Low-Life

Not a bad synth-pop album. If there was an option to eliminate the vocals, this would have been so much better.

Never really listened to New Order. Love Vigilantes has a strong opener. Overall this album is pretty rad! Nothing too groundbreaking but pleasant to listen to. I can't pick out any real stand outs. Maybe Sub-culture.

joy division you can dance to

Ok. ★★★

yeah why not partie 2 ❤︎: Love Vigilantes, Sooner Than You Think, Sub-Culture, Face Up

A lubię New Order. elektronika nie jest tu nachalna, raczej stanowi tło niż główny sens i motyw przewodni. Utwory są melodyjne i wpadają w ucho. Nic mi się nie dłuży. 7/10

4,1 - Ein Album wie aus einem Guss. Ohne den einen Hit ist es von vorne bis hinten ein Erlebnis. Highlights: Sunrise, Elegia

Bel sound nel complesso, ma non memorabile

Classic New Wave goodness

120/1001 :: New Order - Low-Life Heard before? :x: Would I revisit? :white_check_mark: Rating: 8 Listen before you die: Yes (especially if you fancy Joy Division) I’ve heard songs from this album before specifically Love Vigilantes (maybe my favorite New Order song) which I love, but never this whole album. And 2 things really struck me about this album. First, I’m no New Order expert but it’s the most Joy Division sounding album they have (which is awesome). Second, the vocals on this album are not great. Sumner does his best here but I don’t ever recall a New Order album where I was like wow they miss Ian Curtis but it’s very apparent here. Either way this album has great songs and they all hold together really well. I think I just found my "go-to" New Order album.

Took a few playthroughs, but this was really good 80s pop! Favourite tracks: Love Vigilantes, The Perfect Kiss, Elegia, Sooner Than You Think, Sub-culture.

Ugh, another synth-pop album. No real emotion either way on this. 3/5.

Two stars.. Not engaging at all

Decent use of synths but reminded me a bit of the cute but not as good

It was a beautiful spring day when I trotted home aged 15 from the local Woolworths with my brand new copy of Low-Life by New Order. I was very excited to hear the music because I had loved their performance from Maida Vale Studios on BBC2 last year and watched my VHS copy of it many many times. I found the tracing paper adorned cover enticing and sophisticated. Overall it fitted well as part of my teenage self transformation from dweeby metal kid into eclectic cool kid with a grown-up genre free outlook on music and culture. I had changed my room recently mixing Motorhead posters with posters of The Cure and The Cramps. I had even taken responsibility for my first ever pot plant of my own perched on a bookshelf. The sun burst through my upstairs window dappling the room in a warm Spring glow. I was taking my first listen while marvelling at the unique artwork while giving my new responsibility a much needed drink. A too enthusiastically given drink as it turned out because the saucer the plant pot sat in soon started to spill a waterfall from my bookshelf splatting straight down onto my treasured new record bobbling and ruining the lovely tracing paper. A useful lesson in how a certain amount of dweebyness will never leave us. I'm listening to the same copy forty years later and tracing the bubbles on the tracing paper lightly with my fingers.

Постоянное ощущение, что я где-то это слышал. Но в целом звучит, как несмелый и застенчивый Depeche Mode

Indie before it was known as that. Alternative as well. Dance based 80s Irish awesomeness.

Not my favorite New Order. A few solid rock-ier songs (Love Vigilantes and Sunrise). Face Up is a great dance song, up there with Bizarre Love Triangle for my favorite of theirs in that genre, but I still don’t like that mode of New Order all that much.

A very 80s sounding album. Not a bad thing, but nothing stood out to me

I thought it was fine, didn't really catch my interest though. Exceptionally 80s

There's no band in the world that sound more like themselves than new order. The effects on the guitar and bass are so good and so them. Its good. Not sure its as good as the other new order album on the list but its grrrrreat

Favourite track: love vigilantes

Despite the weak vocals I found the album enjoyable. Some Joy Division vibes but not as dark or moody, definitely more dance oriented.

