Features

New Order ~ ‘Retro’ Box Set Collection

Bernard Sumner: “What’s that song? You know the one, the B-side to ‘1963’”. Rest of New Order in unison: “True Faith” Enough said. Just in case you were forgetting, Bernard, or forgetting Bernard — here’s a little something for the incompletist. And just when you thought the day would never come.
02/01/2003

Released in the UK on 9 December and featuring a typically innovative and contentious tracklisting of ‘Pop’, ‘Fan’, ‘Remix’ and ‘Live’ selections by Manchester journalists Miranda Sawyer and John McReady, former Hacienda DJ Mike Pickering and Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, New Order’s ‘Retro’ looks set to keep those closing time pub arguments fresh and alive if nothing else. Everyone has their favourite and everyone tends to align themselves with one particular ‘Order’: the ‘singles’ New Order, the ’12 inch’ New Order, ‘Early’ New Order, ‘Late’ New Order, ‘Live’ New Order — the list goes on. It’s an approach that was probably conceived to stop all the arguments, but in reality will do anything but.

Whether it’s a testament to the band’s ability to flout convention by appealing to its fantastically diverse and incompatible range of supporters or whether it’s simply a sign of their age, it’s fitting that this collection divides it’s discs as much as its fanbase: it’s cubic, it’s angular and it comes with a bloody marvellous 72-page booklet. With a witty commentary by the band on only the tracks they could be bothered talking about and an article by each of the CD compilers the booklet itself is worth the small fortune you are expected to fork out. It is also a fitting testimony to their lasting contribution to the visual and much as the musical in 80’s and 90’s music culture, crammed as it is with rare and unseen photos.

Likened to a clue from the TV Show ‘Catchphrase’, the release’s enigmatic sleeve was designed by the legendary Peter Saville. An Eagle? A Glitterball? What the fuck is all that about? Luckily though, the format pretty well matches the brilliant and comprehensive Joy Division box-set, Heart and Soul and this is arguably the clearest explanation of the design.

Dedicated to New Order’s manager, the late Rob Gretton who originally initiated this project, the record culls together the odds and sods rarities of the band’s career: ‘Run 2’, ‘MTO’, ‘Video 586’, the Western Works demos, the Hacienda Christmas flexi, various previously unreleased live BBC radio and TV sessions and the classic, definitive ‘blue ribbon cover’ version of ‘Ceremony’.

Originally to have been called ReCycle, Rob Gretton’s original idea was to have every recorded version of every New Order track PLUS unreleased material placed together, side-by-side in one whopping 20-disc collection. Steven Morris also explains that another idea was have a ‘Pick and Mix’ of 5 of the 20 so you wouldn’t know which ones you were getting.

As it is you get four discs that pretty much cover every eventuality when it comes to taste. You get The ‘Hits’, the classic LP tracks/B-sides, the remixes and the live tracks. And if you are lucky enough, you may just get a fifth disc of rarities including an 18 minute version of Elegia and other rarities.

Retro informs the uninitiated, and replenishes those in the know.

NEW ORDER – ‘RETRO’ – TRACKLISTING
Disk One – Entitled ‘Pop’, chosen by Miranda Sawyer

  1. ‘Fine Time’
  2. ‘Temptation’
  3. ‘True Faith’
  4. ‘The Perfect Kiss’
  5. ‘Ceremony’
  6. ‘Regret’
  7. ‘Crystal’
  8. ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’
  9. ‘Confusion’
  10. ‘Round and Round’
  11. ‘Blue Monday’
  12. ‘Brutal’
  13. ‘Slow Jam’
  14. ‘Everyone Everywhere’

Disk Two –Entitled ‘Fan’, chosen by John McCready

  1. ‘Elegia’
  2. ‘In a Lonely Place’
  3. ‘Procession’
  4. ‘Your Silent Face’
  5. ‘Sunrise’
  6. ‘Let’s Go’
  7. ‘Broken Promise’
  8. ‘Dreams Never End’
  9. ‘Cries and Whispers’
  10. ‘All Day Long’
  11. ‘Sooner Than You Think’
  12. ‘Leave Me Alone’
  13. ‘Lonesome Tonight’
  14. ‘Every Little Counts’
  15. ‘Run Wild’

Disk Three –Entitled ‘Club’, chosen by Mike Pickering

  1. ‘Confusion’ Koma & Bones Mix with Bernard’s new vocal
  2. ‘Paradise’ Robert Racic Mix
  3. ‘Regret’ Sabres Slow ‘N’ Low Mix
  4. ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ Shep Pettibone Mix
  5. ‘Shell Shock’ John Robie Mix
  6. ‘Fine Time’ Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley Mix
  7. ‘1963’ Arthur Baker Mix
  8. ‘Touched by the Hand of God’ Original Version
  9. ‘Everything’s Gone Green’ Original Version
  10. ‘Blue Monday’ Jam & Spoon Manuela Mix
  11. ‘World in Motion’ Subbuteo Mix
  12. ‘Here to Stay’ Extended Instrumental
  13. ‘Crystal’ Lee Coombs Remix

Disk Four –Entitled ‘Live’, chosen by New Order and Bobby Gillespie

  1. Ceremony’ Studio 54, Barcelona on 7 July 1984
  2. ‘Procession’ Sunderland 15 August 1984
  3. ‘Everything’s Gone Green’ Tolworth Rec. Centre, Kingston, London 6 December 1985
  4. ‘In a Lonely Place’ Glastonbury Festival 20th June 1981
  5. ‘Age of Consent’ Spectrum Arena, Warrington 1 March 1986
  6. ‘Elegia’ Glastonbury Festival 19th June 1987
  7. ‘The Perfect Kiss’ Fulcrum Centre, Slough 7 Dec 1985
  8. ‘Fine Time’ Hoffman Estates, Chicago 30 June 1989
  9. ‘World’ Starplex Amphitheatre, Dallas 21 July 1983
  10. ‘Regret’ Reading Festival 31 August 1993
  11. ‘As It Is When It Was’ Reading Festival 31 August 1993
  12. Intermission by Alan Wise Olympia, Paris 12 November 2001
  13. ‘Crystal’ Big Day Out, Gold Coast 20 January 2002
  14. ‘Turn My Way’ Olympia, Liverpool 18 July 2001
  15. ‘Temptation’ Academy, Brixton 10 October 2001

Relevant sites:
http://www.neworder.com/