| | New Order Low-Life CD New Order Discography of CDs
With LOW-LIFE, New Order truly hit their stride with their highly individual combination of infectious rhythms, inventive composition and performances full of conviction. The vulnerable lyrics and earnest delivery of Bernard Sumner are in top form; his voice is at last a completely developed instrument, clear and comfortable as it wraps itself around such memorable tracks as the opening "Love Vigilantes," a solid, purely guitar-driven narrative.
Following immediately and in sharp contrast is LOW LIFE's biggest success, "The Perfect Kiss," a sequencer-fueled dance classic which boasts what is undoubtedly pop music's only frog sample solo. "Sunrise" has an epic feel, filled with driving leads and Sumner's signature scratchy, frenetic rhythm playing. The album takes a serene turn on "Elegia," a beautiful, airy composition of echoey guitar lines and swirling synth textures.
New Order's third LP, Low-life, was, in every way, the artistic equal of their breakout, 1983's Power, Corruption & Lies. The point where the band's fusion of rock and electronics became seamless, it showed the bandmembers having it every way they wanted: heavily sequenced and synthesized, but with bravura work from Bernard Sumner's guitar and Peter Hook's plaintive, melodic bass; filled with hummable pop songs, but still experimental with how the productions were achieved. The melodica-led pop song "Love Vigilantes" was the opener, similar as a standout opener to "Age of Consent" from Power, Corruption & Lies. Next was "The Perfect Kiss," one of the first major New Order singles to appear on one of their contemporary albums. (The band being newly signed to Warner Bros. in the United States, it made perfect sense to include such a sublime piece of dance-pop on the LP.) Even as more and more synth-heavy groups (like Eurythmics and Pet Shop Boys) began approaching New Order's expertise with the proper care of electronics in pop music, the band still sounded like none other. "This Time of Night" and "Elegia" evoked the dark, nocturnal mood of the album's title and artwork, but none could call them mopey when they pushed so hard on "Sunrise." "Sub-Culture," tucked in at the end, has the feel of a lost opportunity; remixed for the single, it became much better. But there was no mistaking that New Order had caught lightning in a bottle, and they looked to be a burgeoning phenomenon for years. [Rhino's 2008 remastering of New Order's first five albums, subtitled The Factory Years, provided complete remastering of each original LP plus a bonus disc that included a good sampling of the band's non-album material contemporary to the album. For Low-life, that included the extended single version of "The Perfect Kiss," a remix of "Sub-Culture," "Shellshock," an extended version of "Elegia," and two tracks from the Salvation soundtrack, "Let's Go" and "Salvation Theme."] ~ John Bush
Recorded at Jam and Britannia Row Studios, London, England.
Liner Note Author: Ian Harrison.
Recording information: Britannia Row Studios, London, England; Jam, London, England.
Photographer: Trevor Key.
New Order: Bernard "Barney" Sumner, Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris.
Q (6/00, p.61) - Ranked #97 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums"
Q (9/93, p.97) - 5 Stars - Indispensible - "...a stunner. New Order emerge as a fully-fledged dance act with marvellous songs covered with a metallic sheen..."
CMJ (1/5/04, p.16) - Ranked #2 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1985"
Mojo (Publisher) (9/01, p.86) - "...Multi-textured, urgent squalls of techno-pop manna. The best driving album ever..."
NME (Magazine) (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #10 among The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s - "...New Order finally cracked it and made the perfect rock album you could also dance to..."
NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #50 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of All Time.'
Blender (Magazine) (p.66) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "LOW-LIFE goes for vividly romantic club sounds, with a surprisingly playful sense of humor...'
Record Collector (magazine) (p.101) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "America fell for the band with 1985's LOW-LIFE, seduced by the emotional ennui of 'The Perfect Kiss' and the notion that guitars and synths don't have to be mutally exclusive in rock music." Low-Life Review
GuidelinesRemember to focus your comments on New Order Low-Life CD. Check our review guidelines for specific details regarding customer review policy. To submit your review, please fill out the above form and click "Submit Review." A staff member will then verify your review meets our guidelines. Upon approval, your review will be published within a few days. Please do not use this form to comment on web site errors or for order related questions. If you have concerns of this nature, please contact customer service by filling out this form.
