Ive watched your face for a long time.

Does anybody else agree that 'Thieves like Us' is the best New Order song too get drunk to? The B Side was brilliant as well. This song brings back memories of being dumped by a girlfriend, going home and getting extremely drunk with this song on constant replay in the background.

Er no. I would say the eponymous debut album by Electronic. I took it on holiday with me to Magaluff in 1991, and that, combined with my Barney hairdo and Manc accent, ensured that I was a hit with the ladeeeezzz.

As I've said previously, it was a case of, "Oh, I love your hair. What a great accent you've got. Your a NO/Electronic fan, really..." etc, then time for bed.

I kid ye not. That album ensured a (almost) sleep free fortnight for me! :barf::kiss::ladysman::ladysman::ladysman::ladysman::moon:

its called love and it belongs to us, its called love and its the only thing thats worth livin for its called love its one of my fav's i listen to it in the car alot for some reason

fook urrr hillarious no wonder the girls/boys wanna bang ya

Barcaboy99 wrote: Er no. I would say the eponymous debut album by Electronic. I took it on holiday with me to Magaluff in 1991, and that, combined with my Barney hairdo and Manc accent, ensured that I was a hit with the ladeeeezzz.

As I've said previously, it was a case of, "Oh, I love your hair. What a great accent you've got. Your a NO/Electronic fan, really..." etc, then time for bed.

I kid ye not. That album ensured a (almost) sleep free fortnight for me! :barf::kiss::ladysman::ladysman::ladysman::ladysman::moon:

oh, i see.

I've lived my life in the valleys I've lived my life on the hills I've lived my life on alcohol I've lived my life on pills

One of the greatest lyrics he ever wrote and his vocal performance is pretty good. He even abstains from whooping and he'e actually conveying some emotion there.

Love is found in the east and the westWhere love is is always the bestLove is the cure for every evilLove is the air that supports the eagleIt's called love...

It was the other track completed in the Confusion sessions with Mr Baker. Apparently they don't play it live because the mix on it is very layered and difficult to get right. I'd love them to perform in the autumn. A true gem.

Chemical wrote: One of the greatest lyrics he ever wrote and his vocal performance is pretty good. He even abstains from whooping and he'e actually conveying some emotion there.

Love is found in the east and the westWhere love is is always the bestLove is the cure for every evilLove is the air that supports the eagleIt's called love...

It was the other track completed in the Confusion sessions with Mr Baker. Apparently they don't play it live because the mix on it is very layered and difficult to get right. I'd love them to perform in the autumn. A true gem.

Good points - 1)its very layered and such a departure from 3 note Blue Monday 2) its got some great emotive and comparative lyrics 3) the bass on it is awesome

Bad points -

1. the chorus vocal is weak and way out of tune (it belonnnnnngs to everyone of uzz).
2. it all sounds very dated now (the guitar riff sounds naff)

Ive heard 2 live versions and they are indeed in the Premiership of crap New Order performances. A right old kuffufle it has to be said.

I always use to think the line was "love is the air that supports the ego". its funny how people can mishear or interpret NO songs in their own way. I like that, plus I think ego is better than eagle. Love is the air that supports the eagle sounds a bag of tosh to me.

I think this song is about Barneys gap year when he lived in Wales.

I think the song sounds drunk. Slow and plodding--and those dissonant notes before Barney starts singing sort of sound as if Gillian were herself drunk and just slapping her hand on the keyboard. (That said, it sounds good, and I like it.)

Chemical wrote:

Love is found in the east and the westWhere love is is always the best

I've always thought the 2nd line was "But when love is at home it's the best"

Wasim wrote:

Chemical wrote:

Love is found in the east and the westWhere love is is always the best

I've always thought the 2nd line was "But when love is at home it's the best"

+1 on that...

Got back into TLU more recently while listening to the shorter version on Singles... Nice and summery, very laid-back and perfect as background music, but struggle to actually listen to the whole of the 12" version very regularly any more... Now, the B-Side...

Snorri xxx

Love the 12"; dig the vocals!

He may be flat on TOTP, but a lot of people here don't know the difference between being out of key and having slightly weak pitch. Out of key? "Ceremony" from Taras. Slightly dodgy pitch? Most NO albums until Technique. But so the fcuk what? Bernard, when he means it, has a delivery no one from his generation can match.

And out of key synth? Never heard it on the studio versions...

Love getting juiced to TLU and TPK back to back.

Agreed on all counts there JV. For me the slightly out-of-tune qualities just add the charm to the Joy Division records and New Order records of the '80s. If you want technically flawless playing and polished studio perfection there's always Steely Dan. ;)

Paul Morley put forth one of his ideas in An Ideal For Living that instruments were intentionally slightly out of tune and time with each other on Joy Division recordings because the group was trying to achieve something of a hypnotizing effect on the listener. While I dismiss the idea as pretentious bullshit myself (it was always due to band members' inexperience instead), one valuable point might emerge from there after all. It takes talent to sound great with slightly weak pitch.

It is a song that's better appreciated when in the right sort of mood. I can remember listening to Thieves in a similar frame of mind drunk, post relationship, and it hit the spot perfectly...

'I've lived my life on alcohol i've lived my life on pills.'

Yup, like a good many of their songs. Personally I feel the same about Electribe 101's Talking With Myself which has a superbly unprepossessing intro lyric:

"And if it's alright with you, I'll just talk with myself..."

One thing that's not often recalled regarding Barney's vocals - especially on the earlier stuff - is that he didn't start out in music as a vocalist at all. If backing vocals were needed live or in the studio with Joy Division, Hooky usually did them. One of the things you notice these days is that Hooky rarely sings live: his mic is there for him to give someone some grief, although he's not yet got into a slanging match with Barney on-stage. New Order are one singular and relatively well-behaved band: behaving like Ray and Dave Davies live would be something else!

I've great admiration for Barney: he had to combine the responsibility for playing guitar as well as taking the stage space of Ian and vocals are a different area of musicianship entirely from instrumentation. He was not confident vocally for a long time: listen to anything from Movement and it's evident. It could be one of the reasons why the vocal is quite far back in the mix too.

Temptation was a stronger performance but there are also times later - on some of Power, Corruption & Lies for instance - that the responsibility of phrasing, lyric writing, inflection etc weighed heavily on him. Fair play that he evolved into who he is now because he was handed the job with almost no experience.

NO Regret wrote:

I always use to think the line was "love is the air that supports the ego". its funny how people can mishear or interpret NO songs in their own way. I like that, plus I think ego is better than eagle. Love is the air that supports the eagle sounds a bag of tosh to me.

So did I, and I liked it better that way too

Thought it was ego too, but eagle has symbolic resonance...anyone want to brush up on their Dante?