◄ INTRO ◄
For being such an incredibly singles-oriented group, New Order's compilations have rarely done their body of work justice. Substance 1987, released on Factory Records, seems to be the benchmark. The early singles compilation featured all of their singles up to that point and relied on the 12" versions. The CD version came with a second disc featuring each single's b-side tracks. However, two of the tracks, "Temptation" and "Confusion" were re-recordings made specially for the compilation. Further, the CD version edited down several tracks. The double cassette release seems to be the most complete version.
(the best of) New Order, released in 1994 on London Records in the UK and on Qwest Records in the US, began the trend of relying on the 7" edits over the longer 12" versions. For most groups this wouldn't be a problem, as many bands in the 80's tended to focus on the radio-oriented 7" and then sort of smeared the track across a 12" in an attempt to gain club play (Depeche Mode comes to mind). New Order, however, tended to work in the opposite direction, creating extended 8-minute long tracks and then editing them down to fit onto a 7" in order to gain radio play. Where as most groups were spreading their tracks too thin, New Order seemed to be cutting their tracks too lean (with a few exceptions, of course). Most fans would agree that the definitive versions for a lot of those singles are the 12" versions.
Furthermore, (the best of) New Order featured several remixed versions in place of the originals, the earliest track featured is "Thieves Like Us" from 1984, the tracks are not in chronological order, the 1988 version of "Blue Monday" is featured instead of the original, and the US and UK versions feature alternate track listings. Basically an attempt by London Records to make some money off of New Order, who they signed in 1992 and who went on hiatus in 1993. An interesting effort, but mostly useless (though the 1995 Arthur Baker Remix of "1963" is quite fantastic).
What should have been a complete singles box set entitled Recycle became, instead, one of those 4-disc sets which feature a hodge-podge of album and single tracks, rarities, remixes, and live tracks and which come in a big unwieldy case which never fucking fits with the rest of your CDs entitled Retro. Though the concept was interesting (each disc represented a different aspect of the band - Pop, Fan, Club, and Live, with each disc compiled by a friend of the band), the set included very few singles.
Singles, released in 2005, was sort of a modern counterpoint to Substance 1987 in that it featured (almost) all of their singles up to that point, but opted for the 7" edits. Unfortunately, the tracks were all heavily compressed, making the songs painfully LOUD. Total: From Joy Division to New Order, released in 2011, was more or less a JD/NO starter kit.
And that's basically it. Nothing close to a definitive up-to-date New Order singles compilation. So, I decided to try and make my own.
► THE COMPILATION ►
I decided to approach this as though it were an actual set meant to be released to the public. I chose to split the compilation into two volumes, each containing two discs. Each disc is roughly an hour long and each volume contains twenty songs each. Volume 1 is entitled FACT and encompasses New Order's entire Factory Records singles output, spanning from 1981 to 1990. Volume 2 is entitled fiction and covers their post-Factory years from 1993 to 2011. When I first started this I only intended to do the first volume, but after completing FACT I wanted to see if I could create a post-Factory set to complement Volume 1. I named Volume 2 fiction mostly because I'm an unimaginative bastard, but I've grown to like the name.
To keep this rather lengthy entry from getting too long, I'll explore Volume 1 below and save Volume 2 for the next post. Without further adieu, I give you
New Order : The Singles Collection, Volume 1 - FACT 1981-1990
Disc 1 [58:42]
01. Ceremony (March 1981 Version) [4:39]
02. Procession [4:29]
03. Everything's Gone Green [5:35]
04. Temptation (7" Version) [5:23]
05. Blue Monday [7:30]
06. Confusion [8:13]
07. Thieves Like Us [6:38]
08. Murder [3:57]
09. The Perfect Kiss (12" Version) [8:50]
10. Sub-Culture (7" Edit) [3:28]
Disc 2 [60:00]
01. Shellshock (12" Version) [9:45]
02. State Of The Nation [6:33]
03. Bizarre Love Triangle (12" Version) [6:44]
04. True Faith [5:55]
05. Touched By The Hand Of God (12" Mix) [7:05]
06. Blue Monday 1988 (7" Mix) [4:11]
07. Fine Time (12" Version) [4:45]
08. Round & Round (12" Version) [6:52]
09. Run 2 [3:38]
10. World In Motion [4:32]
Pretty much all of these were sourced from the Recycle Blog, with the exception of "Blue Monday", which was sourced from the 24 Hour Party People soundtrack. I chose not to use the version from the Recycle Blog as they chose to chop off the beginning of the intro to imitate an error from the original 12" pressing. The only version I happen to have that has the intro intact is from 24 Hour Party People.
