New Order- technique (remaster)

i always thought this album should have been called 'lack of technique' or 'easy song writing technique's or something a little more clear about what it was..

after succesfully breaking up, new order decided for some reason to get back together and give it another try....and oh how we suffered for it...

what is easily one of the most cliche ridden, pop-tastic, and formulaic albums ever conceived, in a way, it's more PSB than they are...its a product, and that's what it sounded like..

i heard the advance mixes on cassette before the album came out, and could hardly believe it was new order, all traces of the group i knew were gone...where's the bass, the offkey singing, the odd lyrics...

everything was washed off in a crushing wave of over production, glitz, and totally demoralizing studio sheen..... not one errant note, not one original sound, nothing left..

the disintegration of new order was complete by now..

So lets talk about specifics: for the album

1. its hard to mess up the bland sound of the original album, since its so processed in the first place...so the remaster surprisingly doesn't really sound any better than the original cd...

2. well if you want a variety of sounds to listen to, listen to 'fine time', as it puts the various frequencies through their paces, they all come out fine..

I'm listening through altec-lansing speakers, and also through headphones

3. the acousticy version of 'run' give you an idea of the quieter parts, and they hold up too..

4. Tracks are complete and not missing parts, no glitches, or stutters.

The bonus disc:

1. a uniform, and pretty uneventful set of tracks chosen here from the myriad of edits/remixes/versions that were actually released

2. again, the sound quality is pretty bad in a few cases, with glitches, pops and clicks...

3. suprisingly run2 is actually run2 (remix), and correct..

4. even more surprising is the inclusion of MTO -well actually the minus mix....another track you'd never thought you would get around to hearing...

5. basically, you're getting a lot of instrumentals, that might as well be elevator music if you really listen to them..

===================================================

no, i can't recommend this, not for the album, not for the remaster, not for the bonus disc...

there's not one iota of what 'new order' stood for, what they represented, or what they were..

don't get it, you've been warned..'run' don't walk away from this one..

unless you want a snapshot of late 80's, and early 90's cliched styles (techno/acid/folksy guitar work/etc)

no truer lyrics from 'new order' were spoken -> 'the picture you see, is no portrait of me' - round and round

RIP new order... we hardly knew you...

later -1

Get fucked

This album is absolutely fantastic. It combines the guitars and synths that made New Order what they were, but in a more modern version, particularly at this time, as the house scene was taking off. You can't diss Bernard's lyrics here unless you diss them all.

I seriously question your judgement -1, saying that the perfect kiss remastered edition sounds fine when it is full of pops and crackles that make it sound like there's a extra drum beat in there.

-1 wrote: ...'run' don't walk away from this one...

RIP new order... we hardly knew you...

later -1

Yeah, typical, if you wouldn't do it for yourself in a better quality, it wouldn't be any good...

http://chronovisor.blogspot.com/2008/09/decadence-of-80s-part-44.html

cheers,

|cv|

-1 still bonkers after all these years

Even if Technique isn't somebody's FAVOURITE New Order album (which I think for many many people it is) if you hate it as much as the reviewer does, I really don't see how he would like any of their work.

It's textbook New Order if not total genius.

It's their best album.

mark reed wrote: It's their best album.

Agreed!

It's only my opinion, but Technique was New Order's greatest achievement LP wise, musically, lyrically, and they managed to encapsulate the whole "Acid House" period in 40 minutes of vinyl, alongside a few other artists releases from the same period. A great achievement. Low Life and PCL were great too, but Technique for me was New Order's strongest and most coherent album.

-1 wrote: no truer lyrics from 'new order' were spoken -> 'the picture you see, is no portrait of me' - round and round

RIP new order... we hardly knew you...

Yeah no lyrics about penis :(

I see -1 published his review on Amazon...

Pash wrote: I see -1 published his review on Amazon...

