Search - New Order :: Technique-Collectors Edition

Bad Technique

Danny T. Lee | San Francisco | 11/30/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this particular release of Technique due to two reasons. First of all, it's one of my favorite New Order albums. I had this on constant rotation on my Walkman during my senior year in high school. I evolved from cassette, to CD, and now to this so-called "remastered" edition. Second of all, it contains for the first time ever, the extended remix of "Run 2" on a CD. As any New Order fan may know, the original single is rare as John Denver sued NO because of a break in the song coincidentally sounds a lot like "Leaving on a Jet Airplane" and in an apparent effort to cut off royalty payments to Denver, they deleted the single (who got a co-writer credit as a penalty).

Sadly, as far as the "remastering" goes, Technique doesn't sound much better than the original CD. I compared it to the ripped MP3's from that release with the new CD and there is no obvious audio enhancement.

As far the new bonus tracks full of b-sides, it has been noted recently that the quality is pretty poor, sounding like a direct copy from vinyl. I can attest to that. There are pops and skips and it really does sound like they used a phonograph with a USB line-out to master the bonus CD. It really is a bad job.

I hear Rhino is going to remaster the bonus CD and redistribute it to early buyers of these reissues. It's a wonder they didn't pull the copies off the shelves already as this series has been out in the UK for several months already and they are still waiting for their new CD's too.

I would definitely hold off buying any of these releases until they get it right (if ever)."

Wrong Technique?

Ralph Quirino | Keswick, Ontario Canada | 02/03/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First, a big, huge thanks to Paul for the heads up on the mastering. I had the chance to buy the November 2008 Collector's Edition of Technique and did so without having read the reviews here firsthand. I played both discs on my home theater system, in my car (I listen to music very loud while I'm on the road) and on my home computer. The first disc is flawless. Not a bum note or remastering issue to be found. The booklet (mine anyway) is flawless too. Apart from the "cabinieri" vs. "carabinieri" misword, no typos to be found in the liner notes. The bonus disc, for me, was fine though not without problems. That said, I tried to listen to find all of Paul's "pops" and "clicks" at the times listed and found a few, though not everything he listed. I believe Paul when he says it's not what he expected. I don't doubt his impatience at finding all these audible potholes. However, in all honesty, this didn't seem half the problem he made it out to be. It in no way distracted me from enjoying the bonus material. And, frankly, that's probably why a fair amound of these mixes and demos are left unreleased. Yes, hardcore devotees may wish to wait for Warner/Rhino to "fix" the problem. But to these ears (and I've had Technique on CD since it first came out), I found nothing massively wrong here. yep, the bonus discs could have been clearer. But, really, given the nature of 12" recordings and "work" tapes, is anyone really surprised by the sound on the bonus material?"

Sweat the Technique

Anthony Russo | 02/07/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These cats are responsible for a whole lot of great music and this album fits in there. The original release is tight and then you add the bonus cd with the remixes which makes this even stronger. Just make sure to buy the 2009 version, not the inferior 2008 release."