WFTSC: The Review (a.k.a. "Whither Goest, New Order?")
Dateline--Bellingham, WA, the US of A
Well, at first I was not pleased with the new album. I found it too much of departure from the traditional New Order "sound" (whatever that is). Krafty was an okay single, but certainly nothing the caliber of Here to Stay or even Crystal. I miss the Joy Division influence that could still be heard on Get Ready (Primitive Notion, anyone?), and many of the songs on the new album lack the very dense layering that I love most in New Order's music (also found on the last album in songs like Someone Like You). The new songs have a much more traditional rock sound and, though I found myself liking some of the songs (such as the first 2), I wondered if I would really appreciate those songs if they had been done by any other rock band (I decided I probably wouldn't, since I'm a stubborn ass when it comes to new music). I don't really see why everyone compares it to Technique so much, but oh well. It's more a mix of Brotherhood, Republic, and a little Get Ready.
Much of my reluctance to various songs on the album was the lack of a really top-notch single like Here to Stay or even Crystal. I found myself listening to individual songs instead of the album as a whole, and that made for more difficult listening since it makes the album really seem like a mish-mash of different sounds. It isn't split into fairly neat sides of the band's sound (guitar and synth) like on Brotherhood and Technique. The lack of a strong electronic element was another source of great displeasure for me at first. But then I began to listen to the album as a whole and it really began growing on me, including the songs that I initially disliked and felt didn't fit in. So now WFTSC and I are on good terms and I'm greatly looking forward to buying the finished copy once it's out. But until then, here is my song-by-song review:
Who's Joe:
Very nice geetar song. I like the stings at the beginning. Barney's lyrics are very good on this album for the most part, even surprisingly good (for him at least). 8.0
Hey Now What You Doing:
Whoever said this has a Neil Young sound to it is right. Doesn't help much that the first line of lyrics is virtually identical to the first line of the previous song, but hey--the album's supposed to FLOW, right? They should've kept the original title. Good guitar song, anyway. Doesn't sound like anything NO have really done before. 7.5
WFTSC:
Fooking classic! Easily one of THE best songs on the album, if not the best. Very melancholy. Totally makes me think of Brotherhood...has As It Is When It Was written all over it (minus the LWTUA bassline from the earlier song). Nice synths. Very good lyrics. Can't go wrong with sailing cliches--er, metaphors. 9.0
Krafty:
This song isn't Here to Stay....which is really too bad, because the album could use a Here to Stay. However, it is a catchy song once you get past the Turn My Way-style lyrics. This one has more serious synths than most on the album, but it's just too happy poppy for me to really dig it the way I should. Again, it's no Here to Stay. No surprise why it was picked as the first single, as it sounds most like the recognizable New Order vibe than most all other tracks on the album. Still, this fact alone doesn't make it as good as a number of the others. 8.0
I Told You So:
I was very hesistant to like this at first. Too much unlike New Order. Reminded me way too much of a certain filthy terrible song from Republic, so I half expected Barney to start singing about children running in Port Royal Town. Then I started to really groove on the electronic beats, especially as it becomes more of a rock song. Now it's one of my faves on the album. 8.5
Morning, Night, and Day:
Other than Krafty, this one sounds the closest to an older New Order sound to my ears. Love the synths on it, though they aren't terribly layered. Also like older Order, we have some weak lyrics. But dancable and very catchy. Definitely one of the best tracks on the album. Some twangy guitars courtesy of Mr. Marr's influence, I'd say. This one would've made a great single. 9.0
