Be A Rebel

track sounds more Pet Shop Boys, than New Order. really would fit well as the B-Side for "Did You See Me Coming?", actually.

I've decided that it sounds like The Other Two with Bernard on guest vocals.

Sounds like New Order minus Peter Hooks signature Bass guitar.

50poundnote wrote: Be A Rebel (Parallel Universe Remix)

haha - this is hilarious. I actually kind of hope this is Hooky trolling Bernard big style

Nobody with ears could deny that it sounds a bazillion percent better like this

He should do the whole of Music Complete too

We've all lived with the song long enough to have cemented our feelings towards it. I thought this was a rather fair review/appraisal of the track:

DailyCal.com

3.5 out of 5, lack of guitars noted (without mentioning you-know-who, which, to be fair, is very old news at this point), and simple but sincere lyrics.

Nail on the head.

GotBlueEyes wrote:

50poundnote wrote: Be A Rebel (Parallel Universe Remix)

haha - this is hilarious. I actually kind of hope this is Hooky trolling Bernard big style

Nobody with ears could deny that it sounds a bazillion percent better like this

He should do the whole of Music Complete too

Hooky repeated his claim in an Instagram chat recently that he will play Music Complete live, even if it's just at the Factory club to an empty venue.
Personally I'd like to see/hear a recording of that. Well, I would if Hooky decides to add his own basslines. Then maybe a clever person could edit the bass lines on to the album proper.

'Ian Curtis, the band’s frontman when it was known as Joy Division...' Life is an adventure. You just have to keep an open mind. I've only heard the song once and it's OK. They're usually growers anyway, but I hate listening to music via downloads. Sounds more like Electronic circa Second to None or the Pet Shop Boys circa 1983 up to now, but that might be a good thing after the London trilogy. Yes, very Other Two. I also lost interest in the Pets over the years. I had pretty much everything up to It's Alright (sic), and then I was like my mother (on and off for ten years). After Bilingual I just couldn't be arsed. The End of the World is worthy of the first Electronic album, though. I always hated Hooky, but then I saw the Light. I always hated The Pet Shop Boys' music, but then I discovered It's Alright. I always hated One Direction.

I decided not to comment on the first listen and wait. I've played it a few times now and it's really grown on me with each play. For me, it has a reminiscince in it. It wouldn't have fitted on Music Complete. It's got quite a different feel to it which takes me back to earlier times. I've ordered the vinyl. Just a shame I have to wait 2 months for it. 😕

This song is standing up really well to repeated listens. Gone from thinking it was an ok song to now a great song. Looking forward to the 12”.

The Shadow wrote: This song is standing up really well to repeated listens. Gone from thinking it was an ok song to now a great song. Looking forward to the 12”.

Very True. I am really enjoying listening to Be A Rebel

Just went and ordered myself the 12". I just need to go back to the 12" singles that were released off of MC and get those to go along with the box set I have.

Where’s our old friend keepitcoming these days? Thought he/she would have been all over this, a new song.

Fotz wrote: Where’s our old friend keepitcoming these days? Thought he/she would have been all over this, a new song.

I see what you did there.

NotAMod wrote: A dodgy "promo CD" for Be A Rebel has cropped up on eBay which looks nothing like established Mute promotional CDrs.

The insert looks hand-cut with a pair of scissors and all of the information printed on the "release" could have come character for character from the Discogs entries for the digital versions. Also, the story of how the person came into possession of the CD... well, the timelines don't really match.

Can anyone on the forum with connections to the band or label hint whether this is genuine or not? If it is not then some fan or collector might be about to be fleeced (not me, I hasten to add. I won't be bidding even if it is genuine).

Thoughts?

I don't know if there's a real promo CD for it, but I can say from years of experience in record shops etc dealing with genuine promos, that this looks home made and badly designed and is probably not official.

Edit: look at the other promo CDs they've sold, all feature what look like the same CDR discs, same PVCs (consumer ones, perforated edges), similar 'design' characteristics despite being on different labels. It doesn't ring true at all. There are also too many signed items, also probably faked, though I can't be bothered to look at them too closely.

Didn't even chart in the Download charts?

I make that the 5th single in a row that hasn't charted now. Sad times

I remember People on the High Line being #1 on the physical singles chart, no?

GotBlueEyes wrote: Didn't even chart in the Download charts?

I make that the 5th single in a row that hasn't charted now. Sad times

It makes me very sad that a song this good didn’t chart. Such a great catchy song. Much better that most of the crap on top 20. It really saddens me that New Orders music is getting less famous and not many people listening to. I also love U2 , Depeche Mode and Pet shop boys but when they release some it gets noticed and ends up being high on the chart buy why not NO. They are equally good as those bands that I mentioned above.

Be A Rebel peaked at #13 on the UK iTunes download chart, and #1 on the Alternative chart.

It peaked at #86 on the US iTunes chart.

It's had 5,390,915 streams on Spotify, but only 280,194 views on YouTube.

It will likely chart when the physical 12"/digital bundle is released on November 13th.

Chart position doesn't mean anything anyway. They still sell out massive venues.

Didn't Steve once say if you believe in the charts you may as well believe in fairies?

Linus Solanki wrote:

It makes me very sad that a song this good didn’t chart. Such a great catchy song. Much better that most of the crap on top 20. It really saddens me that New Orders music is getting less famous and not many people listening to. I also love U2 , Depeche Mode and Pet shop boys but when they release some it gets noticed and ends up being high on the chart buy why not NO. They are equally good as those bands that I mentioned above.

Don't forget U2 have always and still are happy to promote their product every which way possible whereas New Orders policy of "Can't Really Be Arsed" still seems to be being followed. I'm not sure about PSBs but the Depeche albums always seem to appear near the top of the charts before sinking without trace (probably because they've all sounded the same since 1997. Come on Depeche, where's the melodies gone? Enough on that staticy crunchy crap).

Coops wrote:

Don't forget U2 have always and still are happy to promote their product every which way possible whereas New Orders policy of "Can't Really Be Arsed" still seems to be being followed.

Sounds cool and UberNewOrder but like a lot of the mythology around the band It hasn't been true for years. In 1993 they made Ginger Spice look like J D Salinger.

Michael Monkhouse wrote: In 1993 they made Ginger Spice look like J D Salinger.

And what's Ginger doing these days? Or the rest of them?

They're organising our six-way wedding. Now leave my religion alone.

NotAMod wrote: A dodgy "promo CD" for Be A Rebel has cropped up on eBay which looks nothing like established Mute promotional CDrs.

The insert looks hand-cut with a pair of scissors and all of the information printed on the "release" could have come character for character from the Discogs entries for the digital versions. Also, the story of how the person came into possession of the CD... well, the timelines don't really match.

Can anyone on the forum with connections to the band or label hint whether this is genuine or not? If it is not then some fan or collector might be about to be fleeced (not me, I hasten to add. I won't be bidding even if it is genuine).

Thoughts?

It might be fake. But at least its not signed.

But I wonder how they've managed to keep a 100% rating through hundreds of sales.

Thats pretty impressive.

The rest were probably bought from someone else, they mentioned that did have actual signed items, so those are probably real.

later -1

Seriously dodgy.

Michael Monkhouse wrote: They're organising our six-way wedding. Now leave my religion alone.

See, I hinted that they'd fallen on hard times.

Not just times, if they're lucky. Glad this is a 'proper' single and not a one-off like Brutal.

Michael Monkhouse wrote: Glad this is a 'proper' single and not a one-off like Brutal.

True! It's great that they're releasing this in physical formats.