Customer Reviews

Retro

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

New Order's four-disc box set apparently ignited controversy before it was even released. When fans complained that the tracklisting didn't have enough rare tracks, the record label hastily assembled a fifth CD which is only available on limited-edition pressings. But even with the fifth disc, "Retro" still comes up short, and that's a shame because a band like New Order deserves a box set that does them justice. What's to like? The first disc, "Pop," compiles the band's hits, and it does the job admirably, featuring classics like "Blue Monday," the original version of "Temptation," "Bizarre Love Triangle," and "The Perfect Kiss." I was also pleasantly surprised to have also found "Brutal," which was previously available on the soundtrack to "The Beach." The CD titled "Club" is a fairly competent collection of remixes, the best of which is Jam and Spoon's hyperactive makeover of "Blue Monday," as well as the remixes of "Confusion" and "Shellshock." But "Retro" encounters problems on the disc "Fan," which is a randomly assembled set of album tracks. Most New Order fans already have these from the original albums, and to have them here again on this box set seems a bit pointless. The "Live" disc is also uneven. Some of the performances are really good ("Ceremony," "Everything's Gone Green," "Temptation,") while others are sloppily executed ("Fine Time," "World," "Regret"). The fifth disc (limited edition only) fares better, which has personal favorites such as the "Round and Round" b-side "Best and Marsh" and "Such a Good Thing." This CD also has a meandering, 17-minute version of "Elegia" for those who couldn't get enough of the edited album version. So is "Retro" worth a purchase? Well, that depends on who you are. Diehard fans may want to give it a whirl, but they should really try to get the version that has the fifth disc. But casual listeners are encouraged to get the band's individual albums instead. As a survey of New Order's history, "Retro" definitely has its moments, but it's also incomplete, inconsistent, and flawed. Proceed with caution.

With Substance, a two-disc collection of ace tracks and b-sides, and The Best of New Order still available for purchase, there's a sense that Retro is redundant. The band must have felt the same. So, to shake things up, they split the four discs thematically (Pop, Fan, Club, and Live), and gave each to a contemporary to sort out. Miranda Sawyer's Pop is the weakest set - not due to material (excellent, including the original version of "Temptation"), but because it's redolent of past collections. Still, her sequencing's inspired, emphasizing New Order's galvanic hooks. John McCready's Fan leans heavily on darker tunes, charting their progress from harrowing industrialism to an uncompromisingly grim but never hopeless dance rock. Mike Pickering's Club is a remixer's paradise. I'm not a fan of extended mixes, but these never lose the song amidst the sound effects. Laid back-to-back, they make a case for the art. The biggest surprise is Bobby Gillespie's Live disc because (a) I hate live records and (b) New Order have given the worst shows I've ever seen. On the evidence here, I must have caught them on very bad nights. Each track breathes life into their studio perfectionism, and the rough edges do them proud. As they should be: Retro is an abundance of riches.

Retro sports a nifty concept, but suffers from a combination of lousy timing and mediocre execution. New Order has a history of more than 20 years as a group (closer to 15 if one subtracts service time for the lengthy hiatus they took between 1993's Republic and 2001's Get Ready, during which time each member released albums as part of a side project), but it's one that is still growing, with the band currently in the studio recording new material. (A cynic might suggest that this material, too, shall one day appear on another box set.) One could make the claim that the box is meant as an introduction to the band for new fans, but wouldn't a one- or two-disc set serve equally well for this purpose? For that matter, wouldn't one of the other New Order compilations, such as 1987's Substance or 1994's Best of, cover most of the needed territory? (Perhaps in recognition of this, the band has also recently issued International, a career-spanning single-disc best-of that has been released in some countries.)

