This CD, entitled (the best of) New Order for once contains some liner notes, which alas are disjointed, following the same fuzzy logic of information as in the past. The introduction states: 'This carefully selected commercial compilation of 16 such single-minded grouped and seductive songs of love, longing, life and belongings surely sums up the heartpounding pop life of this devious, uncomplicated pop group, uncertainly the most secretive of English groups, certainly the most surprising.'

Alas, not all that enlightening. Perhaps, given my mystical bent of mind, this is one of the reason why I enjoy New Order so much. Their music in came to life for me in London in the 1980s, and I have followed them ever since. Songs such as Bizarre Love Triangle and True Faith have been international club hits, and continue to be regulars on the playlists. Other songs, such as Blue Monday and Round and Round, have had new life breathed into them as remakes (the trend of groups to remake their own work is more prominent in certain Euro-pop groups than in other musical varieties).

These songs have enigmatic but meaningful lyrics; these are intelligent lyrics -- poetry set to music, not simple statements set to a beat. The longing and regret expressed in songs such as Ruined in a Day and Regret, the hope and energy contained in songs like True Faith and World in Motion; these have real emotion with real substance, for those who listen behind the electronic overlay. Videos that were made in support of the songs are innovative creatively and visually, often displaying the same kinds of enigmatic symbolism as do their lyrics.

The music is intricate and detailed, full and expressive. This type of music was coming to an adolescent maturity in the 1980s, and more adult maturity in the 1990s, and this compilation shows the progression of style and complexity for New Order over that time. This is, however, very much a dance/pop oriented sound, and those who are not looking for such will most likely not enjoy this sound. New Order is a relatively obscure group in American terms; much better known in Europe and Britain, but still not a 'powerhouse' group (of course, they can't all be the Spice Girls, now, can they?). But, for the particular audience niche they crafted for themselves, they remain an integral part, and remain for me an important influence in my pop musical tastes.

Friends who peruse my CD collection often comment on the seeming contradiction between the choral/liturgical collection, the classical collection, and the pop collection, wondering how they fit together. Perhaps it is that each of these touches an emotion inside; each striking a different chord that sounds with a different tone, yet, just as the strings on a violin or guitar all must be different for music to be made, these differing tastes coexist so to add fullness to my life. New Order inspires such thinking in me. Odd for a song likely to be blaring over a disco floor!


Great Tracks Edited Badly!   February 12, 2002
 23 out of 25 found this review helpful

As a long time fan of New Order I would obviously recommend that you buy the individual albums in order to get a true feel to their music.If you like a few tracks then yeah a best of c.d. is also worth getting.This one is the newer of their 2 best of c.d.'s,but it is definitely NOT the one to get.It does have some postives-firstly it does include some tracks from their excellent "Republic" album,including "Regret" which is one of their best singles ever.One listen to Peter Hooks bass solo and you'll know what I mean.It also includes their track for the '90 World Cup,"World In Motion",which is probably the finest song written for football ever-okay the competition is pretty lousy,but still it's a good track.But the downside is considerable.Every other track has been tampered with in some way-so what you end up getting are songs that are way inferior to the originals.You'll see this as soon as you read the track listing-True Faith-'94-I mean why change,alter whatever such a great track.In fact the effects are minimal-but if you're familiar with the original you'll find them irritating.They are sort of like cheap effects to make this song more accessible to a cheesy dance market.This c.d. doesn't even include the original Blue Monday!Instead we get an inferior water-downed version from '88.Some songs should never be altered-I mean could you imagine them changing Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'?The other great tracks like "Perfect Kiss,Shell Shock,Bizarre Love Triangle" are edited so badly that it's like they've left out half the song.The originals were all pretty much over 6 minutes long-once again it's badly condensed to a wishy-washy 4/5 minutes.The great thing about these tracks was the way repeated musical patterns build and build into a thrilling climax-you get no sense of that whatsoever on this c.d.I love New Order-they have been one of the true interesting innovators of the last two decades.Sumner's disaffected vocals.Hooks thrilling bass lines,Gilberts brilliant synths way ahead of there time and of course all driven by the powerful drumming of Stephen Morris.I really doubt that the group themselves had much control over the way these tracks were butchered-if they did I don't know what they were thinking?If you are to get a best of c.d. by New Order then get "Substance"-it may be missing a few tracks but at least it's got the tracks in their original form!


Goodish   June 12, 2000
 20 out of 23 found this review helpful

Although a decent enough 'best of', this is patchy in comparison to the minimalist simplicity of 'Substance 1987'. Instead of simply compiling all the singles and b-sides from 1987 onwards (a process which would, admittedly, have resulted in a fairly short album), this is an odd overview of their career from 'Power, Corruption and Lies' onwards. It's nice to have 'World in Motion' on CD, and although fans might moan at the inclusion of remixed versions of 'True Faith', '1963' and 'Bizarre Love Triangle' the songs don't really suffer for it. On the other hand, it's criminal that either of the versions of 'Confusion' aren't on the CD, and quite why the excellent early singles 'Everything's Gone Green' or 'Temptation' have been omitted is a mystery. The ultra-obscure 'Murder' would have been nice to have, too. That said, it seems as if this compilation was intended as a way of introducing the group to non-fans, and as such it works very well - the songs from 'Technique' and 'Republic' haven't dated much, and sound fresh today. Furthermore, it must have been a way for London records to justify buying the group, as, after extricating them from the corpse of Factory records and releasing 'Republic', they promptly went on haitus.

The UK version has a slightly different track listing, omitting the first four songs from this US pressing. There's a companion-piece, 'The Rest of', which is fairly bad, and contains lots of undistinguished modern remixes of their old songs, most of which sound like totally new tracks.


The best of New Order   September 3, 2003
 13 out of 19 found this review helpful

New Order is another band from the '80s I grew up on in the decade of materialism and decadence. The band probably wouldn't have made a dent in the US scene had it not been for MTV in its heyday before they turned [not good] with its non-music related programming and catering to the under 18 crowd. Born out of the ashes of Joy Division after Ian Curtis passed away, New Order came to prominance in the British scene with their blend of punk, dance, and pop music. The result is timeless classics that are still being played in nightclubs all over the world. Refusing to be pigeonholed to one type of music, New Order created music that can be enjoyed by fans of all types of music. I personally enjoy this best of collection. I wish that "Temptation" was on it but overall I thought the cd was a good representation of what the band was about although I suppose the band could have included more songs that were found on "Substance". I will never tire of listening to songs like "True Faith" and "Blue Monday" (my two personal favorite New Order songs of all time). I must admit that I am not wild about "Bizarre Love Triangle" but compared to Frente's version of the song, I will definitely take the original version over some godawful cover. I didn't care for Orgy's interpretation of "Blue Monday" either. If there was one lesson to be learned, covering New Order songs is blasphemy. No one can do it right. I consider New Order the forefathers of the synth-pop movement. Had there been no New Order, there would be no Depeche Mode or Pet Shop Boys.