How great is republic?

Republic does appear to be NO's marmite album. You either love it or hate.

Well, I love it. Granted it isn't their greatest album by some way but it has some nice little little quirks.

1. Hooky's base is definitely there but in a subtle kind of way. He isn't dominating the sound as on many previous albums but his bass has a sort of mellow, underlying sound that works well on many of the songs. I am listening to the album as I write this and he plays some great stuff on the album.

2. Barney's quirky lyrics abound and from time to time fall into brilliance.

3. Every Everywhere is in my all-time top-5 NO songs.

4. I think the album version of Ruined in a Day is the worst song on the album but then you listen to the K-Klass remix and you get your mind blown.

5. Liar, Young Offender and Special are pretty good and Spooky is brilliant (original and remixed).

6. Plenty of female harmonies on the album and they are something different for NO. Even made a come-back on Music Complete.

7. Regret is a really strong track. I liked World even more.

Having liked their 80's hits and loved True Faith, this was the first NO album I purchased. From listening to it, I worked backwards and bought all their old albums. Can you imagine what it was like to suddenly realise New Order's brilliance and discover that you now had another 6 albums to listen too? I also bought Electronic after listening to Republic.

For me, Republic has led to a love for New Order's music, the discovery of Joy Division and Electronic and the incredible experience of seeing the band play live. Pogo-ing to the chorus of True Faith with thousands of others in the rain at Electric Picnic in 2006 was unforgettable. Republic is the starting point of my New Order experience and I'm sure it turned others onto the band too.

Probably not loved by the band (Steve has said as much) or the hardcore fans of the day but it is still great!

TF1.0

I love Regret, liked Ruined In A Day (well I did when Republic came out, haven't listened to it in ages), and preferred the Oakenfold remix of World and the Fluke remix of Spooky to the album versions, otherwise I can't honestly say that I think Republic is all that, the overall production just seems bland following the Factory albums and everything apart from Regret too forgettable.

truefaith1.0 wrote: Republic does appear to be NO's marmite album. You either love it or hate.

Well, I love it. Granted it isn't their greatest album by some way but it has some nice little little quirks.

1. Hooky's base is definitely there but in a subtle kind of way. He isn't dominating the sound as on many previous albums but his bass has a sort of mellow, underlying sound that works well on many of the songs. I am listening to the album as I write this and he plays some great stuff on the album.

2. Barney's quirky lyrics abound and from time to time fall into brilliance.

3. Every Everywhere is in my all-time top-5 NO songs.

4. I think the album version of Ruined in a Day is the worst song on the album but then you listen to the K-Klass remix and you get your mind blown.

5. Liar, Young Offender and Special are pretty good and Spooky is brilliant (original and remixed).

6. Plenty of female harmonies on the album and they are something different for NO. Even made a come-back on Music Complete.

7. Regret is a really strong track. I liked World even more.

Having liked their 80's hits and loved True Faith, this was the first NO album I purchased. From listening to it, I worked backwards and bought all their old albums. Can you imagine what it was like to suddenly realise New Order's brilliance and discover that you now had another 6 albums to listen too? I also bought Electronic after listening to Republic.

For me, Republic has led to a love for New Order's music, the discovery of Joy Division and Electronic and the incredible experience of seeing the band play live. Pogo-ing to the chorus of True Faith with thousands of others in the rain at Electric Picnic in 2006 was unforgettable. Republic is the starting point of my New Order experience and I'm sure it turned others onto the band too.

Probably not loved by the band (Steve has said as much) or the hardcore fans of the day but it is still great!

TF1.0

The worst thing about teaching is ocasionally you get something and don't agree with a fucking word but it's so beautifully argued you have to give it 10 / 10. You brute.

Sadly the Lego new order film has not been written yet , nor the new order star wars remakes, , nor neworder lord of the rings remakesHopefully, New Order ,the great pop band, will find the lego characterizations silly, but funny , with warmth and love oozing from every plastic pore. Yes , at 3 am , mountain time ( between central and pacific), but in alignment with Pacific time, just out of daylight savings time, on the Utah border, a Gila monster blew some special smoke flavors into my teepee. As for the reality of Lego new order - I wish more film makers would use new order songs , especially wes anderson, and I would love to see more films like snatch, the robt. ,Downey sherlocks and new order in more films, and hooray for republic

keepitcoming wrote: Yes , at 3 am ... a Gila monster blew some special smoke flavors into my teepee.

Say no more.

Republic is the New order album for people that bought their music from the Britannica Music Club . A kind of MOR New order for people who are very easily pleased.

Personally I haven't listened to it for years and have no enthusiasm to listen to it any time soon. It's not all bad and 'Side One' holds up fairly well, but there is a lot wrong with it.

