27 replies · 479 views
34 votes · voting closed
OK, so let's say NO never recovered from their loss... who would you be listening to, buying everything you could of, acquiring every bootleg available, and talking in the highest regard for?
For me, this would be Ultravox. They were very new, always trying new things, and constantly re-inventing themselves. Of course, they should have quit before the whole U-Vox thing in order to save face. But, up until U-Vox, they were AWESOME.
Even though they did continue as NO, and they were my number one band for many years, I have progressed to The Fall who are far more interesting and challenging.
i chose the Smiths. I have every track they released plus a few bootlegs...very interested in hearing the songs MikeJoyce has from some Smiths Sessions...they should be able to put out a nice box set in the future with different versions and unreleased material....
songs like Oscillate Wildly and Draize Train show great depth and variety...I even liked the first 3 or 4 Moz solo albums...
I tend to be a bit of a KLF completist in my spare time so I guess it would have to be them - but then again, IF... maybe some other great band would have filled the void - one which faded into obscurity even before it came into the lime light. Shit I"m tired! YAWN
Yes, the Smiths are crying out for a nice box set. If only NO & the Smiths could acheive the standard of the Echo & The Bunnymen 4 disc set, now that would be something...
Originally posted by Biznotic Love Trapazoid i chose the Smiths. I have every track they released plus a few bootlegs...very interested in hearing the songs MikeJoyce has from some Smiths Sessions...they should be able to put out a nice box set in the future with different versions and unreleased material....songs like Oscillate Wildly and Draize Train show great depth and variety...I even liked the first 3 or 4 Moz solo albums...
If I had one Smiths album, what should it be? Louder Than Bombs, or something else. I don't have anything of theirs and would like to pick something up. I have heard a few songs... I REALLY like "Please, Please, Please, Let Me..." - I think that is a GREAT song.
Originally posted by Conway Paton Yes, the Smiths are crying out for a nice box set. If only NO & the Smiths could acheive the standard of the Echo & The Bunnymen 4 disc set, now that would be something...
Yeah, Echo's set is massive... but NO had WAY too much material to do that. Look at the Police's Box set, when you only have 3 or 4 albums, you can make an impressive box.
Originally posted by Wolfmann If I had one Smiths album, what should it be? Louder Than Bombs, or something else. I don't have anything of theirs and would like to pick something up. I have heard a few songs... I REALLY like "Please, Please, Please, Let Me..." - I think that is a GREAT song.
If you don't have any of the albums, I'd say get Best Of... I and II. OK, so that's 2 CDs rather than 1, but it'll be worth it. They were a better singles band than an albums band (like NO).
i'd look for The World Won't Listen...very good with Please,Please...
the last 2 Smiths albums were nearly perfect IMHO
i think the Rhino reissue titled THE VERY BEST OF THE SMITHS was digitally remastered and may be the best sounding of all the Smiths compilations if that matters to you....
Originally posted by Biznotic Love Trapazoid i'd look for The World Won't Listen...very good with Please,Please...the last 2 Smiths albums were nearly perfect IMHOi think the Rhino reissue titled THE VERY BEST OF THE SMITHS was digitally remastered and may be the best sounding of all the Smiths compilations if that matters to you....
I am partial to high quality recordings. I would like to have Please plus whatever else is great.
I gotta go with the Smiths, I think they were the second best Manc band after NO (in the mid-Eighties) and without NO, well, they'd be the best.
I always find it interesting how New Order's decision to continue was never criticized the way that, for example, the surviving Beatles added their instrumentation to two unreleased Lennon demos for the Anthology or the Doors added music to Morrison's last poetry recording. I'm not saying New Order should have been attacked for their continuing to play after Ian's death, they certainly made great pains to keep from "outdoing" Joy Division. It could be argued perhaps that New Order's uncommercial approach to music marketing could be a subconcious attempt to keep from outshining what they did as Joy Division, but that's probably a load of crap. Anyways, New Order did carry on, otherwise this would be "Spandau Ballet Online" or "Guns and Roses Online"....
Originally posted by Conway Paton > Originally posted by Wolfmann> If I had one Smiths album, what should it be? Louder Than Bombs, or something else. I don't have anything of theirs and would like to pick something up. I have heard a few songs... I REALLY like "Please, Please, Please, Let Me..." - I think that is a GREAT song.
If you don't have any of the albums, I'd say get Best Of... I and II. OK, so that's 2 CDs rather than 1, but it'll be worth it. They were a better singles band than an albums band (like NO). I always thought the two "Best Of" albums were awful. Sure, it was those two albums that I orginally bought before I got the albums, but I felt like I wasted money after getting them. You can just buy two of their normal studio albums for the same price, and your collection will be half complete.
Well, I did find something to do with them. I traded them to my friend who had the singles collection. He thought it was a good deal, getting two cds for one, so I ran off with a much better collection of songs on one cd.
since i discovered JD bass-ackwards through NO, i don't know if i would have known much of their stuff at all had NO not existed, so i'd have to say blur, probably my favourite band after NO and JD.
