― steve, Tuesday, 21 October 2003 23:03 (twenty years ago) link
It took a long time, but a few years ago I realized just how good "Run" really is.
― Kent Burt (lingereffect), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 01:25 (twenty years ago) link
I don't know if I told you, but I'm seeking sanctuaryYou'll never guess the things that I doI'll have the devil round for teaDon't you know that I'm here beside youCan't you see that I can't relaxWhen I saw you in my rearviewYou could've stopped me in my tracks
I'll be there for you when you want me toI'll stand by your side like I always doIn the dead of night it'll be alright'Cos I'll be there for you when you want me to
You can take me to an island, ride across the stormy seaWe can worship pagan idols, there together you and meWhy don't you run over here and rescue me?You can drive down in your carWhy don't we both take a ride and turn that keyWe'll drive at 60 miles an hour
they are the most banal, senseless and cringy lyrics ever. in fact i think bernard is one of the worst lyricists of all time. at least other amateurs can do 'dumb' and sound cool, but this is sub-oasis. actually, the more i think about it, new order get far too much kudos. they're old, boring and earnest. fuck em.
― paulhw (paulhw), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 01:57 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 02:01 (twenty years ago) link
― paulhw (paulhw), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 02:04 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 02:07 (twenty years ago) link
― paulhw (paulhw), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 02:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 03:06 (twenty years ago) link
― steve, Wednesday, 22 October 2003 03:14 (twenty years ago) link
― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 06:32 (twenty years ago) link
― Janne (Janne), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 06:58 (twenty years ago) link
The day before this record came out I had a very lucid dream that I was listening to it and it was the most fantastic thing I had ever heard. When I woke up I ran straight to the record shop to buy it and ran straight home again... and it WAS!
― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 07:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 12:09 (twenty years ago) link
― Alan (Alan), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 12:10 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 12:11 (twenty years ago) link
― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 12:13 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 12:14 (twenty years ago) link
bernard butler's favourite album of all time too.
other thoughts : http?//ilx.wh3rd.net/thread.php?msgid=1086897
― piscesboy, Wednesday, 22 October 2003 12:17 (twenty years ago) link
Technique is a great album, no question. probably their best whole album, in fact. it's consistently good all the way through. as to complaints about Bernard's questionable lyrical ability, i've argued before that with NO, it' s the whole package moreso than individual components. admittedly some lyrics do make me cringe (i think it's a B-side from one of the "60 MPH" singles that contains the line "you keep me feeling fresh; we're driving down that highway" which always makes me think it belongs in a commercial for feminine hygiene products), but for the most part, i don't see how they're torn apart so often and with such abandon. i wouldn't say they're brilliant, but that doesn't mean they don't work a good portion of the time.
and although i'd argue that it's technical perfection, i wouldn't say Technique is my favourite, because Low-Life is. despite the sinful truncation of "The Perfect Kiss" and "Elegia" edits which are onboard. and probably mostly because of "Face Up," which never fails to amuse me. mmm, Bernard sounding psychotically gleeful. :)
― janni (janni), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 18:56 (twenty years ago) link
― Neil FC (Neil FC), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 21:40 (twenty years ago) link
― Keith Watson (kmw), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 21:45 (twenty years ago) link
Took me a while to get into 60 MPH, honestly. Liked Crystal and Rock The Shack better, poss. due to Bobby Gillespie on backing vocal.
No doubt Technique is class. Rates second for me, as there isn't a dud song in the bunch.
― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 22:17 (twenty years ago) link
― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 22:45 (twenty years ago) link
MAYBE YOU CAN. Whenever I hit "The PErfect Kiss" or "Sub-Culture" on _Low-Life_, all I can think is "FOR FUCK'S SAKE WHY CAN'T THIS MAN CARRY A TUNE??????"
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 23 October 2003 02:20 (twenty years ago) link
but still.. one out of 60-75 aint bad.
― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Thursday, 23 October 2003 02:58 (twenty years ago) link
― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 23 October 2003 03:09 (twenty years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 23 October 2003 03:52 (twenty years ago) link
― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Thursday, 23 October 2003 06:18 (twenty years ago) link
The Other Two wrote the theme for a TV drama called"Making Out" (on telly 88ish based aroudn the workers in a small Manchester electronics factory) featuring Keith Allen as the boss. The theme was expanded upon and became... was it Vanishing Point. anyone better able to remember the theme and able to tally Technique trax with titles?
― Alan (Alan), Thursday, 23 October 2003 10:44 (twenty years ago) link
― Rob M (Rob M), Thursday, 23 October 2003 11:12 (twenty years ago) link
― Rob Wosley, Thursday, 23 October 2003 11:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 23 October 2003 12:18 (twenty years ago) link
I listened to what used to be side 2 of Technique yesterday, and it was very good but... I don't know. It is FUNNY and SAD at the same time. Back in the block party era I though Fine Time was great and everything else came a long way behind. I think I was right.
― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Thursday, 23 October 2003 12:26 (twenty years ago) link
― Alan (Alan), Thursday, 23 October 2003 12:34 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 23 October 2003 12:35 (twenty years ago) link
I've bought noth Technique and Low-Life in the past, but returned both due to finding them unsatisfactory to my ears, for whatever reason. Nonetheless, I'd count New Order as one of my favourite bands from the 1983-1991 era - is that so wrong?
― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Thursday, 23 October 2003 12:51 (twenty years ago) link
Also, "The Perfect Kiss" on _Substance_ is much more in tune vocally than the version on _Low-Life_. And don't get me started on the howling "OH HOW I CANNOT STAND THE THOUGHT OF YOU" nonsense.
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 23 October 2003 13:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Thursday, 23 October 2003 13:25 (twenty years ago) link
1) Anything could be a single! You can't really say that about any other NO album. All The Way, Love Less and Guilty Partner would have made grebt singles around 84/5, but are perhaps not so late 80's.
2) I keep expecting Neil Tennant to come in during Mr Disco.
3) They've never really done anything like Dream Attack. Almost beat-pop.
4) Barney's sunkissed semi-acoustic and acoustic guitaring is unexpected. And unexpectedly good.
5) Steve Morris's live drums are genius. Just the odd hi-hat lift here and the odd emphasis there to punctuate the motorik machine.
6) 'Parasites and literasites they'd burn me if they can' (!!!!)
7) 'It don't take no Houdini to tell me what I am' (!!!!!!)
As ever, the Barney critics are so off-the-money.
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 23 October 2003 14:24 (twenty years ago) link
This from a Cure fan?
― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 23 October 2003 15:40 (twenty years ago) link
― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 23 October 2003 15:46 (twenty years ago) link
Also, Robert howls in tune. Bernard does not.
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 23 October 2003 16:04 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 23 October 2003 16:11 (twenty years ago) link
and while it's definitely arguable that Barney and Robert definitely have some seriously out of tune warbling issues going on, their voices warble off tune in completely different ways to one another. well, most of the time. except for blatant, er, influenced-by moments such as "Sunrise" vs. "A Forest." ;)
(if we're going to get into whether various warblers are more on-key than others, i'd say as a whole Andy Mcluskey is a more on-key warbler, but then this gets into the question of whether we're looking at technical singing ability or effective vocalising...?)
(and, yanno, this also brings in one Stephen Patrick Morrissey, if we're going this far into the whole warbling thing. mostly an on-key warbler, but no range to speak of. him and Laetitia Sadier, i'm telling you...)
'tisn't a slight against any of them (whom i [mostly] all love), but just saying...
― janni (janni), Thursday, 23 October 2003 16:49 (twenty years ago) link
― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Thursday, 23 October 2003 20:31 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 23 October 2003 20:32 (twenty years ago) link
Some of the aptest comments on this thread have been about the splendid unity of the album, how it feels of a piece. Listened to it for the first time in a while last night and then again right now and that unity is if anything stronger with time -- and is perhaps further built upon by the album's brevity. I was honestly startled when I noticed that not even half an hour has passed by the start of the next to last song "Vanishing Point," something that honestly struck me and which I don't think I had ever noticed about the album before. In an era of CD bloat and constant complaints about 'only the hits being good,' the briskness is something which stands out all the more -- but even at the time it had to be something notable for its relentless focus.
It's hard to say that there's anything extraneous on the album as a result -- about the only thing I can actually think of that is is intentionally so, that cough and drone at the start of "Love Less," a 'mistake' or fillip that calls attention to itself by being there. Otherwise, the album is rigorously, almost maniacally precise, and though the comparison is not exact I am reminded of the particular precision of much modern day pop, where the beats and space and delivery is so tightly wound and cossetted to achieve an often brilliant perfection. Similarly Technique -- the 'rock' songs do not sprawl, there is no sloppiness, the 'solos' -- think the break on "All the Way" -- fit tightly within the songs, everything is a specific piece to the puzzle. The 'dance' songs similarly seem to draw on everything they had done before and increase the impact to a slippery, endless shifting that is so fantastically and frenetically effortless. "Round and Round" in particular -- after the stop-start-shift of "Fine Time," itself a razor-sharp exercise in element interacting with element and then spinning off from it at a right angle, this is even more insanely spot on. Listen to the difference in rhythms between verses and choruses, how Bernard has a ridiculously good anti-flow flow (and even a call and response with himself at one point, all the more striking for being the sole moment like it -- if it wasn't there it might never have been missed, now that it IS there it can't be ignored), and how nothing STOPS -- everything is pure fluidity at high speed. Compared to, say, the slow burn build of the extended "Perfect Kiss" or the triumphalist progression of "True Faith," this is spiralling choreography that gets more involved as it goes until it smashes into echo and dies.
