Customer Reviews

Best Of New Order

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As a long time fan of New Order I would obviously recommend that you buy the individual albums in order to get a true feel to their music.If you like a few tracks then yeah a best of c.d. is also worth getting.This one is the newer of their 2 best of c.d.'s,but it is definitely NOT the one to get.It does have some postives-firstly it does include some tracks from their excellent "Republic" album,including "Regret" which is one of their best singles ever.One listen to Peter Hooks bass solo and you'll know what I mean.It also includes their track for the '90 World Cup,"World In Motion",which is probably the finest song written for football ever-okay the competition is pretty lousy,but still it's a good track.But the downside is considerable.Every other track has been tampered with in some way-so what you end up getting are songs that are way inferior to the originals.You'll see this as soon as you read the track listing-True Faith-'94-I mean why change,alter whatever such a great track.In fact the effects are minimal-but if you're familiar with the original you'll find them irritating.They are sort of like cheap effects to make this song more accessible to a cheesy dance market.This c.d. doesn't even include the original Blue Monday!Instead we get an inferior water-downed version from '88.Some songs should never be altered-I mean could you imagine them changing Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'?The other great tracks like "Perfect Kiss,Shell Shock,Bizarre Love Triangle" are edited so badly that it's like they've left out half the song.The originals were all pretty much over 6 minutes long-once again it's badly condensed to a wishy-washy 4/5 minutes.The great thing about these tracks was the way repeated musical patterns build and build into a thrilling climax-you get no sense of that whatsoever on this c.d.I love New Order-they have been one of the true interesting innovators of the last two decades.Sumner's disaffected vocals.Hooks thrilling bass lines,Gilberts brilliant synths way ahead of there time and of course all driven by the powerful drumming of Stephen Morris.I really doubt that the group themselves had much control over the way these tracks were butchered-if they did I don't know what they were thinking?If you are to get a best of c.d. by New Order then get "Substance"-it may be missing a few tracks but at least it's got the tracks in their original form!

Although a decent enough 'best of', this is patchy in comparison to the minimalist simplicity of 'Substance 1987'. Instead of simply compiling all the singles and b-sides from 1987 onwards (a process which would, admittedly, have resulted in a fairly short album), this is an odd overview of their career from 'Power, Corruption and Lies' onwards. It's nice to have 'World in Motion' on CD, and although fans might moan at the inclusion of remixed versions of 'True Faith', '1963' and 'Bizarre Love Triangle' the songs don't really suffer for it. On the other hand, it's criminal that either of the versions of 'Confusion' aren't on the CD, and quite why the excellent early singles 'Everything's Gone Green' or 'Temptation' have been omitted is a mystery. The ultra-obscure 'Murder' would have been nice to have, too. That said, it seems as if this compilation was intended as a way of introducing the group to non-fans, and as such it works very well - the songs from 'Technique' and 'Republic' haven't dated much, and sound fresh today. Furthermore, it must have been a way for London records to justify buying the group, as, after extricating them from the corpse of Factory records and releasing 'Republic', they promptly went on haitus.

The UK version has a slightly different track listing, omitting the first four songs from this US pressing. There's a companion-piece, 'The Rest of', which is fairly bad, and contains lots of undistinguished modern remixes of their old songs, most of which sound like totally new tracks.

Okay, it seems I need to help increase this compilation's popularity. I did not agree with many of the reviews I read about this CD. First of all, to the guy who said "Let's Go" should be taken off this collection...WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! "Let's Go" is my third favorite of all New Order songs eclipsed only by the sensational masterpieces "Bizarre Love Triangle" and "True Faith". And although I agree that this CD is missing many of the great dance themes and hit singles from Substance, such as "Perfect Kiss", "Temptation", and the true version of "Blue Monday", Substance is missing many awesome hits released on the two latter albums. What New Order collection is complete without "Regret", "Round and Round", and "Vanishing Point." In short, I think this is an awesome CD and it compliments, not replaces, Substance very nicely. I highly reccomend this CD, especially to people who are unfamiliar with New Order's work. I feel that this album is a great starter and that Substance should be experienced after you've become familiar with the band's sound and singles.

New Order is a rather mysterious band in many ways. It has pre-history and continuing influence by groups such as Kraftwerk, Eno and the Velvet Underground, and various other experimental electronic-based European groups. It also has a strong shadow cast over it from Joy Division, an ironic name for a group whose leader (also the founder of New Order) Ian Curtis committed suicide. Enigmatic to the last, New Order members (who drift in and out of other band arrangements; the latest perhaps being Bernard Sumner's work with Electronic) tend to be less than specific when talking with the press, and their albums are conspicuously devoid of liner notes.

This CD, entitled (the best of) New Order for once contains some liner notes, which alas are disjointed, following the same fuzzy logic of information as in the past. The introduction states: 'This carefully selected commercial compilation of 16 such single-minded grouped and seductive songs of love, longing, life and belongings surely sums up the heartpounding pop life of this devious, uncomplicated pop group, uncertainly the most secretive of English groups, certainly the most surprising.'

Alas, not all that enlightening. Perhaps, given my mystical bent of mind, this is one of the reason why I enjoy New Order so much. Their music in came to life for me in London in the 1980s, and I have followed them ever since. Songs such as Bizarre Love Triangle and True Faith have been international club hits, and continue to be regulars on the playlists. Other songs, such as Blue Monday and Round and Round, have had new life breathed into them as remakes (the trend of groups to remake their own work is more prominent in certain Euro-pop groups than in other musical varieties).

