End Here (?)

So… fellow travellers… you have been on this long journey with me now for 3-ish years and nearly 140 reviews; often agreeing with me, sometimes not, and above all offering your own wonderful perspectives and passionate insights. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And not unlike Monty Python’s Knights of the Round Table, having arrived at the Gorge of Eternal Peril, there are three questions… no four questions… five… no six questions, that we must answer “ere the other side we see“. So I present the following as settlements of debt to the most important questions in New Order fandom.

But before I do, here’s how I feel about the whole damn thing…

New Order – whether it be Sumner / Hook / Morris, Sumner / Hook / Morris / Gilbert, Sumner / Hook / Morris / Cunningham, or Sumner / Morris / Gilbert / Cunningham / Chapman – have produced in no uncertain terms the most incredible music of the last 40 years. A unique vision: overcast themes arcing across sky-blue vistas of alternative electronic rock, forged in Manchester and exported to the world, connecting with the alternative-minded as well as the club-centric, the football fan and the artist, the boffin and the aesthete. I’m in there somewhere, as I expect are all of you! They scored a bullseye with my 1985-self and have never let go, and now the music of New Order is part of my soul.

Their journey has been astonishing: the genesis of Warsaw, the beauty and permanence of Joy Division, the rise (and fall) of Factory Records, the assimilation of New York and Düsseldorf, the rise (and fall) of The Haçienda, the modernity of Peter Saville, the revitalisation of Manchester, their top-class manager(s), BeMusic, Electronic, Revenge, The Other Two, Monaco, Bad Lieutenant, their lack of pretense, their tragic losses, their unholy messes, their remarkable resilience, and… last but not least… their astounding, magnificent music. For all of these reasons no other band can hold a candle to New Order. Not one.

 

NB: What follows is strictly in my honest opinion.

What are New Order’s best songs?

Here are my 5-star rated tracks in chronological order, with my personal top-10 highlighted. Many of them are life-changing. All of them are perfect.

• Ceremony
• Everything’s Gone Green
  
• Temptation
  
• Blue Monday
• Age Of Consent
  
• Your Silent Face
• Lonesome Tonight
• The Perfect Kiss
• This Time Of Night
• Elegia
  
• Bizarre Love Triangle
  
• All Day Long
  
• True Faith
• 1963
• Fine Time
  
• Round & Round
• Mr Disco
  
• Vanishing Point
• Regret
• Avalanche
• Crystal
• Waiting For The Sirens’ Call
• Morning Night And Day
• Turn
  
• Plastic
• Tutti Frutti
• People On The High Line
• Academic
• The Game

Best single: True Faith b/w 1963.

…if I were to pick just one all-time favourite it would be All Day Long. No… Your Silent Face. No… Temptation. Damn, don’t ask me that one, suffice to say if its epic then I’m there.

If you include those I rated at 4.5 stars, then add:

• In A Lonely Place
• Dreams Never End
• Procession
• The Village
• 5-8-6
• Ultraviolence
• Leave Me Alone
• Thieves Like Us
• Weirdo
• All The Way
• Dream Attack
• World In Motion
• Everyone Everywhere
• Special
• Here To Stay
• Krafty
• Restless
• Singularity

Combined, all of these tracks form one hell of a best-of list; so much so that I offer a corresponding Spotify play list for your convenience 🙂

Go on, give me your top-10 and see if you can pick just one.

What is New Order’s best album?

After crunching my review ratings various ways, I’ve arrived at the following album premiere league, and thankfully my heart agrees with my head:

1. Power Corruption & Lies
2. Technique
3. Music Complete
4. Low Life
5. Republic
6. Waiting For The Sirens’ Call
7. Brotherhood
8. Movement
9. Get Ready
10. Lost Sirens

You can choose to include Substance in the list (although its a compilation), in which case it reigns supreme.

Best live album: ∑(No,12k,Lg,17Mif) New Order + Liam Gillick: So it goes..

What are New Order’s best remixes?

• Academic (Mark Reeder’s Akademix)
• Bizarre Love Triangle (Richard X Remix Full Length)
• Blue Monday-95 (Hardfloor Mix)
• Confusion (Koma and Bones Version)
• Crystal (Lee Coombs Remix)
• Everything’s Gone Green (Martin Buttrich Remix)
• Fine Time (Silk Mix)
• The Game (Mark Reeder Spielt Mit Version)
• Guilt Is A Useless Emotion (Bill Hamel Vocal Mix)
• Krafty (DJ Dan Vocal Remix)
• People On the High Line (Hybrid Remix)
• People On the High Line (Planet Funk Remix)
• Plastic (Extended Mix)
• Regret (Fire Island Mix)
• Restless (RAC Mix)
• Round & Round (Twelve Inch Mix)
• Ruined In A Day (Reunited In A Day Remix)
• Singularity (JS Zeiter Remix)
• Spooky (Magimix)
• Temptation (Secret Machines Remix)
• True Dub
• True Faith (King Roc Mix)
• Tutti Frutti (Hallo Halo Remix)
• Tutti Frutti (Takkyu Ishino Remix)
• Waiting For The Siren’s Call (Planet Funk Remix)
• World (Brothers In Rhythm Mix)
• World In Motion (No Alla Violenza Mix)

What are New Order’s least-best songs?

Not including demos or the Xmas Flexi, and rated less than 2.5 stars: MTO and Rock The Shack. Move along… nothing to see here.

Best Artwork?

Best Gig?

Sydney Opera House 2016

Best Video Clip?

Regret

Best Autobiography (to date)?

Stephen’s

…at which point I feel the need to exercise some self control 

I very much welcome your feedback on all this, and thank you again for enduring my personal thoughts on New Order’s music. The response has been amazing – literally hundreds of thousands of visits over the years – so let’s hope there’s more to come, because I’m sure I’ll have more to say 😉

Cheers

Dennis Remmer
October 2019