Dracula's Castle:
Piss-poor title. This one has a sound very reminiscent of Get Ready to me. The synth line is decent, but not nearly prominent enough (as on most songs on the album). So goodbye, love. Once the synths come to the fore between verses and at the end of the song, it's much nicer. I like this song. 7.5
Jetstream:
Tristan can attest that I HATED this song at first. Idiotic pop garbage. I mean, the chorus has me thinking that Scissor person was going to be replaced by Aretha Franklin singing "J-E-T...find out what it means to me!" So corny. But eventually...after a long while...it finally started growing on me. Long! Live! Love! I even started liking the backing vocals, even though I've never heard anything by the Scissor Sisters. Oh well, TIMES CHANGE. 8.0
Guilt is a Useless Emotion:
I wanted this one to be so GOOD. I really did. I wanted it to be the synth paradise I was waiting for. Instead, it's more of a typical Eurotrash disco track (like PSB). I think the cheesy female vocal samples threw me. Sounds rather like Electronic, which I'm not much partial to. But after quite a long time also, this one started growing on me as well (surprise!). Good dance track, but not the typical New Order dance sound. Hum. 8.0
Turn:
Again, tearing a page out of the songbook of Neil (and I don't mean Tennant this time)--I half expected Barney to start singing "Keep on rockin' in the free world" when I heard the first guitar line. This one does have a bit of Dream Attack feel to it (minus the lush synths I so love). Nicely melancholy like the first 3 tracks (if this album was structured more like Brotherhood or Technique, this song would be clumped in with those other tracks). Not enough synths, but decent enough. A very good track. 8.5
Working Overtime:
I like this song, though it sounds nothing like anything New Order has done before. It certainly has that Stooges garage-rock sound to it. I just don't know that it fits at the end of the album. Turn could've made a better final track, but this one leaves us "rocking," as they say. At least Barney punctuates the lines in this with "heys" instead of "whoops." Time will tell what he does in the live situation.... 7.0
All in all, the "flow" (god, I hate that term) of the album is very nice. The first 3 tracks obviously belong together, Krafty moves us on to an upbeat NO-ish single with more dancy synths, then further into electronic land with the next few tracks (with more of a guitar interjection by Dracula's Castle), some more pop fuzz with Jetstream and the Eurotrash Guilt, then back into geetars with the last two tracks.
Props to New Order on a quality new product! I look forward to these songs being repackaged into the next "Best Of" disc.
They are STILL keeping me going without having to LISTEN to the album myself
Anyway, here is the update:189.5 (3rd) Lordsy = Who’s Joe? 7 9 9 9 8.5 8 8.5 9.5 9 7.5 9 10 7 7 1 8 8.5 9 6 8 8 9 9 5 184 (6th) Road To Ruin = Hey Now What You Doing 4 9 8.5 8 8 7 8 9 7 6.5 9 9 6 9 7 9 8 7 7 7 9 9 7 6 209.5 (1st=) Waiting For The Sirens’ Call 6 8 8 9 9 8 8.5 9.5 10 8.5 8 9 7 9.5 9 9.5 8 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 Single
188.5 (5th) Krafty 8 10 7 7 8 7 7 6 8 8.5 8 9.5 4 9 10 8.5 5 8 9 8 7 8 8 10 Single
150 (11th) I Told You So 7 7 8 7 8 5 1.5 4 6 6 6 6 3 7 3 9.5 6 9 6 7 6 7 8 7
182.5 (7th) Pop1 = Morning Night And Day 5 9 9.5 7 7 7 6.5 7.5 8 6 8 8 5 8 7 9.5 8.5 7 6 10 9 9 7 8
160 (10th) Minidisc2 = Dracula’s Castle 6 4 8 9 7 6 8 6 6 7 6 7 5 7 5 9 6 9 8 6 9 8 6 2
170.25 (9th) Jet = Jetstream 7 9 9 6 8 6 8.25 8.5 7 7 8 8 4 8 1 8.5 7 7 0 9 8 9 8 9 Single
189 (4th) Fast Synth = Guilt Is A Useless Emotion 10 6 10 9 9 6 10 5 8 8 7 8.5 4 8.5 9 9 6 9 7 4 9 10 8 9
209.5 (1st=) Turn 6 10 10 10 9 9 9 10 9 8 9 10 6 9.5 8 7 9 9 9 6 9 9 10 9
180 (8th) Working Overtime 9 7 6 5 7 7 5.5 9 8 7 7 10 8 8 10 7 6.5 9 5 8 10 6 7 8
. . . and there have been some changes;
after 24 reviews we have a TIE for 1st place!
Only 6 more weeks . . . .
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