Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
New Order release long-awaited BBC Radio sessions, 28 April 2004
This CD brings together two seperate BBC Radio 1 sessions recorded by NewOrder in 1998 and 2001. Of course there are many fans out there withageing Bootleg copies of the sessions (myself included!), but there issomething nice about having a proper mastering of these mostly fineversions in your CD collection. True Faith, Isolation, Touched,Atmosphere, and Paradise are from the John Peel session recorded in 1998as part of their "comeback campaign" after a lengthy "most of thenineties" hiatus. As the first "proper" recorded material by the bandsince "Republic" in 1993, fans eagerly tuned in and were not disappointedby these excellent and cleverly updated versions of New Order classics,including two Joy Division songs.
1. True Faith is by far the best track on this album, and this version isbased on the House sounding Perfecto mix previously available on the UK"TrueFaith-94" CD single. The band adapts Perfecto's version seamlesslyinto their arrangements, and the combined sound brings a 1987 classic intothe 21st century. Danceable and guitar orientated at same time, withPeter Hook's weaving bass lines guiding the way, this is trademark NewOrder at its best.
2. Isolation is a track originally featured on Joy Division's second andfinal album "Closer". With Bernard Sumner delivering an almost perfectvocal, and a vastly updated electronic backing including a slightdrum'n'bass influence coming through, this is further proof of New Order'sversatility as musicians. Excellent version!
3. Touched, is a similar True Faith-esque update of the bands 1987 single"Touched by the Hand of God". There's a wonderful use of electronics onthis track, including subtle vinyl scratching, and great drumming fromSteve Morris to boot.
4. Atmosphere, another Joy Division track, is handled really very wellhere. The band stays mostly true to the original version, whichultimately can never be bettered by anyone. Bernard gives a fineperformance of the lonely vocal, while Hook's poignant bass carries thesong from start to finish. The only minor criticism is the guitar riffscan sound slightly harsh at times next to such fragile lyrics. But hey,rock'n'roll eh? :P
5. Paradise is the weakest track from '98 Peel Session. Once again it's astraightforward update a'la True Faith and Touched, but I never reallyenjoyed the original from 1986's "Brotherhood", so in my opinion hit theskip button here. I also found the drums sound a bit "too" synthetic forthis style of track.
The 1998 Peel session is basically a five star release in my opinion, butthe quality control begins to slip as we reach track six and the secondsession from Steve Lamacq in 2001. All four tracks bar one are originallyfeatured on the 2001 "comeback album" Get Ready, and while I think GetReady is a very good album with some fine songs, New Order seem to havechosen to showcase a few of the weakest here.
6. Slow Jam, not hugely different from the original, is the first track. There's no denying the intro drum beat and echoed guitar line sounds cool,but once the track gets into full swing the guitars sound rather murky andthe production is a bit flat, the lyrics are also pretty dubious too! Decent track if you're in that sort of rock'n'roll mood. Not awful, notthat great either.
7. Your Silent Face, with the original hailing from 1983's "Power,Corruption & Lies" album, certainly brings up the session quality! Abrilliant song paying homage to Kraftwerk's influence is easily thestandout of the Lamacq session. Lamacq actually informed listeners beforethe original broadcast that this was recorded "as a bonus track for fans",much appreciated lads! :)
8. Close Range, another song from Get Ready is actually a bit of animprovement over the album version. It sounds rawer and faster and isgenerally a great straightforward New Order rock track. The additionalguitar lines at the beginning help and this version generally gets alisten each time I play the album. Good stuff.
9. Rock The Shack. This is a controversial one with New Order fans, somelove it, some hate it, and unfortunately I'm not very keen on it. Itsbasically straightforward rock instrumentation plus clichéd rock lyrics,which are never good unless you're AC/DC, and they're not! OK if you wantsome murky guitars and a dodgy chorus, but pretty pointless and painfullyobvious "filler" otherwise. Didn't really work on "Get Ready" and doesn'twork here. There were so many other quality tracks they could've triedout in it's place e.g. Dreams Never End, Age of Consent, Dream Attack, toomany to mention!
The final track is an embedded QuickTime video so you'll need to play, orrather watch, it via your PC or Mac. It's a version of the Joy Divisionpunk classic "Transmission" performed as a tribute to DJ John Peel whoregularly played the band's records on his radio show in the lateseventies and still does. It's a pretty standard "session/live" versionthat doesn't differ much from the original, nice gesture though! :)
Overall, four out of five stars and an essential purchase for New Orderfans even if it's just for the first 4 tracks and Your Silent Face. Although this is one fan who hopes the band's new LP will feature lessRock The Shacks, and more True Faiths! Cheers...
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Like New Order Buy This, 21 April 2004
Ok if like me, you have everything that New Order have released, remix CDsthe lot, then what would you want with another version of these songs? Well to be honest, I had no idea either and I only purchased this to getmy delivery free from Amazon. But, after the first play, it's not beenout of my CD drive. I know that these old favorites are timeless but...
The quality of the recording is excellant and they all play in tune (NewOrder have been rubbish live in the past) and the instrument mix is great. The bass is distinct, the drums have that raw; live edge and the singingisn't flat.
Finally the version of Tranmission is part of the 'enhanced CD' which is a'video' that requires to be played through your PC.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
After much fan pressure..., 26 April 2004
...well I like to think that it was the petition that myself and otherfans signed to get this released that was the catalyst in its creation butit would appear that the powers that be at the beeb and Strange Fruit hadthis in mind all along to join with the other Joy Division/New Order PeelSessions CDs.
Kicking off with the 'live' recordings from 1998's reunion we are treatedto newer takes of old favourites. The recorded sound is good but Barney'svocals need turning up. It is the new arrangemnets that are of interest aswe get a more cohearant rendition of songs availiable on the live atReading DVD but without the full live experience quirks of the band -namely not playing in time or tune!
The second half is more recent material from 'Get Ready' and actuallydoesnt hold up as well. Its more rock oriented nature give the listener aless than crisp sound and the arrangement of 'Close Range' is ashambles.
The best parts are the 3 Joy Division songs that get an airing, the lastone being in the form of a live video. The songs sound fresh and areplayed with the sort of passion you would expect from a band redescoveringtheir roots, the spiky Transmission video shot for John Peel's 40 years onthe radio party sounding great. Its video however...
This video is what really lets the album down. Granted it came from awebcam but some form of post production to sync images to sound would havebeen nice. My guess is that it is a homage to the Love Will Tear Us Apartvideo which also sufferes from a similar lack of post production.
Overall its a welcome edition from a band that really know how to re-flogtheir back catalogue but when the songs are this strong it really doesn'tmatter.
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![Joy Division [DVD] [2008]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41cxrP7hAhL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
