Hmmmm, summer of 1989 and winter of 1989/1990 i checked out substance from the library after steve masters from live 105 in san francisco raved about it.

-Technique/Brotherhood/Peel Sessions-March 1990

Couldn't make any sense at all of how "We All Stand" existed alongside the rest of the music. Completely fell in love with Technique, which along with Weirdo and Paradise became a bit of my soundtrack to my first trip to Hawaii at age 15 (along also with the stone roses). Brotherhood was more erratic, i remember thinking it sounded washed out and plasticy, kind of hollow, a bit like the production in all those seventies albums i loathe so much (Pink Floyd and the like).


-PCL/Low Life-June '90

Got these just as i finished my freshman year in high school ended and summer began. Remember listening to them while riding my bike to play baseball with buddies (along with Hubert Kah, Celebrate the nun, bazooka joe, and david j's "I'll be your chauffeur" etc), and ride my bike throught he coastal mountains along the peninsula (i grew up about 20 minutes south of san francisco via highway 101 or 280). Instantly fell in love with Age of Consent sliding it in alongside 1963 and mr. disco as my fav new order song, also loved leave me alone, your silent face, and the village, and the non-weird part of 5 8 6. Love Life seemed a bit darker and angrier, but liked to listen to it when i felt broken hearted or angry that summer, especially this time of night and sunrise, Face Up played a humorous role in the first day of what turned out to be a 7 year romance while walking together w/the girl. Looked for Aleph version of Sooner than you think for years after buying a vinyl bootleg, finally found it on youtube a month ago.


-Movement-July '90

Freaking HATED this album, though i sometimes liked track 2, 4, and and bits of 2 other songs when i was mega depressed (nick named depressed mode by humorous buddies when i was a cranky angst ridden, way too serious youth)"here i am in a house full of doors with no exits" that is a great line, a great line.

Republic-May 1993 in time for CCS

listened to regret on the way to track practice as a senior, and during my drive to the ccs track meet that may where i was on the relay team. weird memory, while at the track meet, a baseball game was going on, and a baseball smacked my windshield good (didnt see it, just the result). Hated Republic, but did LOVE Special, the chorus from Times Change, Regret, and somewhat liked Everyone Everywhere, and Young Offender. In "Liar" contains the worst ever new order song.


Get Ready-September 2001

WFTSC-April 2005

I was not hugely attached to either of these albums, though both contain songs and lyrics that matter to me. Oddly confused at the hate for track 6 from get ready, its sluggish and musically kind of cruddy, but it has some nice barney lyrics mixed in w/the usual joke garbage. WFTSC and Turn are wonderful, bits of lyrics on get ready are great, but no songs are classic, a first for new order since movement for me, even the awful republic had hits.

Interesting and fun to compare thoughts:

a lot of albums felt like seasons for me early on though

Movement-just crap to me, awful, production sucked, but the songs were mostly crap too, the better songs from that time period didnt make the album.

PCL-i dont know what you know about ultraviolence and We All Stand, but it always sounded like an early summer/late summer album to me. Bright and hopeful and energized, Age of Consent, The Village, so much energy. I hated We All Stand, and ultraviolence never would have won me over.

Low Life-interesting perspective, it does sound weird, but not butchered the way Brotherhood does. Low Life sounded like winter to me, cold, and sad, and walking an alley at night more or less (well this time of night, sunrise, elegia and subculture anyway, the others are brighter).


brotherhood-washed out sound, production just sounds awful flat to me. Sounded like fall, a lot like the feel of fall. Bare in mind Im from california lol, so my seasons are experienced a bit differently.

technique-ultimate spring album, just screams spring to me, ditto republic, though more summer spring.

the last two albums just seem like fall, and winter to me respectively and lack greatness.

Its interesting also in that i love technique and think it sounds virtually perfect, my only complaint is the opener which always struck me as silly song, but my god, i can't tell you how many times i walked to school in the spring of 1990 with a walkman on playing Run/Mr. Disco back to back on the way to school, or All the way/loveless.

Only song i played as frequently was Paul Simon's The Obvious Child during spring of 1991.

substance 87, because somebody played blue monday 88 at a party. came into music late really. worked back from there, into joy division by substance again (thinking it was a greatest hits like the NO one, whoops, wrong lol)

spent ages waiting for republic. one pic i wish i had was taken at republic launch when "they pretended to go glossy, just to see what it was like". a full sized poster attached to a house on a side road in Maldon, Essex. Camera jammed afterwards and I lost the photos. quite incongruous the beach people up against a massive brick wall side of a house, in the arse end of nowhere.

after years of buying everything on cd.. heard the leak of WFTSC... didn't buy it. that whole 'draculas castle' lyric. man. embarrassing. luckily most non-NO fans not heard of it so dont have to defend the indefendable

Substance on CD, in 1989 IIRC.

12" of Temptation/Hurt was 1st. I bought it over summer vacation 82, brought it back to school where a buddy I had said, "Wow, that bass sounds like Joy Division!" (We were in Eugene, Oregon--not a hotbed of obscure [for the US] British bands!) So I went backwards from there; bought PC&L day of release at the record store I worked in in LA after graduation. Saw them later that summer with about 20 of my closest friends in a dance hall that hasn't existed for decades. I was leaning against the stage, 1 foot from Hooky.