Customer Reviews

Power Corruption & Lies (2 CD Collector's Edition)

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The MUSIC on these New Order reissues get a 5/5, easily. However, there were far too many egregious mistakes made in the creation of the discs themselves to give them a pass. Only the first discs were re-mastered though they still have some problems, it is the bonus discs that are an absolute mess.

Warner Music/Rhino know about these problems, but there is yet no word on any forthcoming fixes. So I'd hold off until these issues are addressed.

Noted below are the specific problems with the PC&L reissue:

1, Age of consent
2, We all stand
3, The village
4, 586 ("abrupt ending", "drops the last 4 bass notes")
5, Your silent face
6, Ultraviolence
7, Ecstasy
8, Leave me alone

Power, Corruption and Lies - bonus disc:
1, Blue Monday (L/R pans 0:07[sudden], and between 0:19 and 2:24. At 2:24 it pans back again. Unconfirmed whether this is on the original 12 inch)
2, The Beach
3, Confusion - Clicks at 4:04 and 6:00 (Left channel click at 8:06)
4, Thieves like us
5, Lonesome Tonight (clicks at 0:40 and 0:59)
6, Murder - "Clicks" at 0:35, 1:08, 1:29, 1:43, 2:03, 2:31, 2:43, 2:50, 3:00, 3:19, 3:26
7, Thieves like us (instrumental) (click at 1:03 )
8, Confusion (instrumental)

Whenever someone complains that electronic music is totally void of warmth or realism, I just point to this album. New Order play electronic music with the urgent and manic shifts of rock. Bernards vocals are earnest yet detatched, with guitar work that is jagged, random and sparse; Gillian and Stephen's percussion and synth sequences are both lively and rigid, an up-beat/down-march; Peter's basslines are fluid yet kinetic. This is a work of ironic friction. The warmth and humanity flow thru the restrained and urgent detatchment. The whole album sounds like a friend that wants to say something but can't, hiding it behind his/her eyes.
I would consider Power, Corruption & Lies an artistic/pop masterpiece in the true sense. The electronic and post-punk meanderings are only the charms that envelope the wonderfully angular pop sense that Bernard brings to his lyrics. Everything is so vague and pretty; it's like the album cover...just a random slice of still-life, full of colour and restraint. Tracks like 'Your Silent Face' or '5-8-6' explode with edgy, manic shades of light, sorta like impressionism via expressionism.
You won't be let down by this album. With the band themselves producing it, it's a natural workout of rock and electronics, perfectly blended together to make a classic.

Who could listen to the opening riff of "Age of Consent" and not be hooked? My first hearing of that remains a high point of my encounters with pop culture. I agree with other reviewers who've said that the album in its original form without "Blue Monday" was "better"; it was, but I'm still glad to have it, since I'm not a perfectionist about keeping cultural artifacts in some pristine state.

This album is definitely in my top 10 of 1980s albums. I listened to it daily throughout 1983 and 1984. That said, I believe some clarification is in order.

The review just previous to this one incorrectly states that "The Village" was not on the original "Power, Corruption & Lies" that was released on vinyl in 1983. Actually, "The Village" was on the album, but "Blue Monday" backed with "The Beach" was a separate 12" single from around the same time. It was added when the album was released on CD a few years later. Unfortunately the record label thought it fitting to disrupt the original track order and "flow" of the album. These two songs should be listed as "bonus tracks" and be put at the end of the album, or maybe be left off altogether, since they are also on the "Substance" collection. What's more, Amazon didn't help by having their own review done by someone who was obviously unfamiliar with the original album.

Let me just clear something up: New Order are not, nor have they ever been, a new wave synth-pop band. Their music inspired a lot of it, yes, and their most famous songs ('Bizarre Love Triangle', 'Blue Monday') were synth pop but the timelessness, power, emotion and innovation of their music has them being recognized now as easily one of the most respected, influential and popular bands of all time. Too much to be lumped in with some trendy garbage of the era. Their albums are modern classics.

It's too bad the sleeve for this album lost its magic in translation to cd format. The vinyl version of this album is stunning.

The music catches them wanting to ditch the heavy, stylized gloom of their Joy Division work and 'Movement'. Yet, they hadn't fully committed to making flat-out pop music like on every subsequent release. So every song bubbles with the sound of a psychedelic post-punk band with subtle programming echoing the New York City hip-hop and electro at the time. The lyrics are borderline incomprehensible, but they work because against the odds they evoke strong emotions, more so then on any other New Order album. The music is still overwhelmingly sad and joyous at the same time, a New Order trademark.