More disappointing to this lifelong fan is the song selection. A glance at the back cover of Retro suggests that the band has been pretty generous, with 57 tracks totaling nearly five hours of music. But then I began to scrutinize the titles, and saw that "Crystal," "Regret," and "Fine Time" appear in studio, remix, and live forms (especially bizarre in the case of the heavily-synthesized last track, which features live vocals, bass, a moment or two of guitar, and machines a-plenty - even knowing that I was at the 1989 show that it was recorded at fails to make me want to hear this "live" track again). A number of other songs, including "Ceremony," "Procession," "Blue Monday," "Confusion," "Temptation," "Everything's Gone Green," and "Bizarre Love Triangle" appear in two versions, leaving the actual song count somewhere around 40 - less than half the songs the band has released throughout their career.

The repetition is one thing, but the truly vexing aspect of this box is the dubiousness of the actual track selection. (If you're a big fan this is obvious at a glance; newbies, just be warned.)

There are some things this package gets right, especially the packaging - the booklet, though fairly short on text (oddly, the band comments on only 20 or so of Retro's songs), does showcase great photos of the band members and a few associates throughout the years, something you won't find on any of their albums save for Low-Life. And lest we forget this still is the music of New Order, nicely remastered, and in copious quantities.

New Order have a tremendous legacy, for their pioneering mixture of traditional rock instruments with electronics, for their alternating thematic continuation of and complete disavowal of their previous work as Joy Division, and the sheer volume of fabulous rock and dance songs that they've crafted. Unfortunately, Retro fails to adequately convey the band's greatness even as it lifts fifty bucks or more from the wallet.

New Order is one of the all time great bands - intellegent, original, and just downright cool. However this box set seems to have no real purpose. Only real fans will shell out the $50 bucks, but the diehards will have almost all the material already. I've been following NO/JD for over 20 years and anticipated rare unreleased tracks and new mixes. Instead most of the set is already in my (and probably everyone elses) collection. OK, the live CD is new and a couple of the mixes aren't elsewhere available, but the rest is Substance with a few of their more recent releases added on. I expected more from them.

New Order was one of the greatest and most influential bands to come out of the 80's, in a class with The Smiths, The Cure, Bauhaus/Love & Rockets, Depeche Mode and a handful of other masters. Strangely though they do not seem to enjoy the same level of respect and their legacy is somewhat lacking. You usually don't hear about their influence on today's bands, though you hear reference to Joy Division almost constantly (Radiohead, Interpol, etc.). Also compilations never seem to capture the essence of who they really were. I'm not sure if this set remedies any of those injustices.

The music contained is excellent for the most part. The "Pop" set does a great job, but if you have all the discs like I do then it offers very little. The "Fan" set is pretty strong to but I've burned myself mix discs that I prefer to this since they fit me better. The "Club" disc is questionable and I always found it strange that New Order was remixed so poorly in my opinion. Lots of electronic bands sound better remixed but most DJs, including myself back in the day, preferred to play the album versions for N.O. tracks; They were just better. The "Live" disc doesn't rekindle the magic of seeing them at their height. And if you want flawless, turbocharged performances that was never really their thing or even the point.

To be honest my friend bought this and I listened to it with the expectation of burning it. I ended up deciding that I didn't really need it at all; I would be interested however in a good DVD retrospective. If you like what you know of N.O. but don't own anything then this is essential, but for long-timers it doesn't warrant spending an additional $60 - The Cure's "Join the Dots" offers enough new stuff that even fans will need to buy it.

Finally I will end with what I think is the most telling fact about this set. Peter Hook and Bernand Sumner spent extensive personal time working with experts on the compilation of the Joy Division box set. They left this set entirely in the hands of others. Kind of shows you where their priorities were.