Disc 1 begins with the March 1981 version of "Ceremony". The track, a Joy Division song which was never properly put to tape, was first recorded when New Order were still a trio. After adding Gillian Gilbert to the line up, they re-recorded "Ceremony" and released the new version in September of the same year. I chose the first version mainly because it was their first proper recording as New Order, but also because I find it to be the better of the two. The original has a sort of fierce urgency about it, where as the re-recording seems more subdued. For anyone who prefers the September '81 version, well, all I can say is wait.
I chose to use the 7" version of "Temptation" over the 12" because I like the mix better. The kick drum is much louder and the song is overall more focused than the extended mix. Both mixes are kinda crappy, what with it being the group's first time producing their own music after Martin Hannett left Factory Records, but the 7" is the stronger effort of the two. Plus, I think the album flows better this way.
I chose to use the 7" version of "Temptation" over the 12" because I like the mix better. The kick drum is much louder and the song is overall more focused than the extended mix. Both mixes are kinda crappy, what with it being the group's first time producing their own music after Martin Hannett left Factory Records, but the 7" is the stronger effort of the two. Plus, I think the album flows better this way.
I also chose to use the 7" edit of "Sub-Culture" because, honestly, the 12" version is a fucking mess. Supposedly, Factory art designer Peter Saville hated the mix and refused to do the cover. The 12" just takes everything a bit too far, including that 80's jump-cut skip-edit, which sometimes completely falls out of the groove (a huge no-no in dance music). This is quite surprising, considering John Robie did the mix for the single versions, and he'd used the technique on prior releases in a much more effective way. Perhaps he was growing tired of that particular production trick and was trying his damnedest to destroy it? After all, this was around the time when the skip-edit was being done to death, and in some cases just as terribly as on "Sub-Culture" (See: the 12" Glamour Mix of Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Dazzle"). Either way, the 7" Edit is a much stronger version of the two (at the very least, it's the shorter of the two), and so I decided to use it instead of the 12" version.
Disc 2 opens with the 12" version of "Shellshock". Unfortunately, this version has never been released on CD or digital download (as far as I know), so you'll have to find the track by your own means (the Recycle Blog has removed their links, but those versions are probably floating around somewhere). Also worth a note: this track puts that 80's skip-edit mentioned earlier to fantastic use.
I opted to use the 7" Mix of "Blue Monday 1988" over the 12" because I felt that there wasn't much need to have 15 minutes of this compilation taken up by "Blue Monday" (especially since yet another version pops up on Volume 2). Also, I just think the 1988 12" version has that spread-too-thin feel going on. I think the focus of the '88 version was mostly on the 7" (especially since this version was used for the music video). I also opted for the 7" version of "Run 2" for much the same reason: the focus was clearly on the 7". However, while I do enjoy the 12" mix, for a singles compilation meant to be listened to by a wide variety of people, the 7" version was the clear choice.
And there you have it, Volume 1 of the New Order Singles Collection: FACT 1981-1990. In the next post I'll focus on Volume 2, fiction 1993-2011. Stay tuned.
Disc 2 opens with the 12" version of "Shellshock". Unfortunately, this version has never been released on CD or digital download (as far as I know), so you'll have to find the track by your own means (the Recycle Blog has removed their links, but those versions are probably floating around somewhere). Also worth a note: this track puts that 80's skip-edit mentioned earlier to fantastic use.
I opted to use the 7" Mix of "Blue Monday 1988" over the 12" because I felt that there wasn't much need to have 15 minutes of this compilation taken up by "Blue Monday" (especially since yet another version pops up on Volume 2). Also, I just think the 1988 12" version has that spread-too-thin feel going on. I think the focus of the '88 version was mostly on the 7" (especially since this version was used for the music video). I also opted for the 7" version of "Run 2" for much the same reason: the focus was clearly on the 7". However, while I do enjoy the 12" mix, for a singles compilation meant to be listened to by a wide variety of people, the 7" version was the clear choice.
And there you have it, Volume 1 of the New Order Singles Collection: FACT 1981-1990. In the next post I'll focus on Volume 2, fiction 1993-2011. Stay tuned.