There are two very different versions of this album. The U.S. Warner release includes 'Blue Monday' and 'The Beach'. My problem with this version is that after the song 'Leave Me Alone' the album should just end, it's a natural and beautiful ending for the album, instead it jumps into a bouncy 7-minute electro workout 'The Beach'. It's just wrong!

Well, I saw the new versions of the 5 Factory reissues of New Order's catalogue on London/Warner/Rhino at Boston's Newbury Comics...you can tell the new versions, as they don't have the clear slipcases, just shrinkwrapped with the stickers on front and back, and they include a second booklet with the contents of all 5 reissues...so to try it out, get my feet wet so to speak, I bought "Power, Corruption & Lies", as it has the 12"s of both "Blue Monday" and "Thieves Like Us", as well as "Age Of Consent" and "Your Silent Face".

Kept my fingers crossed.

The album sounds great.

Kept my fingers crossed again.

Popped on Disc 2, Track 1, "Blue Monday"...the verdict??? It sounds fantastic, the remastering, and most important??? NO ERRORS!!!!!!!!!!!! This should have happened back in November, 2008, but I guess better late than never, right??? The booklet's packaging is great, down to the fine details, the liner notes are great and a fun read, and the info booklet is great because you know what's in the other 4 reissues, what Factory releases they came from initially, and you can compare them with the boxset "Retro" and other titles you may have.

So I then just bought "Low Life"...same thing, all great, even though the discs are reversed, like the label on Disc 1 should have gone on Disc 2 and vice versa...anybody else have this problem??? No biggie.

Will be buying the other 3 in time, and the 3 Joy Division deluxes...but any word on when/if deluxes of New Order's other 3 albums will happen: that of 1993's "Republic" with "Regret", 2001's "Get Ready" and 2005's "Waiting For The Siren's Call"??? If not, I'll buy the regulars, but I need to know, thanks.

In time...it's a green light on this corrected "PC&L"...and "Low Life"...buy it!!

I have to admit I held off buying this after reading Paul "Slop"'s review Loaded with errors... but finding it at a discounted price recently, I decided I have to see for myself... and the verdict: Yes, he was right, it's bad. How can I not compare the New Order remastering to Depeche Mode's? Without doubt, the Depeche remasterings, all of them, are amazing, well worth re-purchasing them for the rich dynamic sound, blowing away the original masters, and the extras are awesome... New Order came about the same time as Depeche, Depeche is with Warner as is New Order... so what went wrong here??? Why didn't Hook or Sumner overlook the remasterings as The Edge has been doing for U2 recently? Bottom line: I am a huge fan of remastering, I love the clearer, richer sound, and this is the first time EVER that I say the remastering is maybe just a hair better than the original issue! And the bonus disc remastering is absolutely awful. I couldn't listen to it more than once.
THE MUSIC, HOWEVER, IS OUTSTANDING! I HOPE THEY REMASTER THE REMASTERS, PROPERLY.

This album sits inbetween the darker more reflective indie sound of Joy Division and the somewhat lighter dance sound of New Order, but in no way sounds like it is not sure where it stands. It is a confident sound from a group shaking off past ghosts and embracing a new direction. The standout track is Your Silent Face with it's lush orchestral synth arrangements and Bernard Sumner's deadpan vocal delivery. This track alone is worth the admission price. Despite their brilliance, I believe that the inclusion of Blue Monday and The Beach (ommitted from the original release) may detract the listener from the rest of the album. If you are buying this for these 2 tracks, do yourself a favour and program your cd player to run through without them, you will find that what you're left with is a stunning album.

Just purchased this on January 20, 2010, and received the 2008 mis-pressed edition. The 2009 fixed editions have been out since September 2009 but the original versions are still in circulation apparently. Buyer beware -

this is one of my favorite albums of all time. (look in my "so you'd like to..." lists to see what accompanies it if you want to). I'll tell you what about 1/2 of the other reviews already have, and that is that the original album didn't include "blue monday" or "the beach". it's true that the album does flow together more smoothly without them, but they aren't entirely unwelcome (though the last song really SHOULD be "leave me alone"; it's like adding something on after "some girls are bigger than others", know what i mean?) this is very moving music that never, ever feels smarmy. it's cold and detached while being warm and involving. i know that sounds impossable, but it's true. ok, yeah, as previously indicated, "age of consent", "the village", "your silent face", and "leave me alone" really are the best songs on the album, but the others aren't bad songs at all, it's just that these songs are so superb. these songs are all etheral stunners, and this album was the first masterpiece of the new genre.