Substance

by New Order

Overview

Substance collects all the singles New Order released after their inception in 1981 and the 1987 release of the album. It traces their early journey from a nervy post-punk group struggling to break free from the expectations brought along from their time in Joy Division to one that helped to define the new wave era in many important ways. They meshed together the uneasiness of post-punk with the jagged programming of dance music, balanced the interplay of real instruments and electronics, and were able to release both satisfying albums and successful singles. The set includes all the A- and B-sides they released over that span; in the cases of "Temptation" and "Confusion," the songs were recorded fresh, while "Ceremony" isn't the original either as it was recorded after Gillian Gilbert joined. The early tracks show how quickly the band became something quite different than Joy Division, relatively sunnier and more open-ended musically with more of an eye towards making listeners dance rather than break down in tears. By the time of "Blue Monday," they had reinvented themselves fully, and in the process created an all-time classic song that relied on programming as much as it did strumming. The group continued to pursue that path more on future singles, with tracks like "Thieves Like Us" and "Shellshock" drifting towards a poppier sound influenced by freestyle, hip-hop, and R&B. Thanks to their uncanny way with a melody -- as displayed on the timeless "Bizarre Love Triangle" -- their razor-sharp programming skills, and Bernard Sumner's resolutely deadpan vocals, everything they did sounded exactly like New Order and no one else. The B-sides are just as exciting in their own way as the band experiment, hone new ideas, and deliver some gems. The instrumental mix of "Blue Monday" titled "The Beach" is a thrilling blast of inventive dancefloor fun, the album-worthy "Lonesome Tonight" strips away most of the synths in favor of a live group setup and Peter Hook's iconic bass playing, and various remixes make this disc well worth checking out. There's even a track -- the darkly lilting "1963" -- that could have easily been a single in its own right. The set serves as an essential summing up of the group's non-LP work in their early days and makes clear that they had a strong argument for being the best singles band of the '80s regardless of genre. ~ Tim Sendra

Product Details

Release Date:	11/10/2023
Label:	Warner Music / Warner Records
UPC:	0190295928889
Rank:	1248

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Ceremony
2. Everythings Gone Green
3. Temptation '87
4. Blue Monday
5. Confusion '87
6. Thieves Like Us

Disc 2

7. The Perfect Kiss
8. Sub-culture
9. Shellshock
10. State of the Nation
11. Bizarre Love Triangle
12. True Faith

Album Credits

Performance Credits

New Order   Primary Artist
Stephen Morris   Drums,Keyboards,Synthesizer
Peter Hook   Keyboards,Percussion,Synthesizer,Guitar (Bass)
Gillian Gilbert   Guitar,Keyboards,Synthesizer
Bernard Sumner   Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Synthesizer

Technical Credits

Stephen Hague   Composer,Producer
Stephen Morris   Composer,Producer
Shep Pettibone   Remixing,Remix Engineer
Bernard Albrecht   Composer
Ian Curtis   Composer
Barry Sage   Assistant Engineer
John Robie   Composer,Producer,Remixing,Remix Engineer
Peter Hook   Composer,Producer
Joy Division   Composer
New Order   Composer,Producer
Martin Hannett   Producer
Mike "Hitman" Wilson   Producer,Remix Engineer
Arthur Baker   Composer,Producer
Gillian Gilbert   Composer,Producer
Albert King   Composer
David Brown   Composer
Bernard Sumner   Composer,Producer
Michael Johnson   Engineer,Composer,Engineer,Audio Engineer
Peter Saville   Design
Trevor Key   Design
Chris Andrews   Engineer
Mark Boyne   Assistant Engineer
Mike Johnson   Engineer