Well, most reviews on Amazon are drivel....

hey to each their own..

i'll admit it, i'm not worried about how other people perceive it.. if you like it, more power to you.....

but seriously, look back at their first 3 albums, and tell me that didn't define 'new order' mark I ...

don't you think something was lost after their breakup?

why do they go so far off-track with their second incarnation? it's like listening to a totally different band?

if i wanted smooth synths, jangly guitars, and laid back lyrics, i would listen to the 'pet shop boys', 'erasure', etc..

i think its fitting that they include a mix of 'world in motion' as the very last track to demonstrate the culmination of the 'new order' sound for the end of the 80's, beginning of the 90's....

pure 100% pop, and a complete smash hit as their only number 1 hit...

no, not the 'perfect kiss', not 'blue monday', not 'temptation...

'world in motion' indeed..

think about that..

i would like to see how others review this album, and not just say that its good, or its their best.. but EXPLAIN why..

i'll read everyones review... it may not convince me, but it would be interesting...

i might have thought new order died in 1987.. but apparently a lot of you thought there was still life in them..

(and as a future note, i'm expecting even less with 'republic', 'get ready' and 'waiting for the sirens call' album + unreleased sessions)..

thanks for all the comments...

later -1

Technique was my favourite album - it's the album I listen to most nowadays...

As for the comment:

"there's not one iota of what 'new order' stood for, what they represented, or what they were.."

Bollocks...

-1

Why do you spend SO MUCH TIME analyzing and moaning about how few tracks have been remastered and released on CD, when you stopped liking the band 22 years ago???

What does it matter if umpteen bloody mixes haven't been rereleased on CD if you ain't liked the band since 1986???!!

Go out and get some fresh air and play for a while!

You remind me of a certain AJ Wells back in the Ceremony mailing list days...

Andy

Mr Discography wrote: -1

Why do you spend SO MUCH TIME analyzing and moaning about how few tracks have been remastered and released on CD, when you stopped liking the band 22 years ago???

What does it matter if umpteen bloody mixes haven't been rereleased on CD if you ain't liked the band since 1986???!!

Go out and get some fresh air and play for a while!

You remind me of a certain AJ Wells back in the Ceremony mailing list days...

Andy

why is anyone here? am i the first person to complain? hardly.. if you're going to review a dead band, you need to look at the complete picture.. all their good points and bad ones..

this is one of them..

by the way, i don't like their albums, but some of the remixes they've put out recently are actually pretty decent...

later -1

Except you don't seem to realise that your opinion is not necessarily shared by others...

Well based on this I'm now convinced that -1 talks through his arse. I wasn't sure before but this is grade A proof. And he's deaf.

[quote user="-1after succesfully breaking up, new order decided for some reason to get back together and give it another try....and oh how we suffered for it...

what is easily one of the most cliche ridden, pop-tastic, and formulaic albums ever conceived, in a way, it's more PSB than they are...its a product, and that's what it sounded like..-1

It sounds more like he's reviewing republic

Mr Discography wrote: -1

Why do you spend SO MUCH TIME analyzing and moaning about how few tracks have been remastered and released on CD, when you stopped liking the band 22 years ago???

What does it matter if umpteen bloody mixes haven't been rereleased on CD if you ain't liked the band since 1986???!!

Go out and get some fresh air and play for a while!

You remind me of a certain AJ Wells back in the Ceremony mailing list days...

Andy

Nah, he reminds me of -1 from the Ceremony mailing list days. Who could forget the endless posts about the International 2 'project'? Now all this talk about Remasters redux and his ears have pricked up again...

Honestly, I just don't understand how one could be soooo anal about a band whose music you haven't enjoyed since 20 years ago? Slagging off Technique in your so-called Final Review - your prerogative but shows a shocking grasp of New Order's development - is the final straw.

I'll defo buy Technique and Brotherhood for the remasteration. Not sure if it's worth the excess dosh shelling for the rest...

Nick King wrote: Technique was my favourite album - it's the album I listen to most nowadays...

As for the comment:

"there's not one iota of what 'new order' stood for, what they represented, or what they were.."

Bollocks...

where's gillian keyboards/guitar work? -> totally programmed, and generic

where's hooky's bass? -> minimized completely

what happened to the drumming -> drum computers

what about bernards vocals -> completely neutered into a clean smooth sound..

that's what i meant..

it was almost like a precursor to 'electronic'.. which i actually don't mind since it's a different band..

later -1

Wow...-1, you couldnt be more wrong about this album.

