New Order

09 FEB 81 Heaven Ultradisco - London, England 40
In A Lonely Place, Dreams Never End, ICB, Truth, Procession,
The Him, Senses, Ceremony

Soundcheck (25 minutes): Love Will Tear Us Apart, Walked In A Line,
No Love Lost, Digital, Decades, Atmosphere, Ceremony, Truth

New Order
Heaven

"Une femme est une femme, mais un Caporal est une cigarette?" -
R. Kipling.
Which is which? What is what? The doubt of the (un)expected prevails.
There seemed to be a certain hype about the whole situation, the
fact(ory) show more that New Order had deliberately left London out until last on
their handful of live dates - a punishment for living in the terminally
fashionable metropolis? But then again, with venues like Heaven who
cares? Heaven is. Heaven with it's comfortable bars, it's videos, it's
gentle and covivial atmosphere - perfect for a live band. My type of
place. Standing in Heaven my former fanaticism for this (that) group
was slowly replaced with a growing cynicism. What type of hype is this?
My type of hype - our type of hype, didn't we want/expect this?
A lonely band, faltering onwards, striving to find that right rhythm.
New Order were not obvious, but obsessive. The first number was an
aching and swirling song, 'In A Lonely Place', about memory, about
loss, about loneliness. Off the closer edge into new areas. An
unfamiliar, tearful sensation.
The comparisons are there, don't draw them - difficult.
New Order are Albrecht, Hook, Morris and his girlfriend Gillian, they
swap and switch instruments, they experiment and deviate. New Order are
growing, they are almost foetal at the moment. Playing through their
growing pains I feel they are not ready for this - the(ir) growing
pains are too strong. Shy and desperate they should be reviewed by the
fans - not/never the post-death sycophants. In their incubator stage
the sound was not quite right (not their sound, but the sound
that the PA emitted), there were frequent squeals of feedback and
Hook's bass lead seemed to be faulty. At one point Albrecht lay down
(in frustration?) as Hook fiddled with his bass amp to get the right
sound. Their sound is the right sound, will be the right sound.
New Order are not part of the tired old rock system - they are young,
don't predetermine their niche.
Hook and Albrecht share the vocals, Albrecht is dark(er), Hook is
harsh(er). They are both shy, their voices reflect their careful
approach to the problems facing them. The problems that face all of us
- of fear, of violence, of indirection, of inhibition, of failure...
of whatever it is rooted deep down inside you. Above all though, they
still have love. Instinctive and distinctive love.
Tact(ful/less). The New Order will be great/big/fabulous, they are
heading towards excitement in this new age.
As I left Heaven someone told me Bill Haley had died. The old order.
Throw away the past and follow your spirit.
CHRIS BURKHAM show less

Product Details

* Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
* Original Release Date: 1983
* Number of Discs: 1
* Label: Qwest / Wea
* Catalog Number: 25308
* ASIN: B000002L82
* Other Editions: Audio Cassette
* Average Customer Review: based on 57 reviews. (Write a review.)
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,188 in Music (See Top Sellers in Music)
Yesterday: #3,463 in Music

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1. Age Of Consent show more Listen Listen
2. We All Stand Listen Listen
3. The Village Listen Listen
4. 5 8 6 Listen Listen
5. Blue Monday Listen Listen
6. Your Silent Face Listen
7. Ultraviolence Listen
8. Ecstasy Listen
9. Leave Me Alone Listen
10. The Beach Listen
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Power, Corruption & Lies established New Order's identity separate from its previous incarnation as Joy Division. Containing "Blue Monday," one of the most sacredly important dance songs of all time, this album truly stands not only as New Order's most defining moment but perhaps as the most standard-setting moment in alternative dance. Yet as definitive as they may be, New Order have outsmarted any copycats. Owing in substantial part to Peter Hook's prominent and melodic bass lines, New Order's songs have always aspired to a complexity that maintains the band's timelessness. Rarely formulaic, New Order's songs are seldom overwhelmed by a four-on-the-floor throb. But interesting rhythms are just one facet of this musical diamond. Their foreboding, grim, and often just plain heartbreaking lyrics present a contradiction to most dance-pop songs, whose lyrics are almost always uplifting or even evangelical. With this album, New Order cut a path for themselves that was rarely, if ever, explored by other artists. --Beth Bessmer
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Pinnacle of World-Weary Dance-Pop, June 1, 2001
Reviewer: J. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
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.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
the perfect mix, November 19, 2003
Reviewer: Philippe Landry (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
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. show less

