CHOSEN TIME

Seeing as Major is far too preoccupied with alternative studenty shite these days to fulfil his main duties on here, I shall take it upon myself to resurrect that most noble of threads. The Weekly Song Review. Giving it a date rather than a week number should make them more traceable as well !!

Anyway, without further ado, this week's song is

CHOSEN TIME

1. Best bit
2. Worst bit
3. Love/hate about it
4. Percentage rating
5. When your time comes, do you want to be buried or burned ?

'Bout time we had these WSRs again :D

1. Best- The drums and bass I think are very good in it.
2. Worst- As with most of Movement, Bernard's vocals are anemic at best.
3. Love/Hate about it- Take it or leave it, one of the better ones off of Movement.
4. 65%
5. Shot into space for me

1. Best bit The end - it's a smashing ending with all the weird noises 'n' stuff.

2. Worst bit It does go on a bit.

3. Love/hate about it The frailty & vulnerability.

4. Percentage rating I'd give it 75 - not a classic in my estimation, but a decent enough choon nonetheless.

5. When your time comes, do you want to be buried or burned ? I'd be dead, so they could throw me in a ditch for all it would matter :)

1. Best bit is that it's a good end to a good album side; some nice energy to it, and Barney's vocals blend into the music.

2. Worst bit is that this is one NO song where I don't pay much attention to the lyrics, not that this one is embarrassing or anything. I just don't find myself repeating any of 'em, like I do with Senses' No Reason Ever Was Given for example.

3. Love it cause it sounded good on Movement.

4. Percentage rating of 80%

5. If I had the choice, it'd be buried so that I might possibly come back as a zombie. Hey, another good choice would'be been frozen, like the American baseball legend Ted Williams.

Best: I love the keyboards and I love the vocals and I love the drum work. Love that, "Believe in Me" bit as well.

Worst: There isn't anything I dislike although the chirping synth stuff at the end does sound quite dated these days (unlike the synths in say, Love Will Tear Us Apart).

Love/Hate: Love how bright, and infectious it sounds. Hate how its the only tune on the crappy Movement album that actually has that kind of infectious energy about it.

Percentage rating?-Don't follow what you're asking. If you're asking for me to score it on a scale of 1-10 but with percentages, I'd give it an 80 or 85%.

Buried: Maybe a coffin, maybe on an elevated funeral pyre a la a certain NorthWestern USA Native American custom. or maybe at the beach or on a mountain like at the end of The Big Lebowski. Or I could go the humorous way, and have my ashes loaded into buckshot for a shot gun, or rolled into a blunt so someone could take a toke of me. Probably in the end, I'll go with the coffin, but I'm always changing my mind.

1. Best bit

The vocal delivery. Brooding and morose? I can't explain it otherwise.

2. Worst bit

Mmm. Don't know. Certain parts do sound a bit dated.

3. Love/hate about it

One of the best songs off Movement but at the same time one where the "we used to call ourselves Joy Division" written all over it is more in evidence.

4. Percentage rating

70%

5. When your time comes, do you want to be buried or burned ?

Burned, with Atmosphere playing as background music.

And while we are in the subject of cremation a real story that a maker of Refractory Bricks for incinerators once told me: A friend of the deceased arrives late to the ceremony and rushes through a door still with a fag in his mouth. In passing the door he is given what he thinks is a very nice ashtray by a uniformed attendant. Thanks him and proceeds to stub out his cigarette and put it in the "ashtray".

You can imagine the horrified looks of the family watching this man carefully placing a half smoked ciggie inside the cinerarium.

I actually had to listen to it before posting! NOT one of my favorites...

Best bit: the ending (no, seriously, I love that synth sound) Worst bit: the intro. Just not very good! Love: The bass and synth lines are great. Barney's vocals are not! Percentage: 60% 5: I'd like, no, I WANT to be cremated!

I am still here you know! :D

Oh well, I can't be arsed to do it anymore anyway...

Best bit : it doesn't sound as dated as some tracks from Movement. It could easily slot into a set now.

Worst bit : it was retired in 1986, way too early

Love/hate : Drums from "These Days", a killer bass line, easily one of my early favourites

Percentage : 80%

Urn or box ? : being crisp dust has a certain appeal

1. Best bit The wibbly wobbly ending screams 'we are a band that are going to take you into the future'.

2. Worst bit None

3. Love/hate about it The end with whatever percussion effect it is, stuttering and misfiring all over the place. The drums as mentioned are excellent throughout.

4. Percentage rating 92%

5. When your time comes, do you want to be buried or burned ?

Dunno.

Budvar Huber:

RE: The vocal delivery. Brooding and morose? I can't explain it otherwise.

Actually this is the only song where I felt Barney didn't sound brooding or morose.

RE: One of the best songs off Movement but at the same time one where the "we used to call ourselves Joy Division" written all over it is more in evidence.

Huh? I agree that it's one of the best songs, actually I think it is the best song off of movement. But I disagree entirely with the, "one where the "we used to call ourselves Joy Division" written all over it is more in evidence," comment. Certainly your right to disagree, but in my view, this is the one and only song on the album that doesn't sound even slightly like J.D. That comment to me is like saying that Blue Monday, or Your Silent Face or 5 8 6 are the only New Order songs that owe absolutely nothing to Kraftwerk. That comment certainly surprised me to say the least.

