the most talented member of NO?
Archived52 replies · 2,806 views
Serious debate between Hooky and Steve:
Steve for absolute technical mastery and proficiency
Hooky for melodic genius and innovation in bass guitar playing AND a genuine love for what he does, plus doing his best to keep in contact with 'fans'
Ah, sod it. My bass hero every time...
'Raw talent' is a bit vague and subjective,no?
What do you actually mean by that? Best at footy,fighting,drinking,pisses the farthest,biggest cock..So many raw talents to go on here
AgentWood wrote: who do you think has the most raw talent?
No contest.
Mr Oberheim DMX and his best friend Roland
Gillian. With no training she managed to create those sublime synth melodies that were so sadly lacking on the last two albums.
Bernard hands down - you can tell that by the side projects/ other offerings he has also been involved with -
You've got to say Barney really.
For production/ collaboration/ remix duties he's never let us down:
Highlights:
ACR : Won't stop Marcel King: reach 4 Love S25: looking from a hilltop Electronic: first album He played guitar in New Order too.
Steve's a bit of a unsung hero though.
"I heard" from a reliable source here in Macclesfieldshire that if Steve hadn't demo'd/ programmed most of the last 3 records at Higher Plane and submit them into the group...
We'd have had Hooky arguing with Barney about level over something resembling an Inspiral Carpets b side!!!
NOOLigan wrote: Gillian. With no training she managed to create those sublime synth melodies that were so sadly lacking on the last two albums.
Agreed. Even though Steve in my list is ranked up there too, because he's one helluva human Drum Machine!! 
At the risk of sounding corny, I would ask which New Order member has had the most inspired moments, and then I think the answer would have to be Bernard, even given his inconsistencies. Listening to live stuff, the things that jump out the most are his guitar playing and his vocals. When they're bad, well, we all know what that means (wrong key, wrong fret). But when he's on top form, it's magic. Some of those improvised falsetto melodies are especially startling. At the end of the day, Hooky and Steve do function as a rhythm section, and the difference from a great NO performance and an OK one is contingent on how inspired Bernard is.
I would say overall that Bernard is the most talented.
He is a great songwriter, a great producer and programmer, a great rythm guitarist and keyboardist, and he steered the musical direction of both New Order and Joy Division. He wrote the great synth lines to LWTUA, Isolation, Decades, SLC, Heart and Soul, and Atmosphere. He wrote a lot of the music for many New Order songs as well.
Barney also has a pretty distinctive singing voice and, when he wants to, he can write some damn good lyrics (see Technique, Republic, True Faith, Blue Monday, TPK, BLT, WFTSC).
Out of the side projects, Bernards Electronic is easily the best, in my opinion. The first Electronic album is pure awesome.
They are all very talented though......
Hooky reinvented the way we see the bass.....he created a sound with his bass playing that is distinctly his own, he has a brilliant ear for melody, always producing lovely lead melodic bass lines, and he is an awesome live performer, always gives it his all. Hooky also has a nice singing voice, I like his vocals on the first Revenge album a lot. On top of that, I'd have to say that he seems like a very nice, down to earth guy as well.
Gillian wrote and played beautiful, creative, lovely keyboard prts that added tons of melody to the songs. I miss her in the band.
Steve is a unique and brilliant drummer, as well as an awesome programmer and ideas man. He is a good producer as well. Also....his bass synth solo on TPK rocks.
I always wish that Phil Cunningham was more interested in playing synth than guitar.....but I think he is a great guitarist and he wrote the main music to Road to Ruin, which is one of my favorite songs on WFTSC. He is also a great live perfomer, he has lots of energy.
I like them all!
They all have their own specific talents, but their biggest talent is a collective one, the ability to take the individual components and mould them into something that is bigger and better than the individual parts.
Trans-Kraftwerk Express wrote:
NOOLigan wrote: Gillian. With no training she managed to create those sublime synth melodies that were so sadly lacking on the last two albums.
Agreed. Even though Steve in my list is ranked up there too, because he's one helluva human Drum Machine!!
and she makes a lovely mug of PG Tips!
NOOLigan wrote: Gillian. With no training she managed to create those sublime synth melodies that were so sadly lacking on the last two albums.
Inadequate, Indeed*!*
oldmonkey wrote: They all have their own specific talents, but their biggest talent is a collective one, the ability to take the individual components and mould them into something that is bigger and better than the individual parts.
Synergy
James Thomas wrote:
oldmonkey wrote: They all have their own specific talents, but their biggest talent is a collective one, the ability to take the individual components and mould them into something that is bigger and better than the individual parts.
Synergy
Prescription medication? 
James Thomas wrote:
oldmonkey wrote: They all have their own specific talents, but their biggest talent is a collective one, the ability to take the individual components and mould them into something that is bigger and better than the individual parts.
Synergy
Praxis
His Holiness, The Pope wrote:
James Thomas wrote:
oldmonkey wrote: They all have their own specific talents, but their biggest talent is a collective one, the ability to take the individual components and mould them into something that is bigger and better than the individual parts.
Synergy
Praxis
Don't get personal now, you'll be prompting MySpace randomness!
