Low-life [Collector's Edition]

Performer: New Order (UK)
Engineer: Michael "Mike Dee" Johnson
Producer: New Order
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: New Order: Bernard "Barney" Sumner, Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris. 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. 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

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."

Born in the early 1980s out of the ashes of U.K. post-punk pioneers Joy Division, New Order became one of the first electro-pop bands to find mainstream success in the US. Their single "Blue Monday" was a landmark in dance music, and subsequent recordings achieved a perfect balance between technology and pop songcraft. They were a standard choice of club DJs through the '80s & '90s and even snuck onto the pop charts occasionally with catchy hits like "True Faith" and "Regret." Leader Bernard Sumner sporadically records with Johnny Marr as Electronic, and occasionally reconvenes the famed quartet.

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