Reading your review, I genuinely thought it was a joke, like somebody was writing the most idiotic and sneering review possible. I kept waiting for the punchline and realised you were serious.

I don't know how anyone could like New Order and not show some appreciation for this album. It's fucking brilliant.

FtotheDoubleOff wrote: Wow...-1, you couldnt be more wrong about this album.

Reading your review, I genuinely thought it was a joke, like somebody was writing the most idiotic and sneering review possible. I kept waiting for the punchline and realised you were serious.

I don't know how anyone could like New Order and not show some appreciation for this album. It's **** brilliant.

and i keep waiting for someone to actually reply,

and give their review, and explain what they mean..

and say why they think its so good..

i have yet to see anyone reply..

will you try? no one else seems to be able to..

later -1

-1 wrote:

FtotheDoubleOff wrote: Wow...-1, you couldnt be more wrong about this album.

Reading your review, I genuinely thought it was a joke, like somebody was writing the most idiotic and sneering review possible. I kept waiting for the punchline and realised you were serious.

I don't know how anyone could like New Order and not show some appreciation for this album. It's **** brilliant.

and i keep waiting for someone to actually reply,

and give their review, and explain what they mean..

and say why they think its so good..

i have yet to see anyone reply..

will you try? no one else seems to be able to..

later -1

We can't be bothered, because we've wasted enough time replying to your messages already - and know you've wrong on this one!

'Nuff said.

-1 wrote:

Nick King wrote: Technique was my favourite album - it's the album I listen to most nowadays...

As for the comment:

"there's not one iota of what 'new order' stood for, what they represented, or what they were.."

Bollocks...

where's gillian keyboards/guitar work? -> totally programmed, and generic

where's hooky's bass? -> minimized completely

what happened to the drumming -> drum computers

what about bernards vocals -> completely neutered into a clean smooth sound..

that's what i meant..

it was almost like a precursor to 'electronic'.. which i actually don't mind since it's a different band..

later -1

I believe Bernard's vocals have a 'clean smooth sound' in True Faith as well. In this album he actually presents a nice melodic voice that works perfectly with the upbeat but melancholy songs. The lyrics, whatever their inspiration, are painful but somehow uplifting with the music.

I didn't know that Gillian did much of the creative side for the keys, but I've seen Dream Attack a few times to see the guitar playing...

Hooky's bass, while not as pronounced as Brotherhood or PCL, is certainly there. To me its much higher, something like TPK, which is completely understandable for a techno/house style of music.

And as for Stephen, there's a quote: "I always wanted to be a drum machine" Some of the styles on the songs for Technique would be rather difficult, even for a prodigy like Morris. You've said that your fave album is PC&L. Aren't there a few sequences on that?

If you like the first three albums and only those, that's fine. But clearly NO represent more than that and are famous for their longevity and creativity and diversity. It's musak for you, but music for us.

Later

I second everyone elses opinion, this album is the pinacle of New Order.

Knuckles wrote:

I believe Bernard's vocals have a 'clean smooth sound' in True Faith as well. In this album he actually presents a nice melodic voice that works perfectly with the upbeat but melancholy songs. The lyrics, whatever their inspiration, are painful but somehow uplifting with the music.

I didn't know that Gillian did much of the creative side for the keys, but I've seen Dream Attack a few times to see the guitar playing...

Hooky's bass, while not as pronounced as Brotherhood or PCL, is certainly there. To me its much higher, something like TPK, which is completely understandable for a techno/house style of music.

And as for Stephen, there's a quote: "I always wanted to be a drum machine" Some of the styles on the songs for Technique would be rather difficult, even for a prodigy like Morris. You've said that your fave album is PC&L. Aren't there a few sequences on that?

If you like the first three albums and only those, that's fine. But clearly NO represent more than that and are famous for their longevity and creativity and diversity. It's musak for you, but music for us.

