Liner Notes

How worst-to-first lists are like ranking your kids, treason symbols, and a treasure trove of mixtapes.

May 05, 2022

Ranking any band’s records from worst-to-first can be fraught. When it’s a band whose catalog you love almost universally, it becomes an exercise similar to stack-ranking your kids. Possibly fun, but ultimately just a treacherous idea….and one that leads to endless tweaking and tinkering.

My love of New Order will be no surprise to longtime readers here. Fans of the band will also know that they’ve chosen the month of May to release at least 3 of their studio albums (Power, Corruption & Lies, Low Life, Republic).

My first thought was to mark the occasion by working through a worst-to-first list. It seemed kinda fun—and I have a penchant for ignoring my own advice—so why not?

Why not? To start, any list would be covered in asterisks. At this point, I’m too far gone to have an ounce of objectivity. It would my list, and not a list.

Next, what would you include? Studio albums only would mean excluding classics like the 12” of “Blue Monday,” or compilations such as Substance.

Original lineup? I’d like that, but again objectivity.

Lastly, how do you accurately compare records so different stylistically?

Movement is a dour testament to a band in the throes of grief.

Republic has “child of divorce” energy running through it.

Power… has a permanent spot on countless best-of lists.

Low Life is a hipster favorite.

If you spent any time in an altered state during the 90s (or in Ibiza), Technique might be near to your heart.

Those are all good points, but in an attempt to do the same with Yo La Tengo’s discography, Elizabeth Nelson prefaced her’s by noting:

Here’s an affectionate attempt at ranking their records with the understanding that placing things you love in a rigid hierarchy is objectively insane.

Indeed. So with that as a backdrop, I’m going for it.

Criteria: I’m only using studio LPs and only the original lineup. Having seen both iterations I can say that yes, the band still rocks w/o Peter Hook, but it’s not the same. I also considered just listing them with no commentary, but that seemed clever by half.

With all of that out of the way, I’m genuinely interested in hearing any thoughts you might have. Click any record to listen on the platform of your choice. Hot takes welcome.

7. Get Ready -2001

“(the title) could mean anything or nothing. I thought it was just nice; New Order, Get Ready; 'cause we are, we're getting ready for the next phase of our musical lives both physically and mentally, so it's quite a simple thing but it's very pertinent

~Peter Hook

It took 8 years to get the band back together for what would ultimately be their final record in their original form. Get Ready isn’t a bad album; it just feels like watching a show that ran for a season too long. With the exception of “Crystal,” I’m not sure I could ID any other track by sound alone. It just never established itself in my head.

I seem to be in the minority here, as it was well-received by many critics, with David Browne of Entertainment Weekly describing it as a “stunning and confident return to form.” It had guests such as Billy Corgan and Bobby Gillespie. Get Ready had all the ingredients to top this list, and yet…

6.Movement-1981

An album of commiseration. The band was still very much in mourning when they recorded Movement, and it shows. Having Martin Hannett as a producer didn’t help. They’d worked with him previously, but by this point, their relationship had soured, and his relationship with drugs was flourishing.

Best Track: “The Him”

5.Power, Corruption, and Lies-1983

If Movement was the band in mourning, Power… was well, a new morning. Movement was a bridge between Joy Division and New Order. Power, Corruption, and Lies was the band in full form. This was a statement record. With the addictive riff and relentless beat of the opening track, “Age of Consent,” it was quickly evident that a new dawn had broken for the band.

Best Tracks: Age of Consent & Ecstasy

4. Republic-1993

I once likened Republic’s recording sessions to “an estranged couple staying together for the sake of their kids.” The band had the fate of Factory Records and the fabled Hacienda nightclub on their shoulders. No pressure, then.

Almost in spite of themselves, the band released a great record. It sounds lush and layered, and despite having some forgettable tracks-hands up if you can hum a bar or two of “Times Change”— it has several that have held up admirably over the last 29 years.

Best Tracks: Chemical & Young Offender

3.Brotherhood-1986

Can a record have middle child energyy? If that’s possible, Brotherhood is it. Other records by the band spark lively discourse on fan forums or get slapped with a critics darling label. Brotherhood has been unfairly exiled to a purgatory of inattention. Meanwhile, it’s just in the corner doing it’s thing, happy to be left alone. Split in half between electronic & analog, it’s a wild ride. And well worth it.

Best Tracks: Weirdo & Bizarre Love Triangle

2. Low Life-1985

I had a giant poster of this record cover for years, and I was well past “unframed poster” age when it finally came down. It survived more moves than many other supposedly more important possessions. (and more than a few relationships, jobs, etc.).

Low Life first hit my ears early in junior high, and still gets played far too many years later. The idea that I now have a kid the same age I was when I first found this is mind-bending, and probably a story for later.

The album itself is tight from A1 to B4, with almost no missteps. Hook’s bass playing is as solid as it is anywhere, and the tandem of Morris & Gilbert adds a pop layer to everything. This is also the first record that feels like a record with an overtly intentional progression and lyrics that aren’t intentionally vague. Words are used to tell actual stories here-at least a few places. The result? A blindingly good record that killed me to put at no. 2…

Best Tracks: The Perfect Kiss & Face Off

1. Technique-1989

If Low Life is a show at an intimate venue, Technique is a sweaty rave filled with strobe lights and ecstasy. Indeed the record was recorded in Ibiza with the band off their rockers. Technique is firmly rooted in electro-dance and acid house. They choose the sunny locale at Hook’s insistence after a run of recordings made in “dark and horrible” London studios. The change in scenery (and menu of drugs) worked.

Hook might’ve spent the field trip fighting sequencers for elbow room, but Technique feels like the most honest record the band made. Whether that’s down to the drugs or the Balearic sun, I don’t know. In the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter.

So why is it my number 1? What tipped it over Low Life?

Technique was really the first record by the band that I found on my own. Yes, I knew them, yes I’d heard almost everything else. But this was different; I’d learned of it’s release on my own, and gone and bought it with my own money.

No hand-me-downs from the older siblings of friends, or songs clipped from mix tapes. You always remember your first…

Huey Lewis & The News were my first concert, but New Order were the first band I went to see on my own. Not yet 14, my mom let me take the bus across the metro area down to the show. I suppose on some level she realized resistance was futile. The band was on the road supporting Technique. Throwing Muses opened, which is also a story for another time.

Good records always take you somewhere special. Technique does that for me.

What do you think? Did I get this list right, or am I off here?

On Repeat Records

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