Here are the Young Men, the Weight on Their Shoulders

The end of next month (March 30th) will mark 10 years since the live debut of "Singularity". That's a long time without truly new music (one could argue about "Be a Rebel") but it's not unprecedented. There were 10 years between Waiting for the Sirens' Call and Music Complete (again, discounting Lost Sirens, but perhaps a case could be made for Never Cry Another Tear...).

I truly expected a few more shows to be added to the two upcoming UK dates, along with some in Europe. This hasn't been the case. I'm curious if the consensus is that the band are now winding down, or if you believe they're working in the studio instead? I'm hoping "Riptide" (I still love that extended mix) and, to a lesser extent, the "Solidarity" cover indicate Bernard isn't ready to retire yet.

Thoughts?

I voted for a wind-down.

But will be happy to be proved wrong.

At this point, I'd just settle for an EP every 2-3 years.

I’m going for new music. If not now I think it will be never. Only expecting an ep at most, would be very shocked if new album. Agree Riptide is a decent track

yes it has been long since they released an album , I really liked be a rebel and Riptide, the talent that they have Bernard, Stephen and Gillian, they can easily make more really great music, it is in their blood, like a mechanic who has been fixing cars for 30 years or a painter painting for 30 years, I am surprised that they haven't released anything in a long time, what is stopping them, look at all their contemporaries like u2, DM, PSB, Underworld all have recently released great music recently, why can't they with all the talent and experience they have, even Peter Hook, what is stopping him from releasing new music , I read somewhere that they have about 7-8 songs finished , let's see what comes out of it, hopefully No is in the studio as we speak and we get a really nice surprise by spring

An EP would be good. Maybe 3 or 4 new songs. But i'm not holding my breath. Bernard has a home studio, right? Stephen and Gillian too. Seems a waste to not use them. Or unless to do remix work for other artists. What do they do all day with their time? Family stuff keeps them busy i can only presume.

What would Bernrad write lyrics about? He's well past the woman did me wrong stuff so i guess it'd be more about the state of the world issues and society.

I can't imagine any of them would give up music and sell off all their studio and gear.

NotAMod wrote: When the depressing weirdness of the pandemic years was in full swing and I thought of NO, I wondered perhaps if the enforced downtime would get them demoing and swapping ideas "over email" for a guaranteed new album once the world returned to normal. Perhaps they did and even today they're still finessing the material but Be A Rebel was all we as listeners got in late 2020. At time of writing, I don't find BAR particularly engaging nor rubbish. When it landed I gave it lots of attention and as much of a chance as possible (plus the generous amount of remixes in 2021) but in hindsight it was not the comeback I was personally looking for. It inspires neither love nor hatred but just a sort of indifference each time I hear it come on.

I saw them live 3 times last year and they've put on a very slick show for a while now. The recent shows were the most professional I've seen which has both its upsides and downsides. As someone whose first gig was on the Get Ready tour when (ahem) they could be a "variable" live entity, there are times at the new gigs when I miss the anarchy of those earlier shows a little bit. But on the other hand you can tell the effort they've put into recreating the songs live nowadays, they do all sound excellent. Not to mention the visuals.

All that said, I am not sure I will go to see them in 2024 because I don't know what a NO show of late 2023 versus a NO show of 2024 will have to "shake it up" for me. Swap in another carefully choreographed "surprise"? Not sure it's worth it just for that. If they did something like another Liam Gillick/MIF collaboration, that would really grab my attention. Even now I still listen to the live album those shows produced on a regular basis, which is superb. Those were probably the last set of gigs I really, really enjoyed.

My completely random prediction is they've definitely got a swansong album left in them. I am hoping the gigs coming up in the second half of this year will have some sort of "product" attached to them in the form of a new single with the promise of more. Mind you, careful what I wish for as it could be another bloody Best Of although the Brotherhood box-set would be good. I keep thinking at the pace of the Definitive editions, then we should be on course for Technique in 2025-6. That will be one popular box-set, I reckon.

After that, do Bernard, Gillian or Stephen really want to be gigging into their fifth decade as professional musicians? I wouldn't blame them for packing up and enjoying a well earned retirement. Tom and Phil have their side projects (Sea Fever etc.) and generally seem happy inside and outside of NO so they'll be fine.

Hooky, I think will tour until the bitter end (and love every second of it) as it's in his blood.

The other big question is: will the "classic" line-up ever overcome the bitterness of last decade's legal disputes to give the "name" a decent send off? No, is probably that answer to that.

A good topic for discussion. Cheers Andy.

Agree about NO shows, some of it my fault as probably seen them too many times. Very slick but predictable sets. I have got tickets for Cardiff but that is because my daughter loves them now too so is desperate to go and in all truthfulness it’s not hard work seeing your favourite band. I always prefer the first half of their set to the very predictable latter, but still, after all these years, love temptation.

Last great gigs were the 2017 MIF and also 2019 Ally Pally which they also released. My other favourite band The Jesus and Mary chain have a new album out soon and mix their sets up and have also done their first two classic albums in full with rarer b sides etc in the last 10 years so the interest is kept high.

I’d love NO to end on a high and release one last great EP / LP. we will see but I feel it has to be this year.