JV wrote: At the risk of sounding corny, I would ask which New Order member has had the most inspired moments, and then I think the answer would have to be Bernard, even given his inconsistencies. Listening to live stuff, the things that jump out the most are his guitar playing and his vocals. When they're bad, well, we all know what that means (wrong key, wrong fret). But when he's on top form, it's magic. Some of those improvised falsetto melodies are especially startling. At the end of the day, Hooky and Steve do function as a rhythm section, and the difference from a great NO performance and an OK one is contingent on how inspired Bernard is.
So what you are saying,in effect,is Barney fucks it up,when playing live,the most then? By your own reasoning,if Hooky or Steve were to balls it up as much,it would bring the level of performance down,similarly.But as they get it right more,we don't notice. I personally don't mind the screw ups,which add to the charm,and certainly don't hold it against anyone from the band..I should be talking past tense,sadly,but I don't know who is the most naturally talented,and think it's all too subjective to define catagorically..as a whole they were fuckin top,nuff said!
Hooky, Barnie and Steve, take one of them away there is no New Order. They just managed to pull it off without Gillian but not any of the other three. Thats why without Hooky there is no New order. There solo project although OK are not a patch on the New Order stuff. Together they make brilliant music.
79 order wrote: mr sumner for me,
can you move back at the front please!
here, here 
anyone can play bass!
BillONdollar wrote:
79 order wrote: mr sumner for me,
can you move back at the front please!
here, here
anyone can play bass!
Can anyone innovate with the bass though, using it as a lead melody instrument when the "punk" thing is to chug along in the background? Must have missed your name in the Hall of Fame, sorry.
Can anyone innovate with the bass though, using it as a lead melody instrument when the "punk" thing is to chug along in the background? Must have missed your name in the Hall of Fame, sorry.
your statement is vaguely arguable!
i don't see your name either in the hall of fame! so what's your point? but then again... it doesn't matter!
BillONdollar wrote:
Can anyone innovate with the bass though, using it as a lead melody instrument when the "punk" thing is to chug along in the background? Must have missed your name in the Hall of Fame, sorry.
your statement is vaguely arguable!
i don't see your name either in the hall of fame! so what's your point? but then again... it doesn't matter!
I'm not the one who is trying to say that the role of the bass player in shaping the New Order sound was irrelevant!
That's wild. Touch like trying to seperate the colours of a Rainbow. Nature of Colours is subjective.
Skills wise. NO is certainly more than its parts. Trying to distill and analyse detracts. Same concept, believe, holds true for Lyrics.
14 K wrote:
You are beautiful
14 K wrote:
Skills wise. NO is certainly more than its parts. Trying to distill and analyse detracts. Same concept, believe, holds true for Lyrics.
wow! poetry in motion...that's cool 
By 'talent' are we refering to penis size? Than probably Hooky?
But in all seriousness, I think this is like trying to compare apples to oranges... and none of them are superior to each other.
CASE IN POINT: None of the band members have made any side projects that have really amounted to anything... now they have good sound, and NO fans will gooble it up... but there is the end of the appeal... Electronic, Monaco and the Other Two are all music that sounds so remeniscent of NO... none of them can escape the sound, because none of them got there by themselves.... they needed each other to produce the sound, and can't produce anything else without the other members... a member that eclipses the other band members can go to other projects and make them musically competable to their 'original' sound.... no one in NO has done that yet....
I'd have to say Gillian and Steve (it seems reasonable to treat them as the one person). Rumour was that they were responsible for the majority of the music on Technique while Barney and Hooky were out clubbing.
But really, each member is important in their own way, and the question of "talent" is really irrelevant in that context. NO without any of the components just wouldn't be NO (although Hooky's making a good stab of it with Monaco).
Boatraceface wrote:
14 K wrote:
is subjective.
Mate.
BRF.. :sleepy: Cheque's in t' mail.
Have to admit that NO's sound together got it right.
The coolest is BARNEY,the GreATEST IS hooky BUT THE MOST talented is STEVE. And GILLIAN was PERFECT.
But i can change my mind sooner than you think.
I think that New Order is one of the most balanced bands out there. Normally, you'd have one or two real talents and the rest are almost disposable members. With New Order, everyone contributes to the sound and if one is missing, the music will be lacking.
They're a sum of their parts,fook the 'who's best' argument,we all have our favourites.But you can't get away from the fact that it's the whole thing together that makes them what they are.Outwardly tho',Bernard does seem to have the basis for an argument 
Depends what 'talented' means...
Most technically accomplished = Steve. He has great timing and power.
Most creative = Barney (probably). Not great on any particular instrument, but very good melodically and with arrangements.
Hooky has a great ear for a melody and created an unusual role for the bass in New Order, but technically most of what he does is pretty simple.
Steve's the best musician.
DC wrote: Depends what 'talented' means...
Most technically accomplished = Steve. He has great timing and power.
Most creative = Barney (probably). Not great on any particular instrument, but very good melodically and with arrangements.
Hooky has a great ear for a melody and created an unusual role for the bass in New Order, but technically most of what he does is pretty simple.
Steve's the best musician.
+1
Barney, but it would be interesting to see how he would compare to the band's bass player.
If they had one.
Jeffari-al-Texani wrote:
MONTY wrote: SARGE!!
Does he make a nice cuppa tea like Gillian?
I'm too scared to ask him for one!
