jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (06/12/85)
If you liked New Order's 1983 album, "Power Corruption And Lies", you'll
love their new album, "Low-life". After listening to it twice, my
impression is that it's more of the same, mostly "new wave"-dance-pop,
only better. And if it's the typical New Order dance song that you like,
you'll be very happy because that's what 7 of the 8 songs are. The only
exception is actually the highlight of the album for me, "Elegia", a kind
of eerie, slightly Oldfield-ish instrumental that sounds nothing like
anything they've ever done.
You may think that if it's basically the same as what they've done before,
then why bother? Well, normally I'd agree, but they have made some
significant improvements. Most of the new songs are more upbeat, and
they seem to sound much more sharp and clear, especially the vocals, as they
get further away from the dreary atmosphere of their early work, though
they still have some depressing stories to tell with their lyrics.
I don't mean to say that their upbeat, danceable style is better than
their earlier dark, depressing work (nor is it necessarily inferior; just
different). What I mean is that two years ago, they started doing dance
songs, but the dull sound of the their earlier work was still more or less
prevalent, and it didn't really go well with dance songs. Now that they've
left most of that sound behind, their dance songs sound much better.
--
Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073
{linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd}!utcsri!dciem!jeff
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!dciem!jeff