This album isn't bad, but it's not much of my liking. It's very safe, and doesn't offer much more than 80's new-wave, which becomes very insipid for me and is the same thing all the time. So it's nice, not bad, but not that good to be a highlight. I would give it a 5 out of 10, so three stars is fair enough.

Standard 80s music, big fan of "Elegia".

Very good!

- Zeer zagerig - 0 nummers toegevoegd aan MMMM

гармошка эта ебучая)) в основном - минус вайб, кроме элегии. джой дивижн круче!

2.8 2x decent but nothing stood out

4/10

I like synth, but this is a lot of synth. Best track was Elegia by far. Balanced the synth levels well with an emotive set of other instrumentation. And also, has anyone noticed that Sumner is just a terrible vocalist?

Never quite gets going. Love Vigilantes is an all-timer though.

It was quite good and had a solid alt 90's sound. Interesting and fun to listen to.

Synth pop is usually not my thing, but this is such an awesome album that I really enjoyed it from start to finish. Great musicianships, playing overall sound. It's a 4.5, pretty close to 5.

Another new wavey entry. I liked it more than Devo but still not my sound. Prefer the cure for the genre

Not terrible, but every song sounds the same to me--kind of like The Cure. Probably a 2.5 for me, but bumping.

Classic album with several timeless tracks.

Really good

What a great album to start with. A pure 80s classic. I hadn't heard this in a while. I didn't like it back in the 80s so that was a nice reminder of how uncool I was. Thanks for that.

Cover to cover, plus it's a Metal Gear reference

I enjoyed this! 80s 80s 80s synths synths synths. I need to get more into it to really dig into the lyrics. But I’m really enjoying what I’m hearing. I went back to listen to elegia multiple times, it just sounds so barren and epic. All tho production makes me wanna dance. I am a shameless synth pop lover. 3.5/5

Poppy 80's dance music. I was never really into New Order (nor Joy Division) back in the day, so for me it's just OK. Some of their other songs are definitely better, like Bizarre Love Triangle.

I feel like New Order has better albums. Pretty much every excellent song here is balanced out by one with shaky vocals.

Waffled between a 3 and 4 for this one given my love of Joy Division and New Order - but I think there's a reason I haven't really heard anything beyond the big singles for this album. & his vocals are quite weak on a few songs, honestly taking me out of enjoying the new wave synth vibes I usually love. So a 3 it is.

Overly synth-y 80s pop, but still pretty nice. Started out great, but kinda got forgettable and same-y after a while. Best song: Love Vigilantes

New Order’s for feeling things. So in no particular order: Thank you to Bernard Sumner for never yielding and, oh, I don’t know, getting some singing lessons sorted; it is you who normalised thin and wispy vocals that routinely overextend themselves and for that emo thanks you. “The Perfect Kiss” is a perfect song made all the better for its infuriatingly premature ending (you work me all the way up just to fade out then?!). I wish that bloke from Ou’est Le Swimming Pool hadn’t died. If I could only listen to records from one year in musical history, it’s 1985 and it isn’t even close (add this to Songs from the Big Chair, Meat is Murder, Night Time, Steve McQueen, Don’t Stand Me Down …). “Elegia” is wonderful and so obviously full of love – it’s a beautiful piece of music – but it also reminds me a lot of something I’d hear on the odd occasion I caught some post-watershed 90s telly, an ITV programme about ghosts or other unexplained phenomena. Maybe those two sensations aren’t entirely disconnected. “Sooner than you think” is so full of competing hooks – ahem – that I reckon I could listen to it a dozen times and, by picking a different track to focus on, hear a dozen different songs. What is Bernard thinking with all this horny stuff? It’s not that the monotone drawl makes lines about “pleasure zones” and “rummaging around in the park” (or whatever it is he says) worse – no vocalist could resuscitate such etiolated frippery – but rather the opposite: by sounding so absolutely humdrum, Bernard threatens to expose sex itself as something so entirely quotidian that it’s barely worth bothering over. Drop the first and last songs from this LP and you’ve got the best EP ever made; leave them there and you’ve just got a really bloody good record. Poor things. What’s it about a band like New Order that makes me feel like I’m being given a sort of, maybe not guided, but scaffolded experience? It’s uncanny – without ever needing to pay too much attention to what’s being said, I never fail to be overwhelmed by an abundance of feeling. If I can put it this way – this is the sort of record that opens up a space of its own; my every emotion mixing on a dance floor of pulsating coloured tiles forever and ever. It’s just that, I suppose. New Order’s for feeling things.

