New Order

Substance (Reviewed by wavemeister and *lilith*):

New Order 'Substance' DCD, released by Factory/Rough Trade in 1987, Synthpop/Wave Rock
Tracklist:

CD1:
Ceremony (4.24)
Everything´s Gone Green (5.30)
Temptation (7.00)
Blue Monday (7.29)
Confusion (4.43)
Thieves Like Us (6.37)
Perfect Kiss (8.02)
Subculture (4.48)
Shellshock (6.29)
State Of The Nation (6.33)
Bizarre Love Triangle (6.45)
True Faith (5.55)

CD2:
In A Lonely Place (6.17)
Procession (4.28)
Mesh (3.26)
Hurt (6.59)
The Beach (7.19)
Confused Instrumental (7.39)
Lonesome Tonight (5.12)
Murder (3.56)
Thieves Like Us Instrumental (6.57)
Kiss Of Death (7.03)
Shame Of The Nation (7.55)
1963 (5.36)

After Ian Curtis´ suicide was the end for Joy Division, the remaining members decided to continue, with a name which suited like no second else to the situation and the mission: New Order.
The first single release 'Ceremony', a coverversion of Joy Division, was according to some sources "a farewell to Ian Curtis and Joy Division".

From the first releases on, the critics were in a seldom unanimosity positive on New Order, and in 1983, they released a single which is even today holding several records (chart durations, sales etc.): 'Blue Monday'. This single made them known all over the world, but they were successfully defending their roles as 'anti-superstars', since they went through all the fame without developing an attitude or having any 'scandals'.

Not only the music made New Order famous but also the very arty, tasteful and intelligent artwork for the sleeves like the cover for 'Blue Monday' which was cut in the shape of a 5.25"-disc. And for those who had always wondered about the strange rows and circles of colours on some releases...

Peter Saville was the inventor and designer of the colour encoded messages on Power Corruption & Lies. To clear things up a little, the colour wheel describes the
meaning of the coloured squares on (not only) "Power Corruption & Lies", (but also)
"Blue Monday" and "Confusion".
To decode the wheel, use only the outer two rings. You could divide the outer
two rings into full colour, various on green, and various on yellow. The inner
segments appear to be meaningless. Start with the full colour sections, the
first of which will be the green one... This is 'A'. Work your way clockwise
naming each colour the next letter. There are exactly 26 segments around the
disc. From 'Z' work back into the full colours, the first of which is '1'. This
means that the full green segment is either 'A' or '1', and the colour for 'I'
is also that for '9'.
You should be able to decode the squares now. Start with the 5 on the front of
Power Corruption & Lies, and you will find (if you have the vinyl) that the
first 4 squares spell 'FACT' then next square is divided into two, with the
lower half being '7' and the upper half being '5'. Therefore the code is
'FACT 75' which is the Factory number for this release. The code for the CD
front cover is 'FACD 75'.
Other codes for the various items having the coloured squares are:

Inner cover PC&L: 'Power Corruption And Lies New Order'

Blue Monday 12" Sleeve: 'FAC 73 Blue Monday And The Beach New Order'

Confusion Outer Sleeve: 'FAC 93'

'Substance' appeared in 1987 when New Order was successful again with their latest single, 'True Faith' (German Single Charts #8), featuring all 12"-releases from 'Ceremony' to 'True Faith'.
This DCD is showing the versatility and uniqueness of this band who were (and still are) the perfect interface between Rock and (Synth)Pop, unsurpassed and never imitated.
All the following compilations could never be compared to this one with the exception that those featured the later releases of New Order.

'Substance' is undoubtedly one of the most important compilations of the works of a single band in Pop History and definetly a must-buy.

Response to this review by Bogie: Quoting wavemeister: 'Substance' is undoubtedly one of the most important compilations of the works of a single band in Pop History and definetly a must-buy. Absolutely. Mine only leaves my car when I take it in to the office with me for the day.

Double Review by *lilith*: One of my all time faves, i still play it now. some of them sound a bit dated, but Everything's Gone Green and Temptation sound soo good now!! I had the tape version listed here:

[Tape 1]
4:22 Ceremony [re-recorded version from FAC 33T]
5:30 Everything's Gone Green
6:59 Temptation (5/87)
7:29 Blue Monday
4:42 Confusion (5/87)
6:36 Thieves Like Us
8:02 The Perfect Kiss
4:48 Sub-culture
6:28 Shellshock
6:32 State of the Nation
6:44 Bizarre Love Triangle
5:55 True Faith

[Tape 2]
6:16 In A Lonely Place
4:27 Procession
Cries and Whispers *
3:25 Mesh
6:58 Hurt
7:19 The Beach
7:38 Confused Instrumental
5:11 Lonesome Tonight
3:55 Murder
6:57 Thieves Like Us Instrumental
7:02 Kiss of Death
Dub-vulture *
Shellcock *
7:54 Shame of the Nation
Bizarre Dub Triangle */**
5:35 1963
True Dub **

Response to this review by Trixter: This is by far the best New Order album ever released!! It has so many memorable songs, "Blue Monday", "Bizarre Love Triangle", "True Faith", "Mesh", etc.... I have their newest album and I know I shouldn't but I always hold everything they do in comparison to "Substance"!! This will always hold a special place in my collection!!

Response to this review by *lilith*: on the new one i quite like 'crystal', it's kinda like they used to be.. but they'll never beat this album. Technique wasn't bad, but it sounds really dated now..

Response to this review by NewRomantic: Yes, lilith I agree. This is a terriffic album. Absolutely and totally New Order (funny that!). A fine example of early '80's English synth pop. I really like Sub-Culture; Blue Monday (obviously!); Shell shock; True Faith; Bizarre Love Triangle; Thieves Like Us (instrumental) and The Perfect Kiss.

Response to this review by xistenza: I think this album is the best as it has SO MANY timeless songs. Technique, however, does have a few of my all time favorite New Order songs on it. I also love the new album, "Get Ready."

Response to this review by Westend Girl: Substance means so much to me. I have listened to it through tough times and it is still a wonderful cd. I can never get enough of True Faith and The Perfect Kiss. The new cd was for me the best new cd of 2001.

Response to this review by Therrall: Well, I haven't heard the new album yet, Blue Monday was always a favorite of mine though.

Response to this review by Sara Smile: This is my favorite CD set of all time. I listen to these CD's at least once a week. I'm so happy that someone mentioned this CD set here. This is like home to me now. Thank you.