Product Details

* Actors: Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner, See more
* Directors: David Barnard
* Format: Color, Subtitled, NTSC
* Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
* Rated: NR (Not Rated)
* Studio: Rhino / Wea
* DVD Release Date: August 12, 2003
* Run Time: 132 minutes
* Average Customer Review: based on 15 reviews. (Write a review.)
* From IMDb: Quotes & Trivia
* ASIN: B0000AGQ3K
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,662 in DVD (See Top show more Sellers in DVD)
Yesterday: #13,352 in DVD

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Memory. Creation. Change., March 7, 2004
Reviewer: Tartan Cossack of Mercia (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
I saw part of this Reading concert on TV once and had wanted it ever since. When I found out that you also get a 1981 concert on the same DVD, I knew I HAD to own this immediately.

I think I must have been shown the best part of the 1998 concert (the part of the set from "Bizarre Love Triangle" to "Blue Monday"). And yes, they are undeniably great here. But viewing these two concerts back to back has given me a very different feeling. -- (Cue tacky sound bite from Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon": - "what you ha~d, and what you lost...")

The 1981 concert was held at a venue called the Ukrainian National Home in NYC. Its stage just happened to have a portrait of Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko hanging above it, so they took advantage of this rather bizarre combination by naming the concert after him. The concert begins with some overly-long shots of various posters in the lobby written in Ukrainian. (Ooh look, it's words written in Cyrillic!") I guess particularly in 1981 at the height of the Cold War they must have seemed quite exotic, but the shots dwell too long here, and combined with some cheesy early video effects, this is the only part of the concert that really looks dated to me.

The performance itself is pure brilliance from end to end. The band's sound still retains the dark intensity of Joy Division that I LOVE, and Sumner's voice seems to hold an echo of Ian Curtis. And on some songs we even get to see Gillian strap on a guitar and rock out with the boys. How I miss those days, and what a versatile performer! The moody lighting also enhances the magic of this concert.

Fast forward 17 years, and we have the now veteran group playing to a packed stadium. They are by no means bad here. The drumming is every bit as dead-on and inventive as 1981, and Gillian is great as always. So what is it that bothers me here?

Hook has grown crustier though the years, and with experience has developed a bravado for playing to the audience. But at the same time, I can't help feeling I detect a tinge of "rock star" to him completely absent from the 1981 concert, where the band was completely unpretentious and totally absorbed solely in the task of bringing their music to the people.

Sumner in particular seems to have changed his singing style over the years, and while it is perfect for their later hits, I had to cringe when they performed a few old Joy Division songs. While he could easily have pulled it off in 1981, Sumner's voice is just too sweet now, and I found myself wishing they had given Hook the vocals on these instead.

Sumner also seems to have picked up a habit of throwing random "whoops" into his songs, which he over-uses till it becomes annoying, especially on songs like "Touched By the Hand of God" and "Paradise", which I did not enjoy at all. And he has also acquired a habit of striking a typical "rock star" stance with right hand held aloft, which he again over-uses throughout the concert, making me long for the sparsely expressive and earnestly intense band of 1981, which seemed the diametric opposite of such stadium-rock posturing.

The absence of surround sound on the 1998 concert is missed, but I felt it did not affect my enjoyment enough to warrant taking off a star.

The band interview segment is interesting, but the sound level is too low, and combined with the band's accent (-- not to demean the way any of our British brothers and sisters speak, but --), made it difficult for me to understand at times. But thankfully Rhino has included optional subtitles here, and I found I understood about 50% more with them turned on.

Reading this review, people may mistakenly assume that I did not enjoy the 1998 concert. This is not true. I loved many songs, even including their much-maligned soccer stadium anthem "World in Motion" (--which I never even realized was a New Order song till I saw this concert, its sound being so different from what I think of as the N.O. sound). But perhaps it is fitting that the second concert ended with this song, as it truly brought home to me the distance they have come from their early roots. While I do indeed love their more recent dance-oriented songs, seeing the first concert really reminded me of how, --once upon a time--, they had been so, soooo infinitely much MORE than just a great dance band.

I am so thankful we have this precious record of their early days on the boldly risk-taking and experimental cutting edge available to us today. I hope that more concerts from the years between '81 and '98 will become available to us on DVD too (as well as their music videos and ANY Joy Division stuff, please~!!!). In the meantime, I'm going to go and check out "511" as well to see how they fared without Gillian. show less

A very good techno pop album. Regret is an especially good track. Every time I hear it, I want to dance.