Baltimore Sun Review

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16 Apr 2005, 09:23

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-li.cdcaps14apr14,1,4263494.story?coll=bal-live-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

New Order Waiting for the Sirens' Call (Warner Bros.) *** (3 Stars)

Time was, New Order was an ahead-of-the-curve quartet that presciently channeled the future of dance music when the rest of England was still coping with the hangover that was punk and waxing rhapsodic about the Smiths.

The group's tight rhythm and droning synthesizer made songs like "The Beach," "Touched by the Hand of God" and "Blue Monday" anthemic in their stature and staying power.

Fast forward 20 years or so and New Order's latest LP, Waiting for the Sirens' Call, finds a group that has matured and expanded, seeking new influences from which to propel its music.

Bear in mind, this LP, the group's eighth since it rose from the ashes of Joy Division in 1980, is a far cry from the cold sterility that flowed across Movement.

Keeping up with shimmering melodies and entrancing songs, Sirens' Call is that rare moment when a band's creative juices are in full effect and effectively flowing through each individual note.

Standout tracks include the up-tempo "Who's Joe?" that is reminiscent of Joy Division and the first single, "Krafty," which made me feel like I was 17 again, driving in my car, singing.

The music is still ahead of the curve, even in a time of synth-drenched emo, but where the latter lacks heart, New Order packs it in, by the truckload.

16 Apr 2005, 09:31

i like the review definitely doesn't read like a 3-star review, though...

16 Apr 2005, 09:50

Rose from the fecking ashes. Can't NO hire a publicist that notifies reviewers that it's all been said before? Geez, Barney started singing, they hired a girl, and changed their name. It wasn't some turbulent, decade-long transformation.

16 Apr 2005, 10:46

Isn't that just the same Associated Press one that can't tell the difference between The Beach and Blue Monday?

Most newspapers just copy 70-90% of their info from the Associated Press anyway. True fact.

16 Apr 2005, 20:29

Don't you think BLT or True Faith would have made more sense than Touched By the Hand of God as a reference for the American public. Both songs received mainstream radio play, but I don't recall TBTHOG getting the same.

Who's writing for the AP is a valid question.

17 Apr 2005, 00:04

How many bands have actually survived the death of their lead vocalist? ACDC. I'm pretty sure they're are others, besides ACDC and New Order, but they are few and far between, the cliche is tired, but it's relevant as hell, 95% of bands that lose vocalists of Curtis' stature, go the way of Davey Jones Locker. New Order made it, they earned the tiresome cliche :D.

17 Apr 2005, 12:15

Well, since "Joy Division" didn't survive the death of their lead singer - as there is no more Joy Division - there are other bands' whose members dropped the first title and started something else. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters. Did Dave rise from the ashes of Nirvana, or would it require "the whole band" to participate to rise from the ashes? How about INXS? They've gigged with some new guy, right. Have the Doors rose from the ashes now that Ian's crooning the blue hairs in Jackpot, Nev.? As for those living, how about Styx? Journey? Creedence Clearwated Revisited? All these shitheaps lost their lead singer, are making music, but I don't hear how Mr. Roboto rose from the ashes after losing Dennis fecking DeYoung. Give me a break.

Muscians and bands move on. Barney, Hooky, and Steve did the same thing. They were young and full of ideas, so they rolled with the tragic situation with 75 percent of the band still alive while only in their early 20s. Wasn't exactly the invention of fire is my point.