New Order - Technique
November 8th, 2008 | 10:29 am est |
On Tuesday, Rhino releases expanded editions of the first five New Order albums in a series called “The Factory Years.” Each release is a two-disc package including the original album remastered on one disc, and another disc for non-album singles (of which there are many), remixes, and alternate versions.
Tastes and sounds were changing quickly in the late ’80s, which prompted New Order’s most startling transformation yet — from moody dance-rockers to, well, moody acid-house mavens. After booking a studio on the island hotpost of Ibiza, apparently unknowing of the fact that it was the center of the burgeoning house music craze, the band’s sure instincts for blending rock and contemporary dance resulted in another confident, superb LP. Technique was New Order’s most striking production job, with the single “Fine Time” proving a close runner-up to “Blue Monday” as the most extroverted dance track in the band’s catalogue. Opening the record, it was a portrait of a band unrecognizable from their origins, delivering lascivious and extroverted come-ons amid pounding beats. It appeared that dance had fully taken over from rock, with the guitars and bass only brought in for a quick solo or bridge.
But while pure dance was the case for the singles “Fine Time” and “Round & Round,” elsewhere New Order was still delivering some of the best alternative pop around, plaintive and affecting songs like “Run” (the third single), “Love Less,” and “Dream Attack.” Placed in the perfect position to deliver the definitive alternative take on house music, the band produced another classic record. [Rhino’s 2008 remastering of New Order’s first five albums, subtitled “The Factory Years,” provided complete remastering of the original LPs plus a bonus disc that included a good sampling of the band’s non-album material contemporary to the album. For Technique, that included remixes of “Fine Time” and “Round & Round,” plus an instrumental version of “Vanishing Point” and a mix of “World in Motion,” the theme to 1990’s World Cup held in England.]
Alas, it’s too bad that the “remastering” is (to be charitable) disappointing on the main discs (drop-outs, reversed channels, questionable “hot” eq-ing) and a mess on the bonus discs (mastered from vinyl, clicks, pops & other noise artifacts are rampant).
The remastering work is totally unprofessional, especially on the bonus discs. Please update your review, these reissues are a total waste of money!
Please revise this review to reflect the fact that New Order themselves have disavowed these reissues, & Warner has acknowledged that the remastering was unprofessional, recalling the discs & setting up a complaint department to deal with the problem. Too bad All Music’s reviewers don’t, um, actually listen to the records they’re “reviewing.”
Also, the 1990 World Cup was held in Italy, not England. “World in Motion” was England’s tournament song, though.
Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t there already “remastered” New Order works? I believe the album “Singles” contains remastered recordings of their bigger hits.
I never have been a big fan of any releases from Rhino. They still seem like the cheap hip-hop label they used to be.
The bulk of this article is from the existing AMG review, so I think this post is just cheap and lazy rather than actively dishonest.
> Too bad All Music’s reviewers don’t, um, actually
> listen to the records they’re “reviewing.”
Maybe I’m not the audiophile I should be, but when I listened to these, I found them to be okay in the sound department — not quite worth mentioning the complaints.
> The bulk of this article is from the existing AMG review
FYI: I wrote these last week.
> Also, the 1990 World Cup was held in Italy, not England.
Thanks for the reminder — I should’ve known from the “Carabinieri” mix.
‘Fine Time’ is such a great song, but I never saw the charm with ‘World in Motion’. Technique was groundbreaking though.