Later

thank you for actually posting that..

of course i'm interested in what other people think.. just because i live in my little world of 'new order', and was influenced by them a long time ago..

that's why i have such a hard time with the transition they made....

i wanted to be challenged by the music, but it didn't do it for me......

i know other people liked it.. of course, i'm sure they enjoyed a lot more commercial, and financial success from their latter albums..

however, to me, they lost the mystique that they had by being original sounding, and artistic during the early eras..

the fact that the music on this album, could be categorized so easily, made it much more accessible, and acceptable to the masses...

yeah, i was being selfish by wanting to keep new order as a low-key indie type band .... but i still think they could have balanced artistic integrity with commercial success...

thanks again, for the insight..

later -1

-1, I have been following new order since 84 and never knew they nearly broke up prior to Technique, as you state at the top of your review. for a second, i thought you were about to review Republic... most of your review certainly applies, imho, more to Republic than Technique... just do a Find and Replace with the titles....

Can you educate me on that, the falling out prior to Technique?

I am, like most here, too well aware of the chaos prior to Republic, but always thought the period between 1982 and 1989 was their most prolific and uninterrupted.....

p.s. Technique is my most beloved New Order album, for many reasons, none of which I shall share.

to each their own.

Tarbox23 wrote: -1, I have been following new order since 84 and never knew they nearly broke up prior to Technique, as you state at the top of your review. for a second, i thought you were about to review Republic... most of your review certainly applies, imho, more to Republic than Technique... just do a Find and Replace with the titles....

Can you educate me on that, the falling out prior to Technique?

I am, like most here, too well aware of the chaos prior to Republic, but always thought the period between 1982 and 1989 was their most prolific and uninterrupted.....

p.s. Technique is my most beloved New Order album, for many reasons, none of which I shall share.

to each their own.

well, actually the pre-republic break-up was widely known, so yeah, this seemed out of place..

i agree, new order WERE prolific during the 82-89 era..

far be it for me to spread news or rumors... but i trusted the source that this came from..

so take this for what you will..

i used to be at the record shops every week looking for new music, and of course looking for new order stuff during this time period..

well during the era, substance came out, and everyone was very excited.. well, the store manager who knew about the music industry, and was in touch with groups.... he was responsible for bringing a lot of alternative, 'new wave' type groups to houston..

anyways, i was buying it, and talking to the manager, and he was going on about how this was the 'last' album, etc.. and i said what? because i didn't really read the music magazines, or have internet etc..

and he goes yeah, 'true faith' will be released and maybe a few more tracks but that was it...

anyways, so it turned out that there were actually a few more singles, like blue monday 88, and eventually 'touched by the hand of God'...
so i kept asking what was up if they kept putting out material, and he mentioned they were just doing soundtracks etc.. but he had 'heard' from sources they weren't working together, and that it was inevitable that they were breaking up..

well, nothing came out for the few years in between, and then one day i'm in the store, and the manager says hey guess what? and i ask, and he says there is some information about 'new order', and thats when he played the demo tape for 'technique', and thats when i heard it first.. that's why i was so suprised to find out it was actually them... i had to look at it to make sure it was really them... it seemed like such a radical departure from their earlier works..

and he told me that they had worked things out, and had gotten back together, and the new album was coming out.....

or so i was told..

later -1

For someone who was stated that they own Blancmange and Thompson Twins albums, it's really difficult not to look at this negative review toward the album itself as an act of trolling for attention. I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion since art is subjective, so to each their own. With that said, I love this album and could care less to explain why. At least I now know not buy the reissue due to it's technical problems on the bonus tracks, so thanks for the heads up. Better off just hunting down the CD singles and getting Run 2/MTO as seperate downloads on ITunes.

another interesting thing about 'technique'..

i did listen to the whole pre-mix tape while in the store,....

this was before there was news about the album coming out..

i guess i should have asked the guy if he wanted to sell it, or something later on..

but i wasn't really into it, and there wasn't a way to remember how different it was, or what changes were on it..

looking back, it would have been a good piece of history..

i know we have heard the demo tracks from this era, but maybe the premix tape had some differences?

later -1

Re-Member wrote: For someone who was stated that they own Blancmange and Thompson Twins albums, it's really difficult not to look at this negative review toward the album itself as an act of trolling for attention.

please,

i'm an avid 80's music fan.....i listen to pretty much every group that ever came out.. from a to z..

