Do you resent Republic for its lack of H00ky?

kel wrote:

M1 wrote: Yeah maybe it would be better with more Hooky but as somebody already mentioned, he's underplayed on Technique as well and that's arguably their finest work.

Hooky underplayed on Technique??!! You think so?

Ok, underplayed is the wrong word. But it's definitely more subtle and used less as a leading instrument as it has been before and since. Fine Time, Mr Disco & Dream Attack use it pretty sparingly and that's a third of the album. It's not a criticism by the way, not every NO song needs to have a trademark Hooky bass run.

kel wrote: Been to Adelaide by the way,gorgeous city,wish I lived there

Cheers! Most people think it's a crap place for a holiday but a lovely place to live, kinda the opposite of Sydney :)

Along with Technique, it's the NO album that is most thematically consistent.

Never mind the quality, feel the thematic consistency...

Jonny Donepoindatgunname wrote:

Along with Technique, it's the NO album that is most thematically consistent.

Never mind the quality, feel the thematic consistency...

I mean only that some music works better as a whole than piecemeal. Side 2 of Abbey Road contains none of the Beatles better songs. "You Never Give Me Your Money", maybe. But it's rather effective as a unit. To take an example closer to home, neither "Candidate" nor "I Remember Nothing" are ever going to be top of the JD pops, but they work rather well in context.

Shit album for me.My ears don't piss blood or anything like that,it's not offensive,it's just flat with nothing in it for myself.

I remember being disappointed getting it at the time when it first came out,playing it over and over,getting bored of trying to like it.

Apart from the obviously sublime 'Regret' which is just thee most beautiful of all songs,musically,lyrically-everything. I loved Regret immediately and I love it now,really love the bitch...I still listen to it now when I'm driving,my kids know every word,I look for it on the Dukey wherever I go,and get a buzz if it comes on the radio.I'm obsessed with Regret.Breakfast,dinner and tea-I'm a Regret bore.It's right up there with Crystal,Ceremony,Temptation,Vanishing Point,Run....A real classic.

It was always going to be downhill on Republic after 'Regret' That's the kindest thing I can think of to say about the album...It was a lot downhill,mind-shite in my opinion. 'Regret' more than justifies Republic's existence though. 'Special' has a moment here and there,but now I'm just looking for something else decent to say about it.So no,it's shite.

Overall,New Order's worst album IMO

El Jarvo wrote: I don't resent Republic for the lack of Hooky, I resent it cos it's just a bit shit.

well said

I pretty much love everything about Republic, except the rapping in Times Change. And I can even like that if I'm in a jovial mood. Cover art takes my fancy too!

The only New Order album I liked completely from the first listen.

Yes, yes I do. I seethe with resentment towards it. I often make sarky remarks to it as I pass the cd shelving unit. I think they pass right over its head though, as it sits there, imperiously and infuriatingly smug in its jejune Hooklessness. But _I_ know what I meant, and so I chuckle silently to myself as I pass on my way.

Republic was the first New Order album I heard and, honestly, I found it odd that the former Joy Division sounded like the Pet Shop Boys.

I agree with the aforementioned reproaches, although I don't care much for Hooky's bass on that album. The production is too smooth and pop and, in retrospect, it undermined its sound for further listening decades later. I understand it was a house album but look at Electronic's first album, it was much better produced due to its smart simplicity (for the same very reason, Raise The Pressure was a huge hit-and-miss).

i wonder sometimes if half of the muppets on here know anything about new order or thier history,specially the yankee ones.you got nothing better to do than sit in your bedroom and analyse republic all day.get a life we all know the story.as for you nerds moaning about the remasters,dont you see theyll be collectors items with all the glitches

chelsea wrote: i wonder sometimes if half of the muppets on here know anything about new order or thier history,specially the yankee ones.you got nothing better to do than sit in your bedroom and analyse republic all day.get a life we all know the story.as for you nerds moaning about the remasters,dont you see theyll be collectors items with all the glitches

Surely, a little harsh for a second post? Is it you, Steve?

I just resent Republic for its lack of toons really. Apart from Regret it's really a bit of a dud for me which i put down to the solo projects, because they've never been the most prolific writers. Cull the best tracks from electronic, revenge and the other two, new orderize them, and they would have put out one fine album. Least favourite album along with Movement and WFTSC

Republic would have been a decent Barney solo LP, but without the full band it's not a Neworder LP. I believe that a lot of the cruft and filler on it is a result of Barney getting "serious" about his "songwriting" "craft", whereas for a lot of people the Hooky bass sound is a key component of the whole JD/NO sound, without which something special and magic is lost.

Yeah, I despise the horrid little thing (aside from Regret, of course).