Here is a review of the tracks played at a few
different shows to encompass all the songs during
the shows.
01 Times Change (Live at MIF)
a rather slow instrumental breakbeat track, rather boring
and not very inspiring.
02 Who's Joe (Live at MIF)
there's a reason why new order doesn't play these types
of tracks very often. because no one really wants to hear
this type of midtempo rocker from the latter albums.
very standard fare.
03 Dream Attack (Live at MIF)
another slow track, that continues in the same nameless,
faceless genre. trying to remember where its from,
but since its not memorable, it doesn't really strike
any chords. bernards voice is really off on it also.
04 Disorder (Live at MIF)
the first of the joy division tracks. oddly enough,
i don't care for them, but its the first sign of
energy from the band, so its decent.
05 Ultraviolence (Live at MIF)
now we move onto an actual classic, and interesting song.
a rather cool rendition of it, full of rocky guitars,
offkilter drums, and some presence finally from
bernards voice.
06 In A Lonely Place (Live at MIF)
another nice and moody track, sounds great, but
again, not the liveliest track.
07 All Day Long (Live at MIF)
an actual upbeat track, but not one that anybody
really remembers. decent guitars, and keyboards
on this one.
08 Shellshock (Live at MIF)
an excellent version of this song. great vocals,
and recreating the sound of the original. could
have been longer though.
09 Guilt Is A Useless Emotion (Live at MIF)
another late era dance tune. this one actually
works decent enough. however, bernard needs to
work on his delivery. it sounds a little lacking
in matching the energy of the tune.
10 Subculture (Live at MIF)
another stand out track, this is definitely one
of the highlights of the show. very well done
considering the trickiness of getting the sounds
to match. different enough to make it interesting.
11 Bizarre Love Triangle (Live at MIF)
the well worn class, and gladly its the richard x
remix version, as the other ones have been played
to death. so although its decent, its got its place
here as the standard track. since they're NOT playing
blue monday or true faith.
12 Vanishing Point (Live at MIF)
another lackluster technique era track, which is
surprising that that dragged it back out to play.
it didn't get much attention back then, and its
kind of a so-so track now, with its pseudo-house
sound, doesn't work out to well.
13 Plastic (Live at MIF)
from the last album, this is one of the more upbeat
tracks that makes it into the concerts lately. a
dance track for sure, that works, and represents
they can still do them from time to time.
14 Your Silent Face (Live at MIF)
another golden era song, nice additions to it,
and its good to see it coming back to the setlist.
good tempo and tone. very good.
15 Decades (Live at MIF)
another joy division song, and a rather long one
at that. they do a good job at recreating it.
16 Elegia (Live at MIF)
another all time classic, this is what the show should
have started out with. hypnotic, grand, and epic.
just the short version though.
17 Heart & Soul (Live at MIF)
joy division track, but one that has some frantic
tones to it, as always, its good to hear some of
the early historical tracks.
18 Behind Closed Doors (Live at MIF)
this bside from crystal, is definitely a lost song.
which, although interesting, is a rather odd song
to attempt. its rather wordy, and although its
about loss, and redemption, you have to wonder
why they included it. it's passable, but not
very memorable. guess they liked it for the
instrumentation.
as a project, this seems to be a pretty cool idea on paper.
visually, it looked cool too. lots of lights, synthesizers, etc.
however, the execution is lacking, the songs don't mesh well
together. there's to many slow tracks bringing down the energy.
there's also a lot of inconsistent vocals and singing from bernard.
there's a few standouts : subculture, guilt is a useless emotion,
ultraviolence, and shellshock.
bottom line : a well produced, well mixed concert, but lacking in content
they tried to vary the song listing, but too many subpar songs made the cut,
when they probably shouldn't have. its nice trying to play deep cuts, and
lesser known album tracks, but maybe they should have actually picked ones
that were more upbeat, or ones that might get better recognition. but thats
the trick isn't it, trying to balance fan favorites, with songs that never
get played. doesn't always work though.
not really worth getting the deluxe, but worth streaming or downloading for
a taste of some of them.
it would be a C grade or 2.5 / 5 star rating.
later
-1