1. Best bit - the guitar solo
2. Worst bit - none
3. Love/hate about it - on the taras shevenko version, near the end the keyboard stops, and hooky does a brilliant bass solo.
4. Percentage rating - 90
5. When your time comes, do you want to be buried or burned ? - burned

Originally posted by Stephen Smith Budvar Huber:RE: The vocal delivery. Brooding and morose? I can't explain it otherwise.-----------------------------------------------------------Actually this is the only song where I felt Barney didn't sound brooding or morose.RE: One of the best songs off Movement but at the same time one where the "we used to call ourselves Joy Division" written all over it is more in evidence.-----------------------------------------------------------Huh? I agree that it's one of the best songs, actually I think it is the best song off of movement. But I disagree entirely with the, "one where the "we used to call ourselves Joy Division" written all over it is more in evidence," comment. Certainly your right to disagree, but in my view, this is the one and only song on the album that doesn't sound even slightly like J.D. That comment to me is like saying that Blue Monday, or Your Silent Face or 5 8 6 are the only New Order songs that owe absolutely nothing to Kraftwerk. That comment certainly surprised me to say the least.

Hi Stephen,

on the firts count i.e. the vocal delivery, what can I say? that's how I feel it, to me it's brooding and morose, how would you define it? anyway, it comes down to your own perception of the song, doesn't it? I have often heard songs which are "deconstructed" in very different ways according to the listener, take for example "Everyday's like Sunday" by Morrisey, a very sad, terribly depressed and depressing song but one that always makes me smile. Can't help it! Chacun segun son gut or something like that.

As for the Joy division connection I see it very clearly and to me smacks way more of JD than Dreams Never End for instance. Then again I must not be very good at this and you are possibly right because being a fan of Kraftwerk and being YSF one of my favourite songs I do not think YSF sounds that much like a Kraftwerk song and here you have NO's own backing behind your reasoning. I am curious to know your opinion on this song.

Not bad

1. it's catchy and dancable
2. a bit repetitive...the lead synth bit doesn't seem to sound right to my ears
3. a decent song on one of NO's best albums. not as good as the 3 songs preceding it, but better than the one following!
4. 75%
5. burned

gotta be in the right mood not bein in right mood ? ?

Dark,very dark.

1. Bass and synths make this a much more driving tune than Movement is generally given credit for.
2. Not much wrong with it. Not Barney's best lyrics, but no complaints either.
3. Not a real favourite, would like it to be played live again though.
4. 75%
5. Interred in the family vault in an elaborate marble sarcophagus.

1. BEST BIT: basically everything in it is great. i love how everything interplays together, Steve's drumming, Hooky's driving bass, Gillian's hypnotic synth lines, and Barney's shimmering guitar work. the whole song is so dynamic! but yeah... the best part is the end where all those synth percussions come crashing down.

2. WORST BIT: nothing really... if i had to put something down it would be Barney's vocal delivery. it matches the studio version, but i also like his more energetic delivery when played live.

3. LOVE/HATE ABOUT IT: absolutely the best song off Movement. to me this is the only song on Movement (besides Dreams Never End) that resembles later NO, even more so than DNE because it has more synths. what i hate about it... it's always overshadowed by DNE. hell... it even got cut off the FAN disc on RETRO at the very last minute!

4. PERCENTAGE: 90%

5. i've no idea...

g

NOTE: I'm reviewing the Taras Shevchenko version here.

Best bit: The ominous-sounding synths Worst bit: Not sure Why I love it: You can't help but move to it Rating: 80% Funeral arrangements: No idea

Best bit : I really like those lyrics, though it is possible I read more into them than is actually there. Still, lyrics should be open to interpretation sometimes I think. And just the feel of the song... what N.O. used to do very well from time to time was to create f***ed-up sounding, psychopathic dance music. 'This Time Of Night' and 'Sub-culture' are two excellent later examples of this. They've now stopped and never play any of those kind of songs live. -- shame.

Worst bit : from 03:57 onwards. The last 8 seconds of that tweeting sound (annoying and unnecessary). This does however, pave the way for "da, da, da, da-da daa!" so it's maybe not all bad.

Love / Hate about it : honestly, what I love about it is that like any truly great art, it creates it's own world that the audience can step in to (does that sound a bit Tony Wilson?). The tempo is fast and all the instruments play completely their own parts that just happen to collide perfectly. It sounds to me like very controlled chaos trying to break free... it's very exciting.

Percentage rating : hmm, 90 easily. Under-rated gem.

Buried or Burned : either, it won't really affect me will it?

Best bit Drums, keyboards

Worst bit Toned down on the album, much better live

Love/hate One of the best songs on Movement but I don't listen to it much

Percentage Meh... 70

Buried or burned? Jesus I'm a bit young to think about that!

1. Best Bit: Foot-stomping new wave synth line and treble bass with tumbling drums and a neurotic guitar edging in and out.

2. Worst Bit: It's quite obvious Mr. Sumner doesn't want to be singing. He even gives up on giving a last verse. The tune is so doused in quintissential new wave morose that it really isn't the best introductory track for new fans.

3. Why Love/Hate: Sounds like the alternate universe A-side to These Days. It also has one of my favorite synthesizer tunes of all time pounding throughout it. This would be a classic had Ian been on vocals. Watching the live version at Taras sealed the deal.

4. 80% I like to queue it up while driving on the highway and pretend i'm in the Turismo.

5. Donated to science, or Hollywood.

1. Best bit - The synth bassline.

2. Worst bit - It does tend to be a little overwhelmingly tentative.

3. Love/hate - It's easily one of the highlights on Movement, but it's still an odd little combination of opposing elements. It's bold and muted, fast and meandering, aggresive and timid...it's like seeing the proverbial 98lb. weakling flexing his muscles and scowling in front of the mirror. Which is actually what's kinda cool about it. And while "Blue Monday" had its beat genesis in "586," I've always felt that "Chosen time" was the real antecedent for The Largest Selling 12" Single of All Time™. But that's just me.

4. Rating - On its own, I'd give it a 75%, but withing the LP context, it's an 80% or higher.

5. Buried/burned? - Neither. I'm going for mummification.