New Order Album: “Technique”

There's an awful lot of people out there who share my opinion that this is New Order's finest album, and with good reason. Technique is consistently superb from the first notes of Fine Time through the final fade out of Dream Attack. Its the soundtrack to that summer you've always dreamed of - basking on a sun soaked beach while the warm wind washes over you.

Fine Time starts things out - a slightly strange housy song that is none the less very catchy. "You're much too young - to be a part of me / You're much too young - to mess around with me" Mix in Barry White style deep vocals, Peter Hook's awe inspiring melodic bass, and even sheep sounds, and you've got a winning track that could only have come from New Order. 7.5 / 10

Next up is All The Way - New Order at their most upbeat and a tour de force of song writing prowess. Primarily an acoustic guitar driven number, with a touch of synths, Hook's bass and a very upbeat chorus - "It takes years to find the nerve to be apart from what you've done - to find the truth inside yourself and not depend on anyone". 9/10

The third track, Love Less, kicks things into a slightly lower gear following the high of All The Way. Again, guitar and bass driven, but more downtempo in a way that conveys melancholy without sounding sad as only New Order can. "Can't you see, why don't you look at me? Its not your right to be, so much my enemy..." 8.5 / 10

The most recognizable track on the album is the single Round & Round - simply a terrific track but probably the one track that might not fit in with the others on the album. Pop bliss, with bouncing, bubbly synth work meshing perfectly with Hooky's basslines and some of Bernard's most inspired lyrics. "I don't care about what you do, because if you mess with me I'll get rid of you." and "The picture you see is no portrait of me. Its to real to be shown to someone I don't know." Probably New Order's most overlooked single and one that should have had more chart success than it did. Simply sublime. 9.5 / 10

Guilty Partner takes us past the half way point of the album. Another slightly down tempo track, helping us to catch our breath after the high of Round & Round, subtly driven by Hooky's rather mellow bass playing, building to a gorgeous synth-line crescendo. "I'm not some kind of foolish lover, I couldn't take this from no other! You're not being cruel to me, cause I always know that you'll come back to me..." 8.5 / 10

Run - Starts to ratchet the tempo back up ever so slightly. New Order with an edge. "What the *hell* is happening?" Bernard asks. "I can't think of everything. I don't know what day it is, or who I'm talking to..." 8.5 / 10

Mr. Disco takes us into Technique's fantastic home stretch. "How can I ever forget you? You don't know, just what I've been through..." it starts, as the synths swirl in, out, and around Hooky's bass. "I can't find my piece of mind because I need you with me all of the time..." Orchestra hits and gorgeous synth work round things out. 9/10

Vanishing Point - One of New Order's true masterpieces, and personally one of my top 10 songs of all time. Heavily synth based with a touch of Hooky's bass, the lyrics are once again powerful and raw: "Grow up children, don't you suffer - at the hands of one another" - "My life ain't no holiday, I've been through the point of no return". A truely lush track that could never receive enough accolades. 10 / 10

Dream Attack - Technique closes out with a track that just oozes massive quantities of pure bliss. Guitar and drum based, Hooky's bass in a more traditional role, with electric pianos and synths thrown in for good measure. Things start out with a perfect opening verse "Nothing in this world could touch the music that I heard when I woke up this morning". But the song contains a completely perfect moment shortly thereafter as it hits a piano break with a simply gorgeously stunning melody. Again, one of my personal top 10 tracks of all time. 10 / 10

New Order had some great albums in the beginning with Power,Corruption and Lies - Lowlife - and Brotherhood, etc, but they were always forging their own way with the childlike guitar playing of Bernard Sumner (per Johnny Marr) and the meandering bass lines of Peter Hook, were always kept in line with the original drums (not drum machines in the beginning) and catchy synth loops - I still love the synthesized croaking frogs on "Thieves Like Us".

1989 was a great year in music. The eighties saw the most different types of new music one could ever dream of, and what better way to finish off the decade than with a masterpiece; Technique - says it all. This is not an album to skip around from track to track looking for a single - the entire album is brilliant from start to finish - which is how it should be listened to. I remember seeing the Technique concert in San Diego, and New Order headlined for the following bands: De La Soul, Sugarcubes, and Public Image Limited. What a show!

Other great albums from that very same year of 1989:

PIL - 9

10000 Maniacs - Blind Man's Zoo

Jimmy Cliff - Cliff Hanger

Pixies - Doolittle

The Cure - Disintegration

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

XTC - Oranges & Lemons

Peter Murphy - Deep

The Cult - Sonic Temple

They Might Be Giants - Lincoln

The The - Mind Bomb

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

Love and Rockets - Love & Rockets

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk

Depeche Mode - 101 Live

De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising

Sugarcubes - Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!

Soul II Soul - Club Classics Vol. 1/Keep On Movin'

I'd be lucky to be able to think of this many good albums from all of the 90's combined.

In its day, this record was a contender. Although it had its Acid House detractors and New Order critics, the album was unique in what it tried to accomplish. At the tail-end of the Acid House craze (1989--the UK's "Summer of Love"), New Order tried to pump up the volume with "Fine Time" (the lead track) and "Round and Round". Both were massive 12"s at a time when remixes were scarce and 'techno' club tunes were just emerging.

The record's title, alluding to the emerging mastery of the turntable whilst maintaining a treasury of guitar + keyboard melodies and technofied electronic drums (Stephan Morris style) combined with the bass highs of Peter Hook's signature rhythm component, conveys an evolution of pop rock into club dance without getting too commercial or cheesey. Granted, the post Joy Division lyrics of New Order were always a bit unbearable, and this album's no exception; nonetheless, the overall melodic flow of the compositions and the hard-hitting dance rhythms generate an unforgettable assortment of classic tunes, especially for the '80s retro dancefloor afficionado.

In my opinion, this is the last great New Order album; further in my opinion, it should have been their last--it signifies what I believe to be the most genuine departure from earlier stylistic choices, and yet retains an honest wholeness. "Republic" and "Get Ready" to me seem to merely capitalize on where the band has already been and can't return to. Perhaps I'm simply nostalgic; there was a day when I would've claimed New Order could do no wrong. That day has passed, and "Technique" to me is the last great refuge of a warm, welcoming legacy of pop dance melody.

About 14 years ago, I picked up this cassette and stuck it in my walkman. I constantly listened to it for the next five years. It was the most amazing piece of dance music I had heard, the most coherent and the slickest. Then I bought a CD player, and the first CD I had ever bought was this. Imagine my delight at listening to this without any hisses or pops! I danced throughout 1989 and the early nineties wondering if anyone would ever make a dance album that was so wonderful. I'm still waiting.

A New Order classic, and sounds great on the 180g Vinyl pressing, however the product description is inaccurate, there is no download code included with this release....