Purchase Low-Life CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Cure Pornography: Deluxe Edition CDs (1982) Bonus Tracks; Remastered; Digipak
Low-Life album
 $12.25   
This remastered edition features a 14-track bonus disc of rarities that includes numerous demos, studio ...
| | Danny Kirwan Second Chapter CD (1975) With Book; Limited Edition; Digipak
Low-Life CD music
$19.79 
The first solo album from Fleetwood Mac singer/songwriter Daniel David Kirwan has the future producer for Human League and Buzzcocks, Martin Rushent, utilizing those skills here, as well as engineering. The sound is crystal clear, and a feather in the cap for Rushent as well as Kirwan. It starts off with an uncharacteristic "Ram Jam City," which has more Lindsey Buckingham sounds than one would expect, especially since the two guitarists come from two different musical worlds. "Odds and Ends" is more lighthearted, the kind of music Paul McCartney toyed with on The White ...
| | New Order Brotherhood CDs (1986) Collector's Edition; Remastered
Low-Life music CDs
$21.29
| | New Order Movement CDs (1981) Collector's Edition; Remastered
Low-Life songs
$21.19 
After the tragic suicide of Joy Division's Ian Curtis, the band restructured. Guitarist Bernard Sumner, whose gift for combining the melodic with the hypnotic had been the band's cornerstone, stepped up to the microphone. The resulting debut MOVEMENT finds the group taking a brave step away from its unfortunate past. Preserved are Joy Division's dark edges--Sumner's guitar attack swerves deftly between funereal repetition and noisy bursts, while bassist Peter Hook continues to explore ...
| | New Order Technique CDs (1989) Collector's Edition; Remastered
Low-Life album
$21.29
| | New Order Power, Corruption & Lies CDs (1983) Collector's Edition; Remastered
Low-Life CD music
$21.19
| | Kazuyoshi Saito Fly Aino Tsuzukiha Bonjour CD (2005) (Import) Japan
$19.69 | | Tito Rojas Condename A Tu Amor CD (1992)
Low-Life music CDs
$10.69
| | Crema Viveme CD (2008)
Low-Life songs
$8.79
| | Mike Delaney Evening News CD (2008)
Low-Life album
$11.35
| | Alla Rakha Khan Parampara Guru Shishya Ustad Alla Rak CD (2008) (Import) Import
$15.59 | | Big Stalks Cali Dippen CD (2008)
Low-Life CD music
$16.19
| | Earth, Wind, And Fire Promise CD (2003)
Low-Life music CDs
$12.25
Additional personnel includes: Eric Walls (guitar); Preston Glass (keyboards, programming); Gary Bias (saxophone); Ray Brown (trumpet); Reggie Young, George Bohanon (trombone); Danny Reyes (percussion); Gregory Curtis (programming, background vocals); Wanda Vaughn, Sheila Hutchinson (background vocals).
"Hold Me" was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
Earth Wind & Fire's umpteenth album since the band's first incarnation in Chicago at the dawn of the '70s may lack its founding member--Maurice White retired from active duty in 1996 suffering from Parkinson's disease--but all the familiar elements are otherwise in place, notably Philip Bailey's extraordinary ...
| | Michael Levy Lyre Of The Levites CD (2009)
Low-Life songs
$11.49
INTRODUCTION"Lyre of the Levites" is my second album of mystical, ancient lyre music, following my much acclaimed debut CD, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel". Both of my albums are dedicated to restoring again, for the first time in almost 2000 years, the mystical, ancient sounds of the "Kinnor"; the Hebrew Temple Lyre, once played by my very own, very ancient Levite ancestors in the Courtyard of the Temple of Jerusalem, to accompany the legendary singing of the Levitical Choir (II Chronicles 5:12).THE AMAZING SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NUMBER OF STRINGS ON THE ORIGINAL BIBLICAL LYRESAccording to both the ancient writings of the 1st century Jewish historian, Josephus Flavius, and the Biblical text, we know that the Kinnor Lyre played in the Temple of Jerusalem had 10 strings, and the Nevel Lyre had 12 - this is of amazing spiritual significance...The reason why the Kinnor had ten strings, must surely be to represent The Ten Commandments, and the reason why the Nevel Lyre had 12 strings, must be to represent The 12 Tribes of Israel (the Levitical Priests in the Temple of Jerusalem also wore a breastplate with 12 Gems to represent the 12 Tribes).Even more amazing - the sum of the total number of tones which could be played on both these lyres is 10 strings on the Kinnor, plus the 12 strings of the Nevel, which gives a total of 22 possible musical notes - which also happens to correspond to the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet!According to the doctrines of Jewish Mysticism, more commonly known as Kabbalah, each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a unique, spiritual significance, as the Hebrew alphabet is, quite literally, "the Word of G_d" - this amazing correlation of numbers regarding the strings on both the Kinnor and Nevel Lyres once played in the Temple of Jerusalem, could quite well be one of the earliest examples of Kabbalistic Philosophy ever know!For details of all the all the fascinating historical and spiritual background to my albums, please follow the link on the left to my official website. There is also a link on the left, to one of the promotional videos I created for this album.THE CHOICE OF REPERTOIRE FOR THE ALBUM"Lyre of the Levites" uniquely features arrangements of primarily traditional melodies from the Jewish Klezmer repertoire arranged for solo Levitical Lyre - the concept of the musical performances on this album, are meant to be evocations, not reconstructions, of the sounds & playing techniques that were possible on the ten-stringed Kinnor of the Bible; there are sadly too few unambiguously ...
|
|
|
42329 
Email a Friend
