Dance music is too often given short shrift by contemporary rock writers. Certainly there are no shortage of dance ?zines, but their emphasis has always been on the scene?the clubs, the fashion?as much as, or more than, the music. But as far as writers for mainstream and alternative newspapers, magazines and evolving online media outlets go, dance beats are largely anathema outside of rock contexts (i.e. dance clubs).
This is understandable?the canon of rock criticism (look to the writings of Lester Bangs, Greil Marcus, Richard Meltzer, et al.) was written during the nascent punk era and views the spare spontaneity of punk rock in opposition to the sterile indulgence of disco. Rock criticism has still not completely escaped that legacy; the continued pigeonholing and marginalization of dance music in all of its many forms is, in many ways, just another of the unfortunate legacies of disco.
No band has done more to combat this unfortunate prejudice than New Order. Critics have had little trouble taking New Order seriously, having formed from the ashes of the legendary Joy Division, a band that had no trouble whatsoever garnering the raves of the rock press with its dark lyrics and raw, brooding post-punk sound. After Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis committed suicide in 1980 on the eve of their first U.S. tour and supposed worldwide breakthrough, the task fell to surviving members, bassist Peter Hook, drummer Stephen Morris and guitarist Bernard Sumner, to conquer the world. And, along with keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, they would?yet in a way that their previous work could scarcely indicate.
Joy Division may have changed things forever by introducing electronic elements; some claim that the moment the synth swells in the eighth bar of ?Love Will Tear Us Apart? is precisely when post-punk turns into new wave. But New Order forever changed the course of rock history by taking Joy Division?s funeral dirges and turning them into dance hall anthems with a series of remarkable singles during the early 1980s: ?Confusion,? ?Age of Consent,? ?Temptation? and ?Blue Monday,? which remains the best-selling 12-inch single of all time. The worldwide conquest would come later in the decade with the release of mega-hits ?Bizarre Love Triangle,? ?True Faith? and ?World in Motion.?
In 1993, after releasing their most popular album to date, Republic, the band entered a period of hiatus, as members pursued solo projects; vocalist Sumner collaborated with ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr as Electronic, as bassist Hook released a duo of interesting albums as Monaco. Speculation continued through the mid-?90s as to the fate of New Order proper. The release of a greatest-hits compilation in 1995 seemed to many a sure sign of the band?s imminent demise. However, the eulogies proved premature with last year?s release of a new single, ?Brutal,? on the soundtrack for The Beach. This past Tuesday, New Order released Get Ready, its first new album of all original material since Republic, ending the speculation for once and for all.
Having had to bear nearly a decade of collective anticipation for a new album is bad enough, but New Order had to also address concerns that music in general had passed it by, a point which endless replays of ?Bizarre Love Triangle? at those ubiquitous ?80s nights, not to mention Orgy?s god-awful cover of ?Blue Monday,? could only punctuate.
Get Ready begins with a misleading whimper of new-agey piano and synthesized strings. But Morris? drums cut through the whimper, followed by Sumner?s classic overdriven guitar and earnest vocals. ?Crystal,? the album?s opening track and first single, is quite simply a remarkable return to form?a song every bit as exciting, passionate and danceable as ?Blue Monday? nearly 20 years ago.
The second track, ?60 Miles an Hour? also features the classic New Order sound and a similarly classic lyrics, which like the rest of the band?s oeuvre, maintain certain endearing qualities?they are simple, but not simplistic; singable, but not sing-songy; anthemic, but not preachy. ?Up down, turn around, please don?t let me hit the ground,? sang Sumner in ?Temptation? in 1982. Fast forward to today: ?Just give me one more wish, I can?t get enough of this,? Sumner declares in ?Slow Jam;? the song is straightforward and simply joyful, rather than enigmatic. Others have criticized New Order for its ?simple? lyrics, but joy is a simple emotion, and few bands express it quite so well.
Signaling its unwillingness to remain mired in nostalgia, Get Ready features guest performers associated with some of the most dynamic of contemporary music. Billy Corgan lends delicate background vocals to ?Turn My Way,? while Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream contributes to ?Rock the Shack,? a track that would fit quite well on a Spiritualized record. Perhaps the only disappointing element of the album is the closer, ?Run Wild,? a rather forgettable acoustic piece that borders on balladesque, a mode not often associated with New Order for good reason. With the bombast of the album?s opening and the energy pulsing through the balance of the record, this genuine whimper of a closing is puzzling.
While the sound of Get Ready mirrors the sound of New Order records past, the context has certainly changed. While previous records were firmly targeted at the dance market, this record does not have the same focus; instead of a dance record, Get Ready is more than anything else a rock album. This is due in no small part to the changes in the production and marketing of dance music over the past decade. Genre delineations between house, trance, drum and bass, and others have become increasingly fine, leaving New Order?s sound somewhere outside those definitions. Moreover, the advent of superstar DJs such as Paul Oakenfold have shifted the emphasis away from the track itself and its production, to its context in a DJ?s performance. Whether the dance and electronic community will again embrace New Order after all these years remains to be seen. For better or for worse, it will largely depend on the reception of remixes that will undoubtedly be released over the upcoming months.
Regardless of the type of music New Order is making these days, it is good to have them making it again. ?I?ll be there for you when you want me to / I?ll stand by your side like I always do / in the dead of night, it?ll be all right / ?cause I?ll be there for you when you want me to,? assures Sumner in ?60 Miles an Hour,? and it is indeed comforting to have New Order back making great, important music again. Perhaps comforting is a misleading term; like all great music, Get Ready challenges rather than comforts, but it is certainly good to have New Order challenging us again after all these years.