808 state abc big country blancmange cabaret voltaire the cure duran duran depeche mode echo and the bunnymen erasure flock of seagulls go west human league heaven 17 inxs kraftwerk ktp level 42 ministry new order omd pet shop boys simple minds tears for fears thomas dolby thompson twins u2 ultravox wang chung xymox

i'm also a huge collector of vinyl, and now cd's..

so that's why i tend to pay attention to all those releases also..

anyways, my point is, i listen to a lot of different music, and different types also.. (not just 80's stuff)..

its just that new order had a special place, and has always been one of top/favorite bands from 1983-1987 ................it really did redefine an era of music that i think has never been captured again...

that's why it was so hard for me to accept the changes that they went through..

it's like that for a lot of other bands i like too.. duran duran, depeche mode, u2, ultravox, simple minds.. all of them have fallen, and fallen hard in my eyes..

i think its very hard for a group to sustain their urgency, and creativity over a long period of time. and i'm pretty sure they would get bored doing the same thing over and over, despite how much fans would wish they would continue sounding the way they liked them..

but that's another discussion..

later -1

My favorite NO album...ever!!!

Why didn't you say this before -1? Of course your perspective to Technique is different if that was your context.

I love NO because when I first heard them it was from International, but when I started getting the albums there were all these hidden gems.

-1 wrote:

well during the era, substance came out, and everyone was very excited.. well, the store manager who knew about the music industry, and was in touch with groups.... he was responsible for bringing a lot of alternative, 'new wave' type groups to houston.. -1

Lemme guess, Record Rack

The thing is, Technique is not nearly as commericial or manufactured sounding as some of the groups you've listed, so why do place higher standards toward New Order over the others you've mentioned? I could see if New Order were an extremely experimental, subversive and non-commericial act then pulled an album like Technique out of nowhere (the group SPK comes to mind here), but that's not the case. The structure of their work itself has always been rather traditional within the context of pop music. Techinque isn't even that drastically different of an album than Brotherhood. Mix both albums together and the only tracks that would seem out of place would be Fine Time and perhaps Round & Round.

I would choose New Order's Technique over any album by a few of groups that you've listed, but that's just me. Musicially, I love New Order and they are my favorite pop group, but I have far more respect artistically toward a handful of other recording and performance acts, so I guess can somewhat see your point of view, but even I know that slamming Techinque on a New Order message board is a bit controversial and will provoke backlash, which is why I stated it seemed like you were trolling for reactions.

dave soligo wrote:

-1 wrote:

well during the era, substance came out, and everyone was very excited.. well, the store manager who knew about the music industry, and was in touch with groups.... he was responsible for bringing a lot of alternative, 'new wave' type groups to houston.. -1

Lemme guess, Record Rack

dude, you nailed it on the head !!!!!!!!!!

bruce godwin was the man for awhile, if it weren't for him, i would have probably never heard of 90% of the groups i did, or see them in concert at 'numbers'...

granted, he was snobby, uptight, and pretentious at times... but hey, at least he was nice in the store.

i know i spent several thousand dollars there..

did you go there? or know him? interesting...

later -1

Re-Member wrote: The thing is, Technique is not nearly as commericial or manufactured sounding as some of the groups you've listed, so why do place higher standards toward New Order over the others you've mentioned?

to me new order never quite fit in with the usual groups, and musical categories..

i know they were lumped in with 'new wave' acts, right after 'true faith' made them a major hit, and then the resurrection of 'bizarre love triangle', and then they were actually staples on the radio...

i always placed them in a high status, because of the things mentioned several times on this board:

artwork , and craft - these always went hand in hand with their releases, and showed that is was not just an afterthought with their music.. [note that ultravox also used saville for covers]

musical integrity - did we used to hear them on the radio? on tv? countless times promoting their albums? see them do numerous interviews? no, all these things were less important at the time, and the music always came first... [or so we believed]..

live standards and touring - yes, they would tour extensively at times, and support their work, not go on limited tours, and only visit a few places like they seem to have done near the end..

i'll admit again, i have selfishly put my own wishes for the band, before their own ideas..

yes, they needed progression, but it was much harder to swallow... i also felt betrayed by u2, simple minds, and a lot of other groups that are still around..

groups like the pet shop boys, echo and the bunnymen, duran duran, etc... do experiment, but they seem to stay pretty safe within the confines of what they've done before, so its not too hard to to allow them to continue being status quo..