The division between 'rock' and 'dance' is ultimately artificial though, thus the quotes. The fluidity of this album, how it does feel of a piece, lies in how easy the whole idea between switching from, say, live to synth drums and back again is, how sometimes synths are more prominent and sometimes the guitars are and sometimes it's all a specific balance and then it changes again. It's so ridiculously unforced.
Also, this album is so beautifully bright -- not without darker moments, the unnerving sense of threat and desperate clawing back in "Guilty Partner" led specifically by Peter Hook's bass, but something about it calls to mind the description I read once about eighties pop being an incarnation of the reflection of CD lasers bouncing off glittering cocaine. The high synth melody on the second verse of "Round and Round," the acoustic guitars Dr. C mentions above, the sweet rising/falling electronic chime on "Vanishing Point," much more. Combine that with the sense granted by the album's precision and one can imagine this as a high-flying instance of collage, like the album was never written and conceived as a series of songs in a 'classic' sense, however you wish to define classic.
And then of course there's "Run," their 'John Denver song' -- except John Denver never made me feel so perfectly on-point melancholy as that part Alan talks about way upthread where it all strips back to synth string and drums and then Steven Morris quickly switches to a louder but just as steady beat. Absolutely beautiful.
Quite possibly my favorite album of the eighties at least. One of the best ever for me, definitely.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 30 July 2004 17:44 (nineteen years ago) link
Forty minutes, nine singles. One of those great albums you can put on repeat and never feel it drag.
― coco, Friday, 30 July 2004 18:09 (nineteen years ago) link
in los angeles IIRC
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 29 May 2013 13:21 (ten years ago) link
I remember buying this on cassette from the local indie shop and not even realising it was released. To this day I still don't know if I got it early.
And then I proceeded to play it at least once a day for months.
― Culture Cub (I am using your worlds), Thursday, 30 May 2013 01:36 (ten years ago) link
Repurposing a post above in part, plus other stuff, and...
http://thequietus.com/articles/14359-new-order-technique-review
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 30 January 2014 15:37 (ten years ago) link
I have probably said this upthread somewhere, but this album coincided with the height of my New Order obsession (& drugs intake) and I even had a dalmation named Barney at this point and I used to sing "you got class, you got style, you got... SPOT technique!" at him.
(lovely dog but he was totally vicious and there was p much no one in the local scene he hadn't bitten, in the end)
Will read yr take when I'm on a laptop again, Ned.
― these birches is awful (Branwell Bell), Thursday, 30 January 2014 15:47 (ten years ago) link
Thanks. I figured loading in a specific bunch of SoCal context/content was the way to go to give this an anchor, especially for a UK-based publication.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 30 January 2014 15:53 (ten years ago) link
Very nice. Technique was the first NO album I ever got. I've heard the ones before it but haven't yet ventured past that point. But right now I feel like Technique was where they were able to at least minimize the band's weak points (the singing and the production) for long enough to make the classic album they'd always been capable of. I noticed the same thing as you, it is a surprisingly brisk listen - I don't think the album is too short by their standards (about 40 minutes isn't it?) but it does play very much like a "greatest hits".
― frogbs, Thursday, 30 January 2014 16:11 (ten years ago) link
I already new before I read Ned's piece that it was going to be one of my favourite pieces of writing about music ever, but it exceeded expectations and made me feel 25 years younger. Thanks!
― Rotating prince game (I am using your worlds), Thursday, 30 January 2014 16:51 (ten years ago) link
Well, thanks very kindly for that indeed!
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 30 January 2014 16:53 (ten years ago) link
It also made me realise that it was 25 years ago today that I walked into my local indie shop and saw it on the shelves, not realising it was out - in fact thinking it was out the following week - and buying it in cassette and taking it home to listen to on repeat. The following months I listened to it at least once daily, not really knowing anything about the band, trying to construct an idea if them from the Saville artwork and what I'd decoded from Substance. Every button was pushed. I wanted 12" singles for all 9 tracks. This music is in my DNA
― Rotating prince game (I am using your worlds), Thursday, 30 January 2014 17:28 (ten years ago) link
25 years.
*wibbles*
*gibbers*
*quakes*
*is unable to cope*
But yeah, I accidentally image-bombed myself with this, this morning, so I'm just going to leave this here and pretend we're both still that young.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/8b5fd149acfc8a058ddede50527868b1/tumblr_n06iv6oPkk1rjw8sqo1_1280.jpg
― these birches is awful (Branwell Bell), Thursday, 30 January 2014 18:55 (ten years ago) link
Turning point album for me. Personal Top 10 4eva.
