early Barney vocals

I remember reading on here that Bernard did loads of takes for Procession, but in contrast, Temptation (both 7" and 12") sound like they were a comp of two live takes. Was Hannet more demanding of Bernard's vocals than perhaps New Order were when they parted ways with Hannet?

hannet request 42 takes on the vocals for proccesion,,, barney couldt see much difference in the takes and claimed to be "bored" when the sesion ended( it ended?) this was given as one small reason for the split between band and producer( "its easier to produce yourselves")

harmless attitude

79 order wrote: hannet request 42 takes on the vocals for proccesion,,, barney couldt see much difference

Hard to polish a turd :p

At least we're not left endlessly bickering about how Hannett's production strangled Power, Corruption & Lies.

Matt

Matt wrote: At least we're not left endlessly bickering about how Hannett's production strangled Power, Corruption & Lies.

Matt

Theres such a contrast between the first 2 albums. PCL is utterly timeless in my opinion. It could have been recorded yesterday. I just wish I got into the band earlier than 1987 but then my music taste as a 12 year old was always suspect (Madness, Adam Ant, The Police).

Hang on......Madness and The Police arent that bad. are they?

NO Regret wrote:

Theres such a contrast between the first 2 albums. PCL is utterly timeless in my opinion. It could have been recorded yesterday. I just wish I got into the band earlier than 1987 but then my music taste as a 12 year old was always suspect (Madness, Adam Ant, The Police).

Hang on......Madness and The Police arent that bad. are they?

I loved PCL, but I'm one of the few here who really like Movement as well--probably because I had only heard "Blue Monday" when I started obsessively listening to Joy Division. It took me a couple of years longer to really come to appreciate New Order--the dance/electronic stuff simply didn't appeal to me when I was younger.

I think the vocal difference between Movement and PCL had more to do with Barney becoming more comfortable as a singer than with the lack of Hannett. That, and the fact that the musical styles were totally different.

Matt

Matt wrote:

NO Regret wrote:

Theres such a contrast between the first 2 albums. PCL is utterly timeless in my opinion. It could have been recorded yesterday. I just wish I got into the band earlier than 1987 but then my music taste as a 12 year old was always suspect (Madness, Adam Ant, The Police).

Hang on......Madness and The Police arent that bad. are they?

I loved PCL, but I'm one of the few here who really like Movement as well--probably because I had only heard "Blue Monday" when I started obsessively listening to Joy Division. It took me a couple of years longer to really come to appreciate New Order--the dance/electronic stuff simply didn't appeal to me when I was younger.

I think the vocal difference between Movement and PCL had more to do with Barney becoming more comfortable as a singer than with the lack of Hannett. That, and the fact that the musical styles were totally different.

Matt

I agree. I think the vocals on PCL have a lot of character and Bernard in a way was a bit brave in expanding his range. But with Temptation and Hurt as an interim single between EGG and the release of PCL, the vocals are rougher than the those on previous official recordings, and I found it curious.

79 order wrote: hannet request 42 takes on the vocals for proccesion,,, barney couldt see much difference in the takes and claimed to be "bored" when the sesion ended( it ended?) this was given as one small reason for the split between band and producer( "its easier to produce yourselves")

It also didn't help that Hannet had a bad drug problem and told Barney to sing the thing 42 times so he could run off and score some derugs!

Do you guys consider Barney's vocals unique and somewhat unusually special when compared other rockers out there? Or would you consider his voice ordinairy and nothing else?

Isamu wrote: Do you guys consider Barney's vocals unique and somewhat unusually special when compared other rockers out there? Or would you consider his voice ordinairy and nothing else?

It's a pretty distinct voice; I think it had character even in the early days when he was struggling most tonally and with intonation.

I think in the early days he had a very genuine and honest feel about his voice. When he took lessons to sing 'properly', he lost that and just became a not very good singer.

Barney has a unique style, both old and new stuff. Always recognisable. There is no one sounding like him, but you have countless of soundalikes in rock and pop today.

• That´s the beauty of New Order: One of the most distinctive singer THE bass player with the best and unique sound. Extemely good drummer - but does not go to extreme.

  ..The magic of New Order.

my dad, when new order were doing that live performance for the bbc on tv, i think it was 84 or 85, said that he sounded like a chicken :evil:

Richie Soans wrote: my dad, when new order were doing that live performance for the bbc on tv, i think it was 84 or 85, said that he sounded like a chicken :evil:

Right, Bernard faltered on live television until around 86/87. Whether that was nerves or substances or a combination who knows, or maybe just a fcuk all attitude. But in that '84 performance you can see him clenching his jaw with an embarassed expression during a false note and poor entry during Blue Monday, so my sense is that he cared and was frustrated with the sound on that particular occasion.

People tend to rag on Bernard being the weak link, but singing is the hardest part in rock/pop music unless you've the gift of perfect pitch. Ian was no master of great intonation either, and instrumentally Hooky and Gillian and Steve have had their flubs too.

Bernard wrote some beautiful melodies for the voice, even if he mucked about live much of the time.

On Youtube I seen a video that was from 1984 with the band playing "Hurt", and I've gotta say...it made me gringe =/

I guess "Procession" was okay, but the "Show Me, Show Me, Show Me" bit on EGG makes me cry