New Order Substance CD

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 Some "white lines" for your eardrums.
I didn't know until after I bought this that the lead singer for this band was a guitar player, Bernard Sumner, from Joy Division. For some reason I thought they got a keyboardist and a new singer after Curtis died. Apparently, they just got a keyboard player and changed their name. There's obviously a reason why Sumner wasn't the lead singer of the band in the first place. Need I say more? Fortunately his queasy vocals are fitting for his bleeding heart lyrics. On the surface, this sounds like the "come-back" music for the nerd in some (mid-Eighites)/(early-Nineties) movie where he passes some hard exam, gets his dream girl, and kicks everybody's butt at the end...and it probably is. Sure as hell sounds like I've heard this stuff before. Then you start listening to the lyrics and you realize this is some pretty intense, emotional stuff. Lyrically, The Cure on Prozac? This is cool and maybe if you didn't grow up around it, you may think it's fresh. I want to "click" on this white substance while under the influence...of critics and reputation and give it 5.0 stars; but without the mystic from someone in New Order dying tragically, I can't bring myself to do so--kinda' messed up but true because this ain't all that. Not only that, but Bernard Sumner isn't exactly the best singer I've heard. There may be some classic stuff here; but I feel it's just your basic dance-floor-techno, synth trash. Either that or its the same synth trash I've been hearing for the last 15 or so years--that could very well be possible, but it does and always did just blend into one GIANT song. Of course the inclusion of songs like "Blue Monday", "Ceremony" and "In a Lonely Place" RULE; but still, this basically sounds like maybe eight of the best darkly, optimistic songs you could EVER have trouble deciding whether to dance (if you do that) or contemplate over--the rest makes for a nice sounding distraction or DARN good internet surfing background music. Don't let anybody fool you. This band makes dance music and half of it is cliche'd to Hell. Why? Because of a few of these zingers: "...Love is found in the East and West, but when love is at home, it's the best..." Hey, it just stands out! Luckily, I don't mind cliches.
Submitted by rockstarr494 (Mainline, Main, USA) 
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 Some of you are showing your age
Some of yobs are showing your age. They helped start it all!!! People copied THEM! What you heard in years to come was cliched because these guys did it before! Try to have some perspective and take yourself back in time when Joy Division/New order were wholly other and you may start to understand.
Submitted by Walter E Kurtz (Cambodia)
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 excellent
This album offers a perfect introduction to New Order, while providing collectors with an invaluable collection of singles.
Submitted by Michele (Bologna, Italy)
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 It's not a cliche when they started the fad
Who would have thunk it? With Ian Curtis gone, and Joy Division's popularity reaching post-mortem heights, who could have known that Sumner,Hook and Morris -- each of them as integral to Joy Division's musical genius as Curtis -- could have rebounded from tragedy to embark upon cutting edge territory AGAIN? That's where previous reviewers go wrong. When the band reformed and brought on Gillian as keyboardist the took the unprecedented move of embracing the club and disco music that was still in its embryonic development and catapulted it to the forefront of popular music. Like its predecessor, New Order mastered the three musical formats of album, single, and live performance. And like Joy Division, many of their most popular singles are absent from their studio albums, allowing each to function in its own stellar capacity. Substance is the collection of the 12-inch single releases, as well as the b-sides. While not every song is of the same caliber, it should be recognized that if one associates it with some cheesy 80s movie, it's not because they were pumping out cliched electro club trash, it's because they were out there pushing the envelope and making music that had never been made before. While originally trying to emmulate Curtis's brooding baritone, such as on "Ceremony," a song originally composed and recorded (though feebly) by Joy Division, Sumner embraces his icy vocals which complements his rock/dance hybrid perfectly. Some of his more impressive performances -- Perfect Kiss, Shellshock, Bizarre Love Triangle, Blue Monday -- all demonstrate his qualifications to have taken over the lead vocals. Substance is made all the more appealling with its inclusion of b-sides. In A Lonely Place (featuring the late Ian Curtis's vocals), Kiss of Death, Shame of the Nation and 1963 are excellent. Tracks such as The Beach (the instrumental version of Blue Monday) showcase the group's sublime musicianship. Probably the most important New Order album, and one of the most compelling musical documentaries of the 1980s.
Submitted by x_quoth_the_raven_nevermore_x (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
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 Not the greatest selection of mixes
I love all 24 songs, but the album lacks substance because they chose alternate versions of the classics that made New Order and joy Division the '80's chart toppers that they were. Listen to the original versions of these songs and you get the true sound of New Order
Submitted by Runtune (phoenix, AZ)
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