum beat in Joy Division's Atrocity Exhibition can be likened most to the majority of drumming in this album. Guitar work is low beat, except in Dreams Never End and I.C.B where the riffs are both dominant and driving. Bernard Sumner does a brilliant job of taking over the vocals from Ian Curtis. He did obviously try and immitate I.C. in this album but who can blame him? It goes perfeCtly with the music and is a proven recipe for success.

Tracks that stand out particularly for me are firstly Dreams Never End which as has been said before, seems like a preaching of hope. I can't quite figure out what the band were trying to put across with this song (maybe nothing) as the rest of the songs are a lot less lively than it and i. As a listener of the album don't feel they needed hope as they were great instrumentalists anyway. Truth also stands out to me as a great track. It is quite eerie both musically and lyrically. The lyrics that Sumner constructed for this track are something that Ian Curtis would probably have thought up although its fairly safe to say Sumner just felt they kept a good atmosphere as a compliment to the music, rather than reflect his own life. Doubts Even Here also stands out to be good as does The Him, Senses and Chosen Time. They all follow the same suite - dark, soft and relaxing.

You can sit and listen to this album in a quite room and just simply loose yourself in it and thats a great quality in my books.

I don't think you can say New Order whole heartedly kept going with a Joy Division style in this album. There are hints of Joy Division in the vocals, lyrics and atmosphere of the album yet the album is different to Joy Division in the etiquette of the songs. A good way to describe this is I can't imagine Ian Curtis dancing on stage to the music in this album, it wouldn't quite suite him and certainly wouldn't suite a punk rock audience. Its hard to say who what type of music you'd have to like to like this album whole heartidly so i'll just say to anyone reading this - I recommend it to you.


band in transition   May 19, 2003
Charles Comer (Baltimore, Maryland)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

By now you know the story; death of I.C., birth of New Order, and all that. Yes, this is the first New Order album, but if you are seeking the New Order sound so familiar to most this is not where to look. However, if you are a devout Joy Division/Section 25/Crispy Ambulance fan as am I, I do believe you will love this record (as do I). Listen closely (or perhaps not that closely) and Ian Curtis is audible on several tracks. Barney is not bad at all at capturing the Curtis-type crooning. Also noteworthy is the fantastic intermingling of synth and guitar, here in inchoate form, later to become the quintesence of New Order. But make no mistake, this album is not a get-up and dance/feel-good/perfect kiss/Blue Monday affair. The fact is this album is fairly dark, and considering its history, captures the mood of the events that surround it. To this effect it is both brooding and mournful, and yet remotely hopeful and expectant. True, this might be a projection, but it is hard to take this album out of context.


The ghost of Ian Curtis lived on in their souls   July 27, 2002
5 out of 8 found this review helpful

This has been unfairly treated as the band's worst album which I think would be more suited to their most recent album , Get Ready . Having said that I give it three stars for the fact that it is not an album that most New Order fans can take . If you were a fan of Joy Division and also New Order this would be essential although you do notice the flaws in the album . But then again I wonder how would I feel if I were in there shoes and Martin Hannett would be yelling to make the music " more helium like ".

There are times when you feel that Barney is scared when he sings as there is this nervousness in his voice signalling that if he didn't sound like Ian Curtis , Martin would possibly yell at him and add on effects to make him sound like Ian .

Overall this album is very good . Flawed yes but under those circumstances and also with Martin Hannett still shocked that Ian was gone and starting his own decline , it's little wonder that the end result came out as it did . But you have to applaud the guys for the work they did under the trauma they went through . But saying that , buy this album if you love Joy Division and wondered how they came through and survived to this day . If you cannot tolerate Joy Division , stick to the others - this maybe a bit too much doom and gloom for your liking


Not bad at all, a solid album   August 19, 2001
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I can't understand most of the criticism of this album by fans. I've been a fan of New Order for over 10 years and this album isn't their worst in my opinion. Their poorest effort would have to be 'Brotherhood'.

I believe the reasons for the doubts about this album stem from the fact that the band had just been forced into a new direction, they were unsure, stuck between staying the same for their fans in their JD days or moving on. The press expected too much as did fans. This was a band in transition and the shows that.

The dark mood and lyrics are still there but notice the beginning of a much more electronic sound. The signs are there for the future. Maybe the new electronic sound unsettled fans, that would be a reason for their criticism.

The opener 'Dreams Never End' is brilliant, a powerful backbeat with strong guitars.

There are moments where the band seem unsure of where to go and just add more atmospherics and guitars, but from a group in change I think this was a great effort.