Four discs (five, if you were lucky enough to get the bonus CD which was packed in the initial release; thankfully, I have one) spanning a career steepled in synth, slashing guitar rhythms, and haunting vocals. I came to New Order with "Substance" and this renders the previous hits collections--"Substance," "The Best of," "The Rest of," and "International" (though this last has an excellent, hard-to-find version of "The Perfect Kiss")--inferior.
The discs are separated into Miranda Sawyer's "Pop" (what the band describes as "songs your grandmother can dance to"), John McCready's "Fan" (worth a listen solely on the strength of "Lonesome Tonight" and "Sunrise," though I am not too disappointed in the severely edited "Elegia," thanks to the bonus disc), Mike Pickering's "Club" (Shep Pettibone's extended mix of "Bizarre Love Triangle" is the standout, as is "1963"), and, finally, Bobby Gillespie's "Live" which features an out of place introduction by Alan Wise (I mean, it would have been nice to get a live track from the Finsbury Park concert) and a great cut of "Everything's Gone Green" as well as a live cut of "Temptation," which is great for a repeated listen as well as a chuckle at Bernard's "oooohing" during the track.
While this leaves out some items (sorry, but I'm tossing a nod to "Get Ready's" "Rock the Shack") and has a few repeats ("Temptation," "Bizarre Love Triangle") and a couple of tracks that no one really needs again ("Blue Monday" and "World in Motion," anyone?) it is well worth buying for both casual listener and hardcore fan alike.
The live tracks and mixes aren't all that rare, and if you look hard enough you can find them elsewhere, but to have everything in one neat little package is much, much easier, and this collection is both affordable and enjoyable. It's four different mix tapes spanning a career that has only improved with age. For that evidence, just pop in the Live disc and listen to the transformation from fledgling, uncertain rockers reeling over Ian Curtis's death to a seasoned, well-established, mature, focused band that has withstood the test of time and defined a generation of pop art.

Like most hardcore NO fans, I have most of the tracks in Retro, but I still bought the darn thing. ... For me, the fifth disk is probably the most interesting with more rarities than the other four disks. You get the original version of Elegia, the video mix of the Perfect Kiss, and the live version of Transmission from the 511 DVD. The fifth disk is just more enjoyable, so if you can get your hands on that, you can feel a bit more vindicated for buying such a bloated and redundant collection. Also, try to get the 511 DVD. It's the only Region One New Order DVD around that you may find somewhere in the States (your best bet: Canada or ...). Great concert from last year (2002).

I cannot express how happy I was when I put in Disc One and went to track 2 and listened to the original version of "Temptation" on CD here for the first time! I was bummed way back when Substance came out that they had re-recorded one of my favorite songs of all time and it just wasn't as good. I waited year after year in vain for them to release the original version on CD. Here it is at last! Also, we have the original version of "Confusion" as well as the song "Cries and Whispers" both enjoying their first time on CD. I'm such a fan that these alone would compel me to fork over my [$$] but you also get a couple of songs from soundtracks ("Brutal" and "Let's Go") as well as a live disc. Sure the sound of a lot of the live disc is but a step above bootleg quality but this is only because New Order never shelled out a lot of money for a live album so we have to take what we can get. The performances are quite good and the sound is pretty much the best quality live recordings of the band I've heard. I haven't even mentioned the Club disc and the bonus disc which are both great to have as well. Non-completists may turn up their noses at this but true New Order fanatics will love this treasure trove!

The one thing most reviewers arent' pointing out is how astonishing the sound on this box set is. Doesnt compare to the sound on their album cd's mastered at the dawn of cd time. If you love their music, have their music, you need this set because this box set breathes new life into the sonics. I'm hearing things I never heard before. 4 stars cause the live disc is not very good. Other three discs are fantastic.

Kudos to New Order for bringing this box out. It pretty much kept me occupied for the entire duration of a long road trip. Overall the third remix CD was my favorite. The 4 CD set did contain some cool mixes (e.g. the great mix of Confusion...which I only heard in the video version of the song), but some of them, such as Touched By The Hand of God was pretty much what I already heard in other New Order releases. I agree with the other review...the live CD was pretty [dull]. It sounded like it was recorded off of a tape recorder in someone's pocket. I got better quality sound from a video camcorder recording of my own band's live gig (in a dive bar...and not in a real venue!!). Overall it's a good get, but it's really for die-hard New Order fans only or for those of you who don't have Substance or the later New Order greatest hits CDs.