OK, this is one for the musicians - what track composed by New Order has been the most technically complex and required the most work to compose and arrange into a studio recording? I know that lots of their stuff sounds 'simple', but I bet it took a lot of work to reach the final stage. Appreciate that lots of their stuff was 'developed' at gigs but just wondered, from a musical and technical point of view, what might have been most demanding. (or was it all really a piece of p1ss in the true spirit of punk??)
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Most technically complex NO arrangement
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I've been wondering this myself recently, having been spending inordinate amounts of time sequencing stuff for Known Pleasures to play live. Possibly BLT and Shellshock have got the most sequencing going on in them, I've shelved Shellshock at the moment as I hit a major problem with a loop that wasn't right. Some of the songs are incredibly simple compositions, Temptation for example, but very effective all the same.
i think some of the stuff from the "get ready"-sessions must've been quite difficult. it's much more easier to record a drumsequencer-only-song than a sample with a real drum overdub, just like "primitive notion" or even "behind closed doors" when Stephen plays "live" to some percussion-samples and stuff. to programm a shellshock drum pattern is much more easier than the netherlands qualifying for the european championship :bag:
It seems like from True Faith to Technique, all the synth-based songs have so much going on in them. I sometimes try to listen to them for the individual parts, but end up getting lost in drum patterns, bass loops, or left-field special effects.
Confusion, for the time when it was made, sounds pretty complicated. Thieves Like Us was a huge steps ahead, only a few months later. The Perfect Kiss, BLT and True Faith of course are a lot of hard work.
well, sequencing is not really my subject. i could say a lot about harmony though.
NO songs never seem to have that complexity in terms of harmony structure. so many songs done the same way with the 1st/4th and 1st/5th grades patterns (C/G, G/C, F/C, C/F, G/D, D/G, etc): Ceremony, DNE, Temptation, Age of Consent, The Village, YSF, TLU, Lonesome Tonight, AIIWIW, All Day Long, Run, etc. then they started to add things to that structure, especially on the choruses: 1963, Round&Round, Vanishing Point, Regret, etc. but if something you can recognize in a NO song is that pattern somewhere in the structure.
"Gillian can´t play on the black keys of the keyboard" said once Stephen. and this could be a reason why they usually write in C and Am keys trying to avoid the "excesive" use of the # keys. also Barney found his tone over the years (around the Brotherhood release) and stayed more comfortable in certain keys.
but the main point is that they don´t write complex songs. they (or the producer) can add some complexity like on Every Little Counts or Run Wild, typical 1st/4th or 1st/5th songs but with the add of complex string arrangements on top of them.
the most unusual NO song in terms of key and chords should be Everyone Everywhere. if i remember right it´s the only one they did in F#m key and with those unusual chord structure. the fact that Gillian plays guitar and not keyboards on live performances of this song is not by chance. ;)
i'm no musician, but i'd wager that TPK has to be one of the most complicated ones in terms of layering and whatnot.
Barney has said the reason Everyone Everywhere was dropped from the live sets was because the key changes hurt his wrist too much.
Originally posted by steve52 Barney has said the reason Everyone Everywhere was dropped from the live sets was because the key changes hurt his wrist too much.
yeah, you can see that in the Montreaux gig. they even played half and half with Gillian. and after each one stops playing they started moving their fingers to bring them to life again! 
i don´t get it really. i´m not technically a guitarrist though i play my stuff, but i don´t have much problems playing EE. maybe it´s just me. 
Originally they wrote songs in keys that only needed white notes, allegedly because they were the only ones that the varispeed sounded ok for Ian. Barney saw no reason to change keys, even though he couldn't sing most of the earlier stuff. It is no coincidence that the improvement in Barney's voice happened at the same time as they started writing songs in keys that suited him, with black notes abounding. Now, after 27 years in the business, they have even started using different tunings on guitars !
It must have been a bit difficult to do blue monday with the technology back then. Or maybe i'm utterly wrong and the whole song was made when steve spilled coffee on some wires..
Until Substance came out i thought my vinyl on Blue Monday was scratched,hence the drum beat.