I could see if New Order were an extremely experimental, subversive and non-commericial act then pulled an album like Technique out of nowhere (the group SPK comes to mind here), but that's not the case. The structure of their work itself has always been rather traditional within the context of pop music. Techinque isn't even that drastically different of an album than Brotherhood. Mix both albums together and the only tracks that would seem out of place would be Fine Time and perhaps Round & Round.

yeah, i agree with you to an extent.. in my review for brotherhood, i was also suprised at the direction that they were going ... and didn't realize how far they would go in that direction..

I would choose New Order's Technique over any album by a few of groups that you've listed, but that's just me. Musicially, I love New Order and they are my favorite pop group, but I have far more respect artistically toward a handful of other recording and performance acts, so I guess can somewhat see your point of view, but even I know that slamming Techinque on a New Order message board is a bit controversial and will provoke backlash, which is why I stated it seemed like you were trolling for reactions.

yes, my posts are lengthy enough as it is, without delving into the whole history of new order, which ironically, we end up doing here..

i think in the old days of ceremony, rhetoric, ideals, and essays were more appropriate there.. than on a message forum.. where shorter posts seem to be more the norm..

this coming from a dinosaur (like me), who still seems to live in the past..

i need to learn how not to deter new listeners from checking out something they might like, and not alienate the older listeners that prefer a different sound...

thanks again for your insightful comments..

later -1

I am listening to the remaster, I have to say it's really great ! The bonus cd has some minor flaws.....

I think Technique is the best New Order album by far..

To make things worse :-(, After Violator its my favorite all-time album....

Wow -1's review is weird. Others have already commented on how wrong some aspects of it seem, such as how it could apply to Republic and not Technique, how it sounds much less commercial than many of the bands -1 lists.

-1 criticises pop music but there is nothing inherentlt wrong with popmusic; the Beatles were pop. The fact that so much bad music has been labelled as pop does not make all pop music bad. But that is an aside.

-1's perspective on Technique was ifluenced by his time and pace so let me tell you why Technique is probably my favourite NO album and why it is both relevant and important for me and not a band selling out.

For a teenager growing up in England in 1989 Technique is the epitome of all that was happening in music; at a time when music was changing. With Technique New Order were widing the crest of a wave; a wave that they had started.

Indie music was popular but really not that popular. It didn't bother the charts and it didn't get played on daytime radio. It is easy to forget that now that so much mainstream music has been influenced by 80s indie music. If you liked indie music in the 80s there weren't many radio shows, John Peel is the one we all listened to, and there weren't many indie clubs, just student unions and gigs ain dives not stadia.

Nightclubs were awful places that played cart music, were frequented by townies and were largely for pulling (q.v. the "erection section" most nightclubs had at the end of the night) and were not about music. Some clubs were about music but they tended to be very cliquey soul clubs that altered to an older crowd.

Indie musc changed that by changing itself. It got caught up in the late 80s dance music craze. That craze was influenced by, andled by New Order.

I first really became aware of acid house through records like jack your body by Steve Silk Hurley an Derby, where I grew up, had one of the earliest house clubs, 20th century but I was too young to go at that stage.

I remember seeing Voodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald on the Chart Show's Indie Chart Countdown. That was when I started to listen to more electronic music. Afterall John Peel was playing Stakker Humanoid.

A lot of this music sounded like the strangely prescient "ecstasy" of 6 years earlier.

Technique was not so much New Order embracing this new electronic dance music (they had always embraced it), it was them, once again, leading the way.

The music on technique should be heard in that context. Fine Time is part of the same continuum as Blue Monday.

After this everything changed. Dance music clubs sprang up everywhere and by the mid 90s became the mainstream (and consequently boring).