80s rhythm driven synth rock. Not bad, but doesn't pull my heart or mind strings.

Solid album. I liked that he used frogs as an instrument.

English, instrumental, average. We have a New Order of boaring. Jk. But this was pretty average for me. Good but nothing special. 5 out of 10

I like new order quite a bit. And this was pretty decent. Not much else to say. Pretty chill.

“Sunrise” was super great!

i can smell a ghost soldier twist coming a mile away

OH WOW starting off strong!! Like right off the bat the first track is so good. Probably the best music I’ve listened to in a long while. Holyyyy folks. Okayyy on the second track now and I can definitely hear the post-punk sound, plus some pure 80s structure/synth. Almost reminiscent of Joe Strummer on Combat Rock? It’s fun! Some low points in the album—nothing distinctly bad, just less exciting than the standard set by the best tracks on the record, which is a compliment.

The 1980s is known for its mediocre bands that produced one or two good singles. Here we have a mediocre band without the hit single. Not a bad band, but certainly nothing you have to listen to before you die.

Eins mikið og ég fíla Blue Monday þá var þetta alls ekki gott. Mér fannst söngvarinn oft vera hreinlega falskur. Mig langaði að líka við þessa plötu en ég get það einfaldlega ekki. Samt tvær.

Holy shit I love it. Elegia is beautiful! No wait…the whole album is fking amazing

Listening to this while staring into a still lake might make you go for a swim and never return (compliment)

Banger after banger 5/5

Reasonably okay. Not standout but some good stuff. Could lose the excessive synth.

86/100. Vibey and atmospheric, blending melancholy melodies with danceable rhythms. Just overall great.

Great album!

A resounding meh, limp vocal that went nowhere.

Pretty decent. I know nothing of New Order except Blue Monday (who doesn't) and this was a lot more than I expected, I guess. I listened twice because I suspected it would be better on second hearing. I was right. Subculture was the only one that didn't really do it for me. It sounds very 80s, but it was a great listen. Loved the way the guitar came in at the end of Elegia - that was my favourite bit.

I liked the first song unfortunately it was all downhill from there. Two stars.

Great albums. Not ne New Orders best, but it's up there.

Not that bad, but I never had enough patience for post punk

Jotenki ärsyttävä. Välillä ihan hyvä tunnelma ja instrumenttiosiot mutta silti jollakin tavalla rasittava enkä tykkää laulajan äänestä. Monesti tykkään tän tyylisestä musiikista mutta tää ei vaan napannu.

This is why I worry about the English. they really like this band. And Echo and The Bunnymen as well... please, please, no more of this.

New wave music....why is there so much of it! This is like the marriage of mid-80s Cure and INXS. Which I guess means better than 90% of New Wave music? They definitely took a slightly darker direction on this album. This Time of Night could be a Cure song, in fact for all I know it is a Cure cover. Elegia sounds like they saw Nightmare on Elm Street and thought that would make a kick-ass song. Of course it's in Stranger Things, or as I like to call it, Generation X nostalgia porn. This sounds like midi files. Face Up is the worst song on the album to close things out.

Maybe there are less memorable synth-pop groups and albums from the mid-80s, but how would I know really, since I would have forgotten them as completely as I forgot this group. Keep in mind that THIS completely forgettable album has somehow been included on the list of 1001 albums we MUST hear (for some reason), but NO Warren Zevon albums. If you don't know Warren Zevon, then pick ANY one of his albums and listen to it back-to-back with this one. I guarantee Zevon will be the more memorable (and enjoyable) experience.

What a pleasant surprise! This one is bop after bop. New Order never clicked with me until now, but this might be the album that brings me around to them.

This was alright. I like some of the New Order hits but this to me was mostly middle of the road. I didn't know a lot of the history about New Order and how they're born from Joy Division, and how the singer of New Order reluctantly became the singer. Honestly kind of makes sense listening to this (at times).

