This compilation of 12 inch singles or re-recordings was my way into discovering New Order. I had previously purchased the "Shellshock" single but that was the only track I knew apart from "True Faith", which was released at more or less the same time as Substance 1987 ( and I also bought ), and the mega-hit "Blue Monday". Embarrassingly, I had not heard the rest before, despite nearly all of them getting into the charts !
I adored this album and played it a lot, leading me to start acquiring several of New Order's earlier albums.
"Ceremony" was a Joy Division song that has a bass intro, great guitar and drums. The vocal is low in the mix and I've only recently seen the lyrics. I had always thought it was "While I break them down on the seashore, heaven knows it's got to be bedtime", but it is actually "Oh, I'll break them down, no mercy shown, heaven knows, it's got to be this time" !
"Everything's Gone Green" features bass, drums, sequenced synths and electronic noises and the rhythm is not too dis-similar to Blue Monday. For some reason it was only released as a single in Belgium but was available on import. Listening to it now I found it fairly dull.
I had read that The Cure had been jumping New Order's train, which I didn't understand at the time but hearing "Temptation" I could see that the intro was "borrowed" by The Cure for "In Between Days" but instead played on acoustic guitars. "Up, down, turn around, please don't let me hit the ground. Tonight, I think I'll walk alone, I'll find my soul as I go home. Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh"
There can't be many people who haven't heard "Blue Monday" but it continues to grow on me after not particularly liking it much when it first came out.
"Confusion" is a plodding electro dance track, heavy drumming, electronic beats, funky bass. I thought the backing chant was "Future" but it is actually "Confusion" !
"Thieves Like Us" has a slow synths and drums intro before leading into a Human League style synth lines. The vocal isn't the greatest, perhaps they should have invited Phil Oakley to sing it !
"The Perfect Kiss" has a jerky bass intro, drums, then the electronic beat before finally a glorious synth line. I love the lengthy outro with mesmerising synths, artificial sounds of croaking frogs, then hypnotic bass. "Then I knew it from the start this friend of mine would fall apart. Pretending not to see his gun I said, "Let's go out and have some fun".
"Sub-culture" is an Ibiza style disco/club anthem with soulful female backing vocals. "In the end you will submit. It's got to hurt a little bit".
"Shellshock" has another great intro with synth lines and an electronic beat before launching into the melody and a great chorus "Hold on! It's never enough. It's never enough until your heart stops beating. The deeper you get, the sweeter the pain. Don't give up the game until your heart stops beating"
The intro to "State Of The Nation" has synths, electronic beats and bass and the bass, synth and guitar all take their turns in playing the melody as solos in the extended outro. Along with "Confusion" its a relative rarity in that the song title actually features in the lyrics.
"Bizarre Love Triangle" is an extended version of the song on "Brotherhood", with a lot more electronic sounds, more drum parts, a lovely synth break and decoded vocal part.
"True Faith" was their breakthrough single in the US and their highest charting single in the UK up to that point, and is an almost perfect combination of dance pop and electronica. The accompanying video of costumed men slapping each other was highly acclaimed.
In summary, I would categorise nine of the twelve tracks as astounding, with "Everything's Gone Green", "Confusion" and "Sub-culture" in the OK category.
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. Ceremony ( 1981 - No 34 )
2. Everything's Gone Green ( 1981 - )
3. Temptation ( 1982 - No 29 )
Side Two :
2. Confusion ( 1983 - No 12 )
3. Thieves Like Us ( 1984 - No 18 )
Side Three :
2. Sub-culture ( 1985 - No 63 )
3. Shellshock ( 1986 - No 28 )
Side Four :
2. Bizarre Love Triangle ( 1986 - No 56 )
3. True Faith ( 1987 - No 4 )
Released 1987
UK Chart Position : 3
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