Search - New Order :: BBC Radio Live in Concert

A different view of New Order

Brian D. Rubendall | Oakton, VA | 01/23/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I never had the chance to see New Order perform live, and having listened to this I'm sorry I never did. New Order on stage is a vastly different proposition than their fussy, perfect production studio albums. The music has a whole different feel live. The spontaneousness actually makes some of their songs more tuneful. The only regret is that the album contains only nine cuts, drawn heavilly from their 1986 album "Brotherhood." That said, this one is definately for fans only. Like most live albums, the appeal is likely to be lost on casual listeners."

Well, I Like It...

Steven Alexander | Tracy, CA United States | 11/05/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I haven't heard much live material by New Order, but I have heard some others besides the contents of this album and I must admit this is not the best they can do live. This album has its good points and its bad points. I really like the song selection, and the recording quality is excellent. The problem is that several of these songs fall short of their studio versions. The worst example is "Temptation", which does drone on for two or three minutes longer than it has to, not to mention that Barney's singing doesn't sound at all good and the guitars are barely audible. The other most prominent example is "Every Little Counts" in which the bass chords sound unusually distorted. "True Faith" sounds alright, but not nearly as good as the Substance version (which is awesome). On a more positive note, many of the songs to me did equal or even better their originals. "Touched By the Hand Of God" is supported by percussion that sounds quite heavy and very bass-oriented. As a result, it sounds almost like an underground techno-anthem rather than the pop gem its known to be. In similarity, "Your Silent Face" also has a heavy drum beat to it and it works quite well with the synths in that song. My favorite part of this recording is definetly "Bizarre Love Triangle". Sumner's vocal explosions in the chorus show his true passion for this particular number and it easily elevates this rendition to much better than the album version. This is one of the few instances in which all the instrumentation combines to form an orgy of sounds which, if you listen to any of of New Order's proper albums, is what New Order is all about. To me this track alone is worth the admission price. The band also finishes off with a high-caliber version of "Age of Consent", which to me also surpasses the original, and their cover of "Sister Ray." A great song for the guys to rock out to at the end. In conclusion I'd have to say that this CD wouldn't be ideal for those just starting their New Order collection. Get Substance, The Best Of, and their six proper albums first. But I do recommend this for hardcore fans, just for something different. I think its a worthwhile purchase."

Barney, it was really nothing

loteq | Regensburg | 07/25/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"New Order's concerts have often been a mixed bag, and this istheir one and only commercially available live album. To tell you thetruth, this 60-minute extract from their 1987 tour is horrible. I grit my teeth in saying that, considering that New Order's "Substance" and their early singles had a bigger influence on me than anything else. Singer/guitarist Barney himself admits that the band had suffered from massive alcohol/drugs abuse during this tour. Since the singer is drunken, the guitars sound like a bunch of uninspired noise, and the pre-programmed keyboards drone on and on, this performance is miles from New Order's studio standard. Arriving at the messy outro of "Every second counts", all positive vibes are crushed and you can hear the crowd booing. Even at their worst, however, New Order finally manage to save this show with a high-energy version of "Age of consent" (with bass player Hooky as a promiment figure) and a hard-rocking cover version of Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray". Unless you have to own New Order's full discography, this disc is really not a necessity."