Guitar based Indie music became its most popular ever with "Britpop" and the likes of Blur and Oasis which were influenced by 80s indie via "baggy" (which was equally influenced by dance music).

New Order had preceded and predicted all of this. Brotherhood and Technique are the two sides of this transformation of music.

Technique is a great album that came out at a great time. In many ways it is the completion of the journey that NO (and JD) began; a journey that changed muic.

By the time Republic came out everything was different.

I've typed this most in hurry and I have visitors so can't check it just yet, but I hope that you can understand my thesis and I hope -1 can see exactly why Technique is loved by so many.

Yeah, some bloke in a record shop 3,000 miles away knows the band has broken up before the band know it, and that makes it gospel truth.

When I go on holiday does that mean I have split up from work?

People have been saying New Order have split up since 1986, unless they've actually split up, then they haven't. Or as the band would say "Up your arse!"

mark reed wrote: Yeah, some bloke in a record shop 3,000 miles away knows the band has broken up before the band know it, and that makes it gospel truth.

to be fair, i said i was skeptical..

however, this is not just some person off the street.

this person was highly involved in the music scene, had countless contacts in the industry..

had ALL the prerelease material way before it was available commercially, and had pictures with all the artists as proof.. not everbody has access to those..

here's an archive of some of the pictures

http://web.archive.org/web/20020405152050/recordrack.com/pics.html

he ran several music clubs in houston that booked most of the alternate/new wave bands that came into houston, and he single handedly helped the radio stations discover the latest in music trends, groups, and the whole scene in general..

there used to be a website with all the information for the concerts, groups, etc...check it out:

old concerts from 1979 to 2008 http://www.numbersnightclub.com/index.php?page=past

so before you discard someones credentials so easily, you might want to actually do some research into who they are..

later -1

New Order have been rubbish at keeping secrets : but there wasn't anything to keep secret in 1988 - I think we all heard that the band were planning to spend some time off after the next album but not then.

The reviews on Amazon are generally not worth reading - everything is five stars and wonderful etc. However, this fantastic review of Technique caught my eye - well written - and I agree with everything he says:-

"What a moment the unleashing of this music was on the world of New Order fans! This is one of the most important releases and collections of music released by NO in a career littered with important dates, career jumps, exploration and advancement. Well, at least under Factory.

There is nothing that can take away from the music that is contained in Technique, except hindsight. We can listen to this album now knowing that it represents the end of the classic period of New Order and the end of their involvement with Factory. It represents a goodbye and closure which is made all the more poignant by the fact that at the time we had no realisation that the passing of an era was coming about. I mean ok, we get 'World in Motion' after this, but while it reached no. 1 - it was quintessentially not an integral part of the New Order plan and vision. It could also be seen as a major dilution and closing of the chapter of New Order as musicial adventurers!

Technique also has to be judged by what came after in terms of NO's catalogue at the hands of London and now Rhino and these reissues. Lets not beat about the bushes. There was something fabulous about the structure, look, detail and contents of NO's Factory releases. What can be said about London and now Rhino?

London began the prostitution of the NO back catalogues. Between 1994 and 2005 they inflicted on the market five compilations and two remix albums; most of these have no real logic or proper structure to them, with the possible exception of the last 'best of' Singles - which tries in look and its ethos to follow in the footsteps of Substance. Some of the releases have been close to criminal in their poor execution: the box set was one of the worst, unstructured releases by a major artist: NO seemingly content to farm out and 'outsource' the whole thing to music journos and celeb fans.

I have nothing but admiration for Rhino generally and their reputation speaks for itself. But who it needs to be asked was responsible for the unnecessary release of these five 1980s albums in these formats with all the flab, crap and tracks easily available added on? Rhino really need to own up, identify that person, and fire them, 'cus this detracts and diminishes from their excellent reputation. And the reputation of New Order.

These releases are a sad day and a sad postscript in the history of the once mighty New Order. I for one would like to hear what the band think."

I love it ! - "London began the prostitution of the NO backcatalogue..." - classic. Hats off to Mr.G.Hassan (Glasgow) the author of this fine critique. I sincerely hope that London Records do read this piece Mr Hassan and send out the old P45's to the Remaster team.