I bet this was very popular and a new sound in the mid-80’s. A few catchy songs and clearly talented musicians. Might listen to a couple again.

Nah

Personally I'd probably have gone with Power, Corruption and Lies over this for the list but this is nonetheless classic New Order. Barney's vocals and lyrics are a bit ropey in places but musically it sounds great.

If you treat New Order as a direct continuation of Joy Division, 𝘓𝘰𝘸-𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 could easily be seen as their fifth album — the moment when the band finally moved beyond the shadow of Ian Curtis while still carrying his melancholy spirit. The mix of cold electronics, warm melodies, and Peter Hook’s unmistakable basslines shows a group coming fully into its own. A perfect balance of emotion and precision — understated, yet quietly powerful.

wasn't my vibe... i tried

Good early New Order.

There were a lot of synth-pop bands in the 1980s. New Order was different than the others in a variety of ways: they lacked the dark Gothic edge of Depeche Mode; they didn’t have the baroque orchestrations OMD; they didn’t quite have the full techno dance sounds of Pet Shop Boys or the social consciousness of Erasure. In truth, they were kind of like the vanilla ice cream of synth pop. There are good songs on this album, such as Sunrise, which I really got into and Love Vigilantes is also a pretty good, though it does sound like the Cure Lite. The album really felt like it found its rock/pop sound in the center, and then faded back into mockjay status. It’s solid album (listened to it twice back-to-back) but New Order didn’t offer anything the other bands didn’t do bigger.

Random thoughts: * This was pretty incredible 80s synth rock. * Love Vigilantes was the stand out track and one I immediately recognized. Not sure if it was in my brain from my (the best of) New Order CD or the Iron and Wine cover. * Elegia was a super cool track that was very cinematic. * This album made my break out my CD and listen to a CD on my old Bose CD player. Fun!

3.7/5. I like.

Interesting listen as they move further from post-punk proto goth towards dance. Kind of an awkward in between album

Dark. That's how I'd describe this album. Even on the most upbeat songs, there's a dark undertone to everything. A brilliant blend of guitars and electronica, a brilliant blend of dark bass and synth with upbeat melodies, it feels like a representation of a musical movement. There's lots of great stuff here, but it's fitting that the standout track is a tribute to Ian Curtis. "Elegia" is a brooding instrumental that feels like the soundtrack to a Western set on the surface of Mars. It's glorious, unique and perfectly the centerpiece of the album, both in placement and musically.

Nada de mais.

This was a reminder that I really need to listen to more New Order. I hadn’t heard a single song from this album before, but they were all great. Feel like I’m potentially missing out on a lot from them

yep it sure is joy division but not

3 out of 5. Really just an ok album for me with some nice parts along the way. I can see this one getting better on repeat listens.

Flew by. Dank synths, high bass and 808s. Lavely. Elegia is a personal highlight. 4/5

Disappointing. Lacking strong songs

I've always been a bigger Joy Division fanatic than New Order fan, so am drawn to the latter's debut which sounds like a "lost" Joy Division record. With New Order in fully fledged 80s Synthpop mode I most love the big, bold, brash singles, which makes The Perfect Kiss my highlight on Low-Life. Elsewhere there is a nice mix of jangling yet angular guitars, sweet storytelling and overbold synths.

There is a real chance this is my favourite New Order record, but honestly I think it’s just whichever of this and Power that I’m listening to at the time haha

Partly great! Partly not so great. For sure not Joy Division.

Good but not great, enjoyable album but lacks sufficient variety to soar.

At this point, New Order is jockying with The Cure as my favorite post-punk/goth rock band. And this album just makes it tougher to decide between the two. Low Life is probably their most consistent album, along with being their best by a slight margin. I got Technique previously and absolutely love that album, however, it does stumble right of out the gate with Fine Time, probably the weakest song from what I gather are their top 3 albums (Power Corruption and Lies, Low Life, and Technique). That song alone stopped me from giving Technique a 5 (although another song or two start with intros that I'm not super hot on). While Low Life doesn't quite hit the highs of Technique (Dream Attack), it also doesn't have the lows (Fine Time). PC&Ls is hit or miss for me. Age of Consent and Leave Me Alone are fantastic, but the rest of the track list I really am not big on. Low Life though has a great tracklist the whole way through (I'm not 100% sold on Face Up, however. Points for being silly though). Especially songs like Sunrise and Sooner Than You Think. Elegia is a great instrumental, and I quite like This Time of Night as well. Low Life really strikes a balance with their previous sound vs the sound they'll develop on Technique, and it's just great.