That'd be David McComb and The Triffids, an Aussie post-punk/rock/psychedelic/folk rock band. Their early singles are a bit primitive, and the two albums that they released on Island are a bit slick, but lots of damn good songs, with some lyrics that actually look decent on a piece of paper.
Probably Echo & the Bunnymen. I still think this band is underrated. Ian & Will definitely made this band what it is today.
Puressence. Best Manchester band after New Order.
Never made it big alas which is a disgrace quite frankly. IF you've never heard them, think Doves crossed with the Verve, with a dash of Roses and Joy Division and a healthy dose of good old Mancunian melancholy. In fact one of the songs on the latest album Planet Helpless is a shameless (but very good) New Order ripoff.
Saw them live a couple of months back and they were stunning. Bar New Order, easily the best live band I've ever seen with the singer in particular having the most amazing voice. OK I'm gushing a wee bit now but think they're playing in Manchester on the 29th so I'd recomemnd any locals round that way to check them out.
I worked my way backwards from NO to JD so if NO had never existed that means there is an interesting "What if" story lurking in there.
But for Blue Monday I could have remained a Pink Floyd fan (which is what I was at 13, I blame it on my uncle, he is now into New Age music, par for the course!), I would have had to put up with the sub- substandard material they released since Roger Waters left them (it was only substandard before). I would have been enthralled by the mercifully fleeting return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and the not so brief of Yes' classic line up. I would have had to grow a mullet with the consequent damage done to my love life and by now I would be a vegan, I-grow-my-own-organic-pesticides-free-vegetables, Ben&Jerryan, incense smelling hippy whose main interest would be to find a meaningful connection linking Buddhism and Linux.
But I like to think that somewhere along the road, at the turn of a corner LWTUA would be patiently waiting for me...
Probably The Smiths out of that list, some absolutly cracking material came from the Morrisey/Marr partnership and their insoucient attitude was very much akin to NewOrders.
The Smiths, I s'pose, because they're the only band of that era I can remember that I had mates religiously following. Them, and James, who friends got into via their Smiths support slots. But I can't say I've ever been *that* bigger fan of either.
After New Order, the only other band I've actually made any sort of effort to travel to see are the Mondays. And ACR, I guess, though have never gone out of my way to catch them live (they usually did enough Southern gigs to satisfy the appetite)..
voted for the Police...seeing as they were my favorite band until I discovered the order...
thank god it didn't end after JD...what would I be doing now???
surfing the net, looking for porn...waiting for the Tiffany box set..
and I would have never met the likes of Shuglet, Jarvo, Muffler, Liv, Mr. Giles, ID, Mick, and all the others...
just my opinion for the day...
The Bunnymen, cos they're bunnytastic! They inspire a similar kind of devotion as NO/JD do, they've had a varied career likewise, and I don't think I could live without "Ocean Rain" anyway.
After them, Skinny Puppy, of course. "Too Dark Park" is a masterpiece and "Grave Wisdom" is one of the most wonderful songs ever.
Originally posted by The Happy One and I would have never met the likes of Shuglet, Jarvo, Muffler, Liv, Mr. Giles, ID, Mick, and all the others...just my opinion for the day...
Yes you would have, it just would have been at www.hotshotcity.com, in the David Hasselhoff "KIT Chatroom" 
:car:
" ....and if a double decker bus, crashes into us....." I think I prefer the Smiths anyway over NO, possibly 'cos they're not around any more to seem flawed and human?
Depeche Mode has always been my favorite group up until 1995 or something...
Then came Ultra and Exciter..
Depeche Mode never overcome the departure of Alan Wilder, even if Martin Gore writes everything, it seems the downfall started there.
Don't get me wrong, I like their stuff, but 50% of the stuff on those two albums is BORING.. something you can't say from Music For The Masses and Violator.. I didn't like the gospel things on Songs of Faith and Devotion, but I enjoyed that album as well...
1993 was a good year, Republic (my first New Order release as a fan) and SOFAD (my first Depeche Mode release as a fan)...
I have an extensive Depeche Mode collection as well, not as complete as the New Order one, because I'd be bankrupted.. Depeche Mode are releasing way too many different version of material, and I stopped collecting singles with Exciter..
2nd pick would now go to The Cure, even though I don't like all their stuff, and it took me a while to love Bloodflowers, I would buy a new album the day it would be out.
Nota.. I wouldn't probably be that big of a New Order fan without this site.. I like my love for New Order is coming a lot from everyone here.. :D
Originally posted by Spotnick Depeche Mode has always been my favorite group up until 1995 or something...Then came Ultra and Exciter.. :D
Yeah, I hear that. They need to stop, while they still have a little dignity. Their One Night In Paris DVD is cool though. I am not a big fan of Songs, but it's not that bad. I loved violator, so songs was a little of a let down.
Of the listed bands, I'd have to go with the smiths. For bands not listed, probably Shriekback. Some of the best music ever in my opinion. Albums like " care" & " jam science" are among my most beloved albums of all time.
