Worth the price for disc 2 alone
M. Fulkerson | Portland, Oregon | 06/29/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I'm endlessly fascinated with New Order. No matter how much you know about them and how many of their live shows you've seen there is always something lurking around the corner of New Order's vast cellar of history. The first concert I ever saw was New Order on their Technique tour back in May of 1989, and, quite frankly, it wasn't very good. They just looked annoyed with each other, and even more annoyed with the crowd. They probably were. Having said that, the second disc of this set is worth the price alone as it spans their most creative and inspiring decade (the 80's). The video of most of the early live stuff is rough and unexciting, but they sound so good it doesn't matter. To see them play tracks like Leave Me Alone, Everything's Gone Green, and Ultraviolence back when they were fresh out of the studio is yet another great and new experience as a New Order fan. They look awkward and apprehensive, but you can sense a palpable focus on the music, and a creative drive burning from their eyes. They look hungry, and it makes one yearn to see them in a intimate setting.
The first disc is ok, the light show is cool, they sound tight, and their bellies have never been more bloated. It sounds good on a loud 5.1 sound system, but honestly it's nothing we haven't seen before. I would love it if the original 80's shows were released in their entirety, regardless of the video quality. New Order have become one of the best bands of the past 25 years, and they deserve to have every one of their moments witnessed and cherished!"
Track Listing
New Order Fan | 06/25/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Tracklist
Disc 1
01 Crystal
02 Turn
03 True Faith
04 Regret
05 Ceremony
06 Who's Joe
07 These Days
08 Krafty
09 Waiting for the Sirens' Call
10 Your Silent Face
11 Guilt Is a Useless Emotion
12 Bizarre Love Triangle
13 Temptation
14 Perfect Kiss
15 Blue Monday
16 Transmission
17 Shadowplay
18 Love Will Tear Us Apart
Disc 2
01 Ceremony [Celebration, 1981]
02 I.C.B. [Celebration, 1981]
03 Chosen Time [Celebration, 1981]
04 Senses [Glastonbury, 1981]
05 Procession [Glastonbury, 1981]
06 The Him [Glastonbury, 1981]
07 Ultraviolence [Rome, 1982]
08 Hurt [Rome, 1982]
09 Leave Me Alone [Cork, 1983]
10 Everything's Gone Green [Cork, 1983]
11 Sunrise [Rotterdam, 1985]
12 As It Is When It Was [Rotterdam, 1985]
13 The Village [Rotterdam, 1985]
14 This Time of Night [Rotterdam, 1985]
15 We All Stand [Toronto, 1985]
16 Age of Consent [Toronto, 1985]
17 Temptation [Toronto, 1985]
18 Dream Attack [Shoreline, Bay Area, 1989]
19 1963 [Shoreline, Bay Area, 1989]
20 Run Wild [Hyde Park, London, 2006]
21 She's Lost Control [Hyde Park, London, 2006]
"
Finally, truly rare footage (on Disc 2)
John S | Texas | 06/27/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Like some (most?) fans I bought it mainly for the second disc with rare and unseen footage.
Yes, we are rewarded here with the eclectic repertoire from the first TV appearance in April 1981 (Celebration) to one of the final concerts in 2006. I had wanted the Celebration footage for years (you have a snippet of it in NewOrderStory) and it's great to have it finally. Then come Glastonbury shots, which are worth every cent you spend for this DVD. Apparently pissed or otherwise influenced Bernard Sumner is completely off the hook there, being enraged by the longhair audience, who is not ready for drum machines; in the meantime the cameraman, dazed too, is trying to tune his own sight: camera wanders unfocused on the floor, eerie wires and blurry knobs. Right before the concert some dude filmed Rob Gretton and the band getting out of their old Ford and camping around, which is amusing. Knowing "Barney" Sumner's personality and attitude, it's unbelievable that something like this officially saw the light of day (well no wonder, the entire project was carried mostly by bassist Peter Hook and drummer Steven Morris). After that the footage quality becomes less professional: like blue x-rays of a dancing body at a gay disco. Almost monochrome, shot from one stand, the footage has surprisingly great sound quality; "Hurt" and "Ultraviolence" are superb, although ONE BIG DOWN: the first 10 or so tracks lack basses! I had my subwoofer all the way up and still barely can get any low register.
The 2006 section is kinda out of place: disc 1 represents the band at their latest already (it'd been better then to use some of the January 2006 Manchester show consisting completely out of Joy Division songs, like "Warsaw", "24 Hours").
As for the concert in Glasgow, I was reluctant initially to buy it, had it not for disc 2. More or less it's the same type of concert that we could get on "316" (2001) and "511" (2004), with addition of "Waiting For The Sirens' Call" songs. The band apparently realizing this decided to embed their comments in between the tracks, which is a neat but underdeveloped idea here. The sound may be better than on "511", the true rarities are great "Shadowplay", "These Days" and "The Perfect Kiss", while turning "Love Will Tear Us Apart" into a whoping, crowd-chanted anthem makes you cringe. Ironically, when the band was making NewOrderStory back in 1993, they didn't give a hint of what was going on; this time, going separate ways again, the antagonism is clearly seen."
As usual, New Order is great but...
J. V. Chavez Mocan | Kowloon, KLN Hong Kong | 08/28/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As usual, New Order performing live is great, but, like myself, they're starting to show their age... In any case, the music is great, and this DVD is a must for any New Order fan, especially now that it's very unlikely that the band will ever continue as it was..."