Production was bland and there was no attempt to break new ground. Stephen Hague's production always sound like a sea of fog and where this album should of been bold and dynamic, it was lacklustre. Neworder should of been ambitious, but they bottled it. Did they ever recover...?

Of course there were under pressure to come up with a golden goose what would save Factory, but Wilson has already heard negative things about the album (as it then stood) before Factory's demise and it sounds forced and compromised. The excellent K-Klass remix of 'Ruined In a Day' gives you some idea what the band should really been doing with their sound (They mimed to this mix on TOTP, which showed nod to it)

New Order were always better producing albums themselves and Republic is polished glass. It sold though, so kept them in Pernod for a few more months.

Their best album IMHO. Opinions are like Skippy Chutes. Everyone has one.

Totally agree. Their best album. Can't wait for the remaster.

keepitcoming wrote: Sadly the Lego new order film has not been written yet , nor the new order star wars remakes, , nor neworder lord of the rings remakes

Yeah, I was looking forward to those. Still...

daftpunk wrote: Totally agree. Their best album. Can't wait for the remaster.

It was remastered in 2015. Available as digital download only (at least on iTunes). It's a good remaster with mush improved sound definition.

I remember Republic as being great. A great disappointment.

Regret promised so much...

Skip iTunes and go for HD versions which are available on a number of websites.

Many of the tracks on Republic get put on my Neworder playlists.

Regret is the standout and is Special very, very good. The Perfecto mix of World and K-Klass mix of RIAD are both quality tracks & improve on the decent but not great album versions. I have a soft spot for Spooky (Stadium mix) & Avalanche too.

But the key point is that I've never felt the temptation to stick the CD in the car and listen to the whole album right through - and I've even done that with Movement a few times, my least favourite Neworder album.

I think it is a GREAT album in full from start to finish, I remember that is one of the first cd's that I bought after hearing the song Regret on the NYC radio station Z100. I have great memories of that cd because my parents dove from NYC to Florida on route 1 south and I remember listening to it.

For an album that starts with Regret (one of my favourite New Order songs) - it completely peters out after Everyone Everywhere. The second side is really really weak, the songs seem one-paced, formulaic and I couldn't sing you a single one of them, or tell you the names of them if I heard them on the radio

NotAMod wrote: I'd like to see a fitting Deluxe Edition encompassing the best remixes, Vicious Circle and perhaps live performance or two. It's surely possible and hopefully will be included in the the rumoured slew of upcoming reissues/box-set.

I wouldn't hold your breath. World Perfecto and Spooky Stadium are light years ahead of the originals, but this probably has more to do with suss remixers than dud bands.

I sometimes used to think and still think Republic was staid and non ground breaking like a lot of music and culture around 1992-1993.I just remember that time 1992/1993 as quite static culture and music wise. Things picked up again 1994-1997 with releases from the likes of Future Sound Of London (Lifeforms in 1994 and Dead Cities in 1996), Orbital (Snivilization in 1994 and Insides in 1996) , Underworld's Dubnobasswithmyheadman in 1994 and Chemical Brothers' Exit Planet Dust in 1994 (1995?) and Dig Your Own Hole in 1997.Spritualized released Ladies & Gents We're Floating In Space in 1997.And so on and so on... oh and the likes of Portishead coming to the fore in the mid 90s.Unfortunately in the mid 90s we also had to suffer the dross of Blur and/or /vs Oasis but apart from that dreadful "Britpop" lot there was some great music 1994-1997.Republic came before all that and was systemic of a sag in music in the early 90s (bar Massive Attack's Blue Lines album in 1991 and House Of Love's Butterfly album in 1990) When i think of Republic i think of that seemingly, on the whole, uncreative era of music in the early 90s.

Thankyou

*drops mic, walks off*

You forgot the Spice Girls. 1996 was an awesome year for mucous. Suede's most accessible album to date, Oasis go ballistic, the Blur hype finally gets put in perspective, first full lengther from a New Orderer in three years (even though it's shite), the Pistols pull off the unlikeliest reunion ever, the Beatles' mature years get properly ANTHOLOGIsed, and the Spice Girls bring suss and sass back to the charts after dreary years of Radiocrud etc. I bet you never thought I'd say anything positive. People ask why I'm always criticising Trump and jerking off to the Spice Girls. Well I tried it the other way round and it just wasn't the same.

Michael Monkhouse wrote: You forgot the Spice Girls.

You're right, i did indeed forget them.And i also forgot Steps.Lisa Scott Lee was and still is my favourite.Cute as a bee.Faye was always pretty racey too.