Substance - New Order

Substance is a compilation of songs from the band New Order taken between 1980 and 1987. If you are not familiar with New Order, they were formed from the band Joy Division after the lead singer Ian Curtis took his own life. The members of the band include Bernard Sumner (Vocals, Guitar), Peter Hook (Bass Guitar), Steven Morris (Drums) and the Gillian Gilbert (Keyboard, Synthesizers). In my opinion it is very difficult to put New Order into a box and classify them by the music they play. New Order seems to be able to produce a variety of different types of music, some is very dance based, whereas some is more indie guitar based music. I personally think New ...  Read the complete review

This is still a great album from the band who rose out the ashes of Joy Division. Tracks such as "In a lonely place" have a deeply melanholic feel about them. Others such as "True Faith" are more upbeat in sound and the band developed a more dance orientated sound. Tracks such as "Bizarre Love Triangle" are a testimony to this. New Order developed a uinque sound and mixed tecnology with Peter Hook's distinctive Bass sound. This is a must for all New Order fans and would I think appeal to a younger audience as well. "Blue Monday" is a classic and will still be played in 20 years time. ...  Read the complete review

11/08/01 Update: If you've read this review before, you'll find that is hardly a significant update, but I just thought I'd revive it a tiny bit anyway. So apologies for my lack of reverence, I did write this back in the early dooyoo days when encumberment was a fashion! After the death of Mancunian legend; Joy Division singer/lyricist Ian Curtis, the remaining members of that band, plus an additional keyboardist (the drummer's girlfriend turned wife) formed a totally new band, that overtime would totally move away from their indie-punk blueprint and become one of the biggest UK band's of the 80's and pave a way for a niche between ...  Read the complete review

Whenever friends reflect on music of the 80's, one of the groups that I always talk about is New Order. Many people have heard New Order's tunes before but never bothered to learn who the band was behind the music. Substance is a collection of the band's best 12" singles from the first 6 years of their making music. The most recognisable song on the album is "Bizarre Love Triangle", a night-club anthem still played in clubs today. What I love most about Substance is that you can play the cd from start to finish without ever having to skip a song. The 80's music enthusiast will enjoy the performance made by Peter ...  Read the complete review