Not great. Depeche Mode was releasing similar music at this time with stronger vocals and better keyboard based music. New Order has never really been for me. 2/5

Love the first track - maybe that’s a sign that the rest av this record isn’t for me really… I will return tho, it might grow on me.

J’en suis à l’avant-dernière toune. C’est pas mauvais. J’imagine qu’il fallait être là pour apprécier ce genre musical (est-ce que c’est du new wave ?). Mais bon. Je peux reconnaître que ce n’est pas mauvais, mais ce n’est juste pas pour moi.

Love this album. Doesn't necessarily have many of their biggest hits, but it's a great collection of work. 8/10

If this one is on the list, I sure hope Power Corruption and Lies is too. This is good, that is better.

Frábært sound, mjög góð plata.

Elska New Order sándið. Mjög ólíkt Joy Division en samt kemur JD alltaf annað slagið í gegn. Frábær lög og minningarlagið um Ian Curtis mjög fallegt.

I love Joy Division, but I don't get why people rate New Order. This is tinny, clattering mess for the most part, with terrible vocals. The occasional bit that rises to average just sounds like something the Cure did better. Did people just really really want to like this? Am I missing some context that would make sense of it? A solid 2.

Was ok. Like the sound, the singing not so much

Disappointing. No hooks or singles worth mentioning.

Hot take, but New Order is basically '80s music with the campiness removed to make it palatable for music nerds. The album was alright, but it peaks with the first two or three tracks and doesn't quite reach the same heights again.

Rv

like franz ferninand if it was good. would cop instantly. ice dungeon song rules instant cop 4

This record is a prime example of how a band that has a LOT of bangers can have only some bangers.

fine. 3

I was not previously familiar with this album. It was good, I suppose, although for much of the album I would not say it really held my attention. The track Elegia stood out to me, however. I suppose I would listen to this album again, but am not really in any sort of rush to do so.

Love New Order. Great album

Some really great tracks on this! - Love Vigilantes - Sunrise - Elegia - Sub-Culture - Face Up

Moody, but dance-y! Melody focused guitar writing. Sounds like either drum machines that sound like kits, or kits inspired by drum machines, or both! Ambient, even prog at times. Good stuff!

Too generic nothing special

Another surprisingly good album! Very catchy beats 4 ⭐️

The opening track was pretty good, but I guess there's a reason they placed it first on the album as it went downhill right after that. It's not my preferred style of music, not even close. I was able to make it all the way through though. I think 2 stars is about right.

As far as New Wave / Post-Punk goes, this is solid. But I generally don’t like the genre outside of some standouts (namely, The Cure) so it didn’t entirely land for me.

New Order is another band Jason introduced to me back in my college days. Shell Shock was the song. Pretty sure in the Pretty in Pink (another great tune!) soundtrack. While this is not a bad album and contains one of my favorites songs, Love Vigilantes, I'm not sure this would be the album I would pick if I were trying to get you to check out the band. I actually spent the better part of the last couple days going through there musical library. These guys have a lot of very good material. Back to this album, Love Vigilantes is a great tune. Love it. As far as the rest of this album, I will say most of the tunes are decent. A little too nightclub dance stuff for me, but overall not bad. They kept it relatively short so it doesn't wear you down. I'm from a time when the thing to do was go to dance clubs Thursday through Saturday. Mindy loved the club scene and hearing music much like this. I'm sure some of you old time clubbers are aware of a few other dance hits from these guys! Anyway, decent album, but certainly not their best. 3

