Reviewing New Order - Movement (1981)

I've given my views on Joy Division - now it's time to focus on the successor band, New Order. Every so often, you can expect a series of album reviews on their albums, starting with their debut and maybe going all the way to the present, with Music Complete.

Movement

Following Ian Curtis' death and Joy Division's dissolution, the three remaining members of the band - Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris, went on to set up New Order in 1980, with Gilian Gilbert joining the band shortly after that same year. After releasing the single Ceremony, initially intended as a Joy Division song, the band went on to record and release their debut album Movement in 1981. 

From the offset, the album has a different feel to the albums released by Joy Division. The angular, more poppy cover, is very unlike the artwork of Joy Division albums - Closer had a tomb on its cover - and you may expect Movement to sound more upbeat as a result. Compared to Closer, it certainly sounds less gloomy and anxious - though that's not a particularly difficult task.

Stylistically, it can still be recognised as an album recorded by Joy Division members. Everything from the music, lyrics and even vocals is reminiscent, and this is often seen as a flaw of Movement, but it doesn't really hold the album back.

Reviewing Movement track by track

The opener, Dreams Never End, is driven by Hook's bass and is a delightful song which is full of energy throughout - a standard rock affair which could have easily been a single if New Order released them that way (they preferred them to be outside of albums). Truth emphasises the electronic side of the band, brooding synthesisers building around and sometimes obscuring Sumner's vocals - however, it's more like something you'd hear off Closer than on the band's later dance-inspired hits, with the lyrics much the same (they're very different in style compared to what Sumner would be singing throughout the 80s).

Senses is surprisingly rather catchy whilst remaining sombre, crescendoing as the drums, bass and synths form a wail before abruptly ending, and Chosen Time's synths and drums are easy to dance to, reminding me of a gloomier version of a track from Lowlife, though barring some fleeting notes towards the end, the song largely stays the same - it's excellent, if not a bit samey. And that's Side 1, rather consistent and full of sound, unlike Closer's very sparse Side B. 

Side Two is opened by ICB and The Him, which are both songs about Ian Curtis - the former sombre, Hook, Sumner, Morris and Gilbert's playing accompanied by synth notes that float amongst the music, and immediately followed up by the latter, a brilliant track with Morris' paced drumming amongst yearning synths, which only become more resonant as the track concludes. It might just be the best track on the album, if not for the explosion of sound at the end. 

The album only builds in confidence as you get to Doubts Even Here, which is rather similar to The Him - this time, Hook is singing, accompanied by Gilbert, as the band crafts another powerful track, albeit not as spectacular as The Him. The closer, Denial, is different to the rest of the side, being not too dissimilar to Chosen Time, except sounding darker, with icy synths throughout alongside Sumner's vocals and Hook's prominent bass - and then it stops, and so does the album. 

Yes, the album may not be the best by the band, and yes, compared to Closer, it's not as good. But that's rather unfair on Movement - it's certainly a solid effort, with many songs which make the thirty-five minutes worth it. It is undeniable, however, that compared to the rest of their more upbeat output, Movement appears less like a New Order album than the cover would suggest. But the signs are there that the band wouldn't retread the paths that made up Unknown Pleasures and Closer.