― What is wrong with songs? Absolutely nothing. Songs are great. (DL), Thursday, 30 January 2014 18:56 (ten years ago) link
Then Play Long reaches New Order at long last: http://nobilliards.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/new-order-technique.html
― agincourtgirl, Sunday, 21 June 2015 17:00 (eight years ago) link
Loved that write up, thanks.
It also made me listen to Bummed again
― I am using your worlds, Monday, 22 June 2015 01:10 (eight years ago) link
Random New Order question that doesn't seem appropriate for any particular thread or worthy of creating its own so I'll use this one dedicated to this remarkable album.
Does anyone know who the person was who actually did the inscribing of hidden messages on the New Order vinyls in the 80's?
― yesca, Monday, 24 July 2017 01:15 (six years ago) link
I'm surprised, I must admit, that Sumner didn't write lyrics by himself before this album. Guess this explains why they're so much sharper here than usual.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 24 July 2017 01:22 (six years ago) link
Is this the one that seemed from ... self-medication?
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 24 July 2017 01:24 (six years ago) link
Every album was.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 24 July 2017 01:29 (six years ago) link
Maybe I'm thinking of "Republic?" There's one album where Sumner supposedly set a regiment of maybe ecstasy to help him break his lyric writer's block (which lol lyric's block with this guy), not recreationally but almost medicinally. Maybe it was the second Electronic record? I can't remember.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 24 July 2017 11:45 (six years ago) link
In the 1990s, he took part in some BBC documentary about the effect of Prozac on creativity. I remember him talking about how it cured his writer's block. Maybe that's what you're thinking of?
― Eyeball Kicks, Monday, 24 July 2017 12:01 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RDCHhULhN0
― Eyeball Kicks, Monday, 24 July 2017 12:02 (six years ago) link
The second Electronic album.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 24 July 2017 12:12 (six years ago) link
Aha, that's it! Technique was the divorce album. Love was the drug I was thinking of.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 24 July 2017 15:34 (six years ago) link
Raise the Pressure, by no means a masterpiece but under-rated I think, Forbidden City is lovely
― AndrĂ© Ryu (Neil S), Monday, 24 July 2017 15:37 (six years ago) link
That second Electronic album has some decent moments on it, but it's mostly dull, IMO - there's about 2 or 3 tracks I'd keep, but even then...
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Monday, 24 July 2017 16:00 (six years ago) link
I'd go as high as maybe 6 if you include some b-sides from that album, but Raise the Pressure is pretty poor overall. Bizarre that the vinyl is so expensive on the 2nd hand market.
― brotherlovesdub, Monday, 24 July 2017 21:59 (six years ago) link
I remember those Prozac articles. If anything they were harbingers of the often bland rock pop that was to come for New Order for ages.
― yesca, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 04:20 (six years ago) link
Here's the description from Peter Hook's New Order bio:
"The run-out groove messages were our way of tantalising the listener with a little puzzle or lyrics from the song that was coming next, inspired by Porky Prime Cuts, a mastering plant in London. Porky (George Peckham), a record cutting engineer, was famous for scratching little missives into the run-out groove of his mastered records".
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 21:18 (six years ago) link
Ha, yeah... I've got a lot of records that were mastered by Porky Peckham, they usually have 'A Porky Prime Cut' in the run-out groove. His cuts were top notch.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Wednesday, 26 July 2017 07:21 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrSL6f3NMmY
― Maresn3st, Tuesday, 22 March 2022 19:30 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ11hvuiHbQ
These guys could be brilliant live. They could also be dismal.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 23 March 2022 00:30 (two years ago) link
They could also be dismal.
The performance of "Run," for starters. I can't tell if the sound people mixed Hook's bass too high, or if Gilbert didn't know her guitar part. At best I'll say it's February and they're still getting to know the new material.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 23 March 2022 00:36 (two years ago) link
That was exactly what made me post that.
I think you're onto something with the idea of new material. I saw them in 85, touring for Low Life, pretty well into the tour. One of the three best shows I've ever seen. The next year, they came to town for Brotherhood. Fucking awful. I also think Barney in particular was/is very picky about the sound system.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 23 March 2022 00:38 (two years ago) link
the "run" performance" just sounds like a terrible mix, everything except the bass and vocals is drowned out
― ufo, Wednesday, 23 March 2022 01:17 (two years ago) link
And most of all...
Happy 35th.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 30 January 2024 16:25 (three months ago) link
Happy birthday to the greatest album ever recorded.
Annnd here's Ned's 30th anniversary piece published a decade ago: https://thequietus.com/articles/14359-new-order-technique-review
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 30 January 2024 17:33 (three months ago) link