A year ago, I wrote this in my Movement review:
Every so often, you can expect a series of album reviews on [New Order's] albums, starting with their debut and maybe going all the way to the present, with Music Complete.
And after yesterday's review, I have completed the full set.
I've listened to New Order for a while, but never got much further than Crystal from Get Ready. I was content with the first six albums, and regarded most of them as quite good. I even bought the first two albums on CD, with my mum gifting me Low-life and Brotherhood. The days after I bought Power, Corruption and Lies were spent repeatedly listening to it and loving every track.
I didn't get round to properly evaluating their discography before that first blogpost, of course. I didn't particularly enjoy reviewing albums, I didn't think I was too good at it, and to this day I largely hesitate looking back at them. However, they're out there for the public to read - whether they have is another question.
When reviewing New Order, it's easy to miss out on certain songs because they didn't initially release singles on albums. Some of their biggest hits (Blue Monday, True Faith, Ceremony, to name a few) never made it onto an album, unless you include the Substance compilation. On that note, I might one day go back and review it, simply because I can get through loads of singles whilst doing it, but that day won't be soon. I'd like to take a break from reviewing New Order, because I'm at a good place to stop.
And I suppose the important question is, which album is my favourite? After listening to all of them, it's probably Low-life, since it blends a post-punk sound with dance music so effortlessly. The high points are very high, and there are few low points, and they never released as beautiful a song like Elegia on any of their other albums (apart from maybe Avalanche). However, Republic is quite good as well - it sounds very fresh to this day, and the house sound that they adopted was one they never abandoned afterwards. It defines New Order the best, in my opinion.
The best track, meanwhile, has to be Sunrise from Low-life - it's brilliant. If every song they released was an option, however, Blue Monday would be a contender, not that there's a huge difference between the two. And for the curious ones, Jetstream is definitely my least favourite.
If you want to read more New Order reviews, you can read this blog - they have far more in depth reviews on every songs, even the Factory Christmas singles. I especially find it interesting when we disagree on our opinions of songs - I can't accept their dislike of Chemical, for instance. And the Transmissions podcast is quite good, too - they're up to Technique now, and are in the midst of a season.
I'll be waiting for the next album, then...
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