New Order Album: “Low-life”

This is the album that best strikes the balance between what they once were and what they were to become. They still remembered their beginnings while breaking new ground. Dance and club beats aside, listen to elegia and tell me that it isn't a powerful piece of music.

I just wish they'd come out with a remastered CD. The original I've had since 86 pales to the UK vinyl... come on, guys. Break out the master tapes and show us what's really there. We deserve it after all these years.

These CD's have been in effect recalled for numerous sonic errors primarily on the second disks. DO NOT BUY the November 11, 2008 versions. Rhino has re-released them as of August 25, 2009. These are the corrected versions.

"Low Life" is New Order's definitive work, and a defining moment in 80's music. Finally finding their post-Joy Division voice after the splendid but less confident "Power, Corruption & Lies", New Order joyfully arrive fully formed on "Low Life". Every song bristles with energy and is celebratory, even when dark. Starting with the haunting but deceptively upbeat "Love Vigilantes" it's game on. "The Perfect Kiss" follows, yet another New Order classic, and "Low Life" is chock full of them. There is the darkly sophisticated "Sooner Than You Think", club favorite "Sub-culture", and the gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous instrumental "Elegeia". The incredibly buoyant "Face Up" ends things. The sound of "Low Life" is everything that made New Order so very unique, and what still sets them apart as absolute originals; no one else sounds like them. Musically the relentlessly inventive and energetic counterpoint of synth, bass, guitar, and percussion create a sound that simply compells and propels every song. Bernard Sumner's lyrics and enigmatic vocals bring the sinister contrast to the almost ebullient chemistry of the music. "Low Life" is a midnight sun of happy darkness, and one of the very best albums of the 80's.

The folk song that opens this album really gives you no clue as to what is to follow. The version of the Perfect Kiss on this record is subpar to the remixed single version (which would be OUT of place on this record, just as Blue Monday is out of place on the cd reissue of P,C,L). But as this song is subpar to its single counterpart, Subculture blows away its overblown single counterpart, so they cancel each other out. This Time of Night and Sunrise outrock any traditional "rock" band out there, they're very dark and powerful. If you can listen to this recording on vinyl, turn it up all the way on side 1, its really draining in a way that only Joy Division or the Velvet Underground before them were able to capture. Side 2 that starts with Elegia is very complex. Sooner Than You Think is obviously the centerpiece of the album but Face-up is a nice close too. This album has a lot of soul, and that's hard to come by these days (and especially in so called soul music!). This album is also very mysterious (in a way that really only New Order albums are). It begs repeated listenings not only because of its depth but because it can accentuate any mood or feeling you have at the time. In other words, leagues ahead of everything and anything U2 ever did. But if you made it to this page, you should know that already. (I'd also like to point out that the 3 star reviewer specifically mentions 60% of the album as the highlight of the album, what's up with that?). In summary, Substance (and the singles) are good for casual listening, but like all New Order albums, Low-life transends itself as just a record and takes on a life of its own. It has few peers (Pet Sounds, The Queen is Dead, Born to Run). Buy it TODAY!

This is one of my favorite albums of all time but I have to jump in on the remastering issues. I just bought this yesterday and I have the same flaw on the song Sunrise that the previous reviewer reported. I'll take his word for the exact time of the flaw but there is definitely a remarkable volume drop in the right channel in the middle of the song. The right channel corrects itself pretty quickly but when I heard it I thought something was wrong with my CD player. This is a very noticeable flaw. I even pulled out my Retro box set to listen to the song there to see if the flaw was part of the original master. The Retro version is fine as is my old copy of the CD. Is there anyone out there who bought a copy of this reissue that doesn't have that volume drop on Sunrise?