Was thinking about this the other day. Bernard, Stephen & Gillian are mid to late 60s and well past bus pass age. Admittedly they are in a career far more interesting than mine but at their age I'd rather hope to be well into retirement. I really can't see Bernard being the next Mick Jagger rocking in their 80s unless they really are just doing it because they love the music. I appreciate tom & Phil are much younger (even than me)

I'd love to see them live one more time but its tricky because of where I live now and the associated logistics , if they never play again then so be it I can live with it as I've so many memories of previous shows. Maybe a convenient city break that doesn't clash with a mountaineering trip.

As for new music, I'm a dinosaur. Whilst music complete was a good album and I'll listen to it start to finish I really still love Technique and everything before that. I can't see them ever producing another Vanishing Point or Perfect Kiss, right now I couldn't even tell you how Be a Rebel goes. Its interesting because some of their peers* (Pet Shop Boys & Depeche Mode) are still making new music and if anything the PSB's latest is rather good and a return to a more 80s/90s sound.

* I plucked these out of thin air, mrs Prog99 likes them

Enough rambles... Hooky will play until his bass falls apart but he's not doing anything new.

Also Bernard wont be playing at Carnegie Hall this year in NYC because of Scheduling issues according to facebook post by Zachery Allen , Maybe they are busy in the studio or recording, what other Scheduling issues could it be , they have no concerts coming up and too cold for him to take his boat now, or maybe He has a nephew or nieces wedding to attend to just some thoughts

Linus Solanki wrote: Also Bernard wont be playing at Carnegie Hall this year in NYC because of Scheduling issues according to facebook post by Zachery Allen , Maybe they are busy in the studio or recording, what other Scheduling issues could it be , they have no concerts coming up and too cold for him to take his boat now. just some thoughts

Sounds like good news they are at least trying to record something new, hopefully it will see the light of day

After the excitement of Music Complete, the last 10 years have been hugely disappointing, with the possible exception of MIF that showed a willingness to deviate from the usual sets/gigs.

By comparison, ACR are about to release their third album in 10 years along with 4 x EPs, working away TOGETHER in their studio, not pfaffing about alone in home studios, while gigging regularly and changing things up. I know they are on a much smaller level but even so - no new songs in 10 years is very poor. Be a Rebel being the last type of thing I ever want to hear again.

I just saw this new Tom Chapman interview that hints at a glimmer of hope:

The two people conducting the interview are buffoons, so if you don't want to try and endure it, I'll let you know what Tom said is lined up for 2024 (apart from the two gigs already announced):

1. A new Sea Fever album
2. "There might be more plans of touring with New Order at the end of the year, but I'm not sure what's going to happen yet."
3. "And possibly, sort of, write more material, just sort of keep on working."

prog99 wrote: Was thinking about this the other day. Bernard, Stephen & Gillian are mid to late 60s and well past bus pass age. Admittedly they are in a career far more interesting than mine but at their age I'd rather hope to be well into retirement. I really can't see Bernard being the next Mick Jagger rocking in their 80s unless they really are just doing it because they love the music.

Enough rambles... Hooky will play until his bass falls apart but he's not doing anything new.

You've triggered some thoughts there

1. If they were to decide on "retirement" they would surely do a final "end of the road" type tour, to go out on a high and thank the fans for supporting them throughout, and to ensure they had a good retirement fund banked

2. The reason I can't see them doing this, is because it would then open up a single market for Hooky to keep on going and capitalise on them being the ones who have stopped

Couple of other contemporaries not mentioned yet are OMD and The Cure

OMD have just released (what they claim to be) their final album, and doing their final tour, but they have at least said that they will still play the odd one-off date and festivals. They have a similar back catalog of "big hits" that they can't NOT play and their live shows all feel a bit choreographed these days. They have at least done a few special "full album shows" though

The Cure have become even less prolific than NO when it comes to new music releases, but they do appear to have a rather large back log of unreleased songs (which RS has been threatening to release "later in the year" for bloody ages now) They also managed to play a massive amount of deep cuts throughout their very long shows, amongst the big hits

I guess with NO, it's just the culmination of their career-long appearance of simply not being arsed about anything

tapebias wrote: By comparison, ACR are about to release their third album in 10 years along with 4 x EPs, working away TOGETHER in their studio, not pfaffing about alone in home studios, while gigging regularly and changing things up.

I’m with you there. ACR are killing it - nearly 50 years strong, and no sign of stopping any time soon.

They've nothing left to prove.

MC demonstrated they could carry on without Hooky and their status as legends has long been cemented in the public conscience, undoubtedly helped with the back catalogue being aired in films, playlists etc so it makes sense that they're on autopilot. Realistically, they would need a major kick up the arse to get them going again (like how the death of Fletch led to DM making their first great album in nearly 20 years).

Hooky will carry on touring until he's physically incapable.

Dennis Remmer wrote:

tapebias wrote: By comparison, ACR are about to release their third album in 10 years along with 4 x EPs, working away TOGETHER in their studio, not pfaffing about alone in home studios, while gigging regularly and changing things up.

I’m with you there. ACR are killing it - nearly 50 years strong, and no sign of stopping any time soon.

Just been to see them live in the last week. Fantastic! Great new album and slightly different to previous funkadelic offerings - almost pop on some tracks but with a leftfield twist, not like shite like Be A Rebel (IMO).

People will still cling onto NO's coat tails as though they are going to drop the bomb in the future (musically speaking). They don't owe us anything but as ACR have shown, if you are musically creative then it will show - not the promise of 100s of almost finished home studio tracks, no new songs in 10 years and dull arena gigs with same setlist. Boo!