These songs have enigmatic but meaningful lyrics; these are intelligent lyrics -- poetry set to music, not simple statements set to a beat. The longing and regret expressed in songs such as Ruined in a Day and Regret, the hope and energy contained in songs like True Faith and World in Motion; these have real emotion with real substance, for those who listen behind the electronic overlay. Videos that were made in support of the songs are innovative creatively and visually, often displaying the same kinds of enigmatic symbolism as do their lyrics.

The music is intricate and detailed, full and expressive. This type of music was coming to an adolescent maturity in the 1980s, and more adult maturity in the 1990s, and this compilation shows the progression of style and complexity for New Order over that time. This is, however, very much a dance/pop oriented sound, and those who are not looking for such will most likely not enjoy this sound. New Order is a relatively obscure group in American terms; much better known in Europe and Britain, but still not a 'powerhouse' group (of course, they can't all be the Spice Girls, now, can they?). But, for the particular audience niche they crafted for themselves, they remain an integral part, and remain for me an important influence in my pop musical tastes.

Friends who peruse my CD collection often comment on the seeming contradiction between the choral/liturgical collection, the classical collection, and the pop collection, wondering how they fit together. Perhaps it is that each of these touches an emotion inside; each striking a different chord that sounds with a different tone, yet, just as the strings on a violin or guitar all must be different for music to be made, these differing tastes coexist so to add fullness to my life. New Order inspires such thinking in me. Odd for a song likely to be blaring over a disco floor!

this album doesn't even remotely do this band justice. The renditions of the songs they have selected are often weaker(i.e perfect kiss,blue monday,bizarre love triangle), because these are the radio versions, but no one is a buying the cd because they want the radio dammit, they want the best of new order. bottom line: great band, but this disc is waste of time. check out substance instead and wait patiently until someone actually compiles a real best of collection. Also note this album completely neglect power corruption, and lies, my favourite new order album and the turning point in their career.

I'm a college student, and I find that current pop music doesn't do it for me. In fact, most of my friends listen to music that dates from the 1960s to the early 90s. I love this CD, New Order is very easy to listen to and enjoy. You can even hear the foundations of modern day house music within some of the tracks. The melancholy tone of the lead singer is definitive of a lot of the pop in the 80s, yet he does not bore you. Although I do admit, you can tell that all the tracks have somewhat of a general way of being constructed; so I recommend listening to the 30 second snippets that Amazon provides to decided if you really want to buy it. However, if you want a CD that is somewhat definitive of 80s Brit Pop, and made a huge impact on the Pop scene, I would definitely recommend buying this. It's a great compilation of the music by New Order.

Some New Order fans dislike this disk as a "Best of" disk because of the track listing. Some New Order fans criticize it because it ommits some of New Order's early hits such as "Perfect Kiss" and "Confusion" and also for some the remixes on the album (such as Blue Monday '88, 1963, and Round & Round). But often I think these fans miss the point of this disk. New Order's "Best of" showcases New Order as a "pop" band and makes several New Order singles (Touched By the Hand of God, World In Motion, and Let's Go) that can not found on any of their albums assesable to the American audience. So what the record company has essentially done has made New Order a more "assesiable" band to the listener. Which in my opinion is a good thing. I often think that much of New Order's early material has a lot of rough edges, which may prove a little difficult for somebody getting in to the band.

Even though the disk does not compile all of New Order's hits, it does pack enough great New Order songs like "True Faith", which is a supposed remix version, but in my opinion is exactlly like the video version of the song which is a shortened version of the original song, "Love Vigilantes", "Regret" and England's number 1 charting World Cup song, "World In Motion". And also, the disk has a sense of chronology to it. Although "Let's Go" starts off the disk, which is not one of New Order's earlier songs. But "The Best of New Order" is still a great listen.

All tracks are classics in their own way a must have for any diehard New order fan as the track listing differs from the UK version. Gone are the tracks found on Substance and in come the opening tracks from new orders first 3 albums + Lets Go(Nothing for me) a barnstormer of a track which I believe is only available on here or on the Retro box set. All in all a fine add on to your collection.

Like everyone else who snatched up this cd the day it was released, I was very disappointed to find that every cut on the cd had in some way been re-arranged, badly. I found myself smiling at first, singing along with the lyrics, and suddenly noticed something wrong... There were verses left out, the songs had been shortened, and there were instrumental sections were where vocals had been.
I went through each cut on the cd, only to find this to be the case for EVERY SONG. It is true that I have always PREFERRED extended 12"s on vinyl- and originally thought that I was just "used to" the extended 12" versions of these cuts, and that was why I had so much trouble when I tried to listen to this cd, but after research, found this not to be the case.
I pulled out the original cd's, 12"s, and (Geez!)- even cassettes- and found that the cuts on this cd ARE NOT THE ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF THESE SONGS.
I have to give this cd 2 stars because a "BEST OF" cd should have original versions of the songs on it- not some chopped-up shortened mess.
Rather than buy this cd, get the original cds and NEVER LOAN THEM OUT TO ANYONE! For some reason, my New Order cds have walked off more than any other group.

This album leaves off too many hits to qualify as the Best of New Order. The 3 good tracks here "Blue Monday", "1963" and "True Faith" are all remixes that aren't as good as the originals. Why did they bother releasing this? Where's "Temptation"? Or "Ceremony", "Everything's Gone Green", "Confusion", or "State of the Nation"? And for shame for not including "Perfect Kiss", one of the best dance songs of the '80's. If you are a New Order fanatic and need all of their material, then I might suggest picking this up. Everyone else, don't waste your money. Go out and buy "Substance." It may cost a little more, but the quality of the material there is worth it.