3.5 New Order is one of those groups whose music I generally enjoy, but I would say only have a handful of great songs - and this album pretty much exemplifies that, with Love Vigilantes being the only song here that I would call great. That said, the rest of this album still mostly succeeds in establishing that sort of new-wavey, danceable, bass-driven sound the group does so well, and while it doesn’t provide a ton of noteworthy moments, it did provide me with a listening experience that I enjoyed each time through. There are some songs stronger than others, in this case The Perfect Kiss, Sunrise, and Elegia all being ones that stood out to me a touch more, with that last one feeling especially poignant knowing it’s a tribute to their late Joy Division bandmate, Ian Curtis. I’m not normally someone super into instrumentals, but the direction with it here did a great job of imparting a sense of catharsis and eulogization without any words feeling necessary - given it’s the most streamed song on the album, it seems most would agree with me in that regard. However, on that note, one thing that kind of surprised me in reading what others had to say about this album was the lambasting of Bernard Sumner’s vocals. I’ve always enjoyed the guy as a singer personally, but in re-listening to this album with that context, I can admit he’s a little out of tune a couple of times toward the end, like on Sub-culture and Face Up in particular, but idk, it’s never grating by any means, and if anything, I think it adds to the personality of the music. I guess I can see how someone might not enjoy it though. I’m happy to have been exposed to some new stuff from these guys, but my initial sentiment on New Order remains the same after listening to this. That said, I am hoping for a Power, Corruption, and Lies appearance on this list - if I had to point to what I would consider their best album, it’s definitely that one, and their best song, no contest, is Age of Consent. However, considering the track record with some of the selections, I’m not holding my breath.

I liked moments of this but the singer is so bad that it generally ruined those moments.

Great to explore a bit more content from a great band. Very enjoyable.

This was like perfect 80's music

New Order have some amazing songs and it’s too bad only one of them is on this album. Another example of a band’s best-of being a more appropriate entry on this list instead of a specific album.

This is for some reason a better version of the album from the beginning of the week. Good synth pop that doesn’t or do it. It.

Didn’t light my world on fire. Had some cool stuff.

While it has moments suggesting their breakout massive hits like Blue Monday, mostly seemed like forgettable 80s synth.

Musicalmente la tontería más grande del universo. La instrumentación es insoportable. El rollito de coqueteo con el fascismo es directamente para desterrarlos del planeta. Sin embargo las canciones están bien para poner de fondo mientras tu hija llora porque así el llanto parece lo más agradable de todo. Es lamentable, música para snobs y gente de sexualidad no aceptada.

3.8 Yes. My first new order album on here I was pretty disappointed with, but this was more like I expected, having only really known but really loved blue monday. The perfect blend of post punk and dance. The only thing stopping it from getting a higher score is the vocals man. I appreciate sometimes people who can't sing can still sound really good. But there are certain points here where the illusion is broken. Last track in particular, it ends the album on a "is that really his voice" note. The highs of this album are real high though

Ok I keep getting albums that I round down to 3 stars but today I’m going to round up, maybe a little bias on my part given their Manchester roots, and that they are one of my wife’s favourite bands. I wasn’t sure if I’d listened to this album before but I know Perfect Kiss, this is a good album, and with just 8 tracks over 40 mins, very succinct. Sure, Bernard Sumner’s vocals often seem weak but it’s mostly not a problem for me here. By now New Order had fully moved away from their Joy Division sound, with synths taking centre stage. I also caught myself thinking one of the beats was a bit cliched but then it almost instantly occurred to me that it was because New Order made it famous with Blue Monday. I’m still very much a Joy Division fan over New Order and most of my favourite New Order tracks weren’t released on albums but I had a good time with this one, finding time for a couple of listens.

I don't know what it is inside me that resonates to this, or whether that's a good thing, but there you are.

It’s good but getting a bit to dancy for my taste.

Another 3 not too bad

alright

Weak

Nothing to say beyond awful.

Love Vigilantes was a nice song. The instrumental Elegia was kind of cool...like Tubular Bells. The rest was kind of bollocks.

Never knew that new vigilantes was an older song. One good song on album

One of New Order's best. Very 80's, but in a good way. It is actually surprising how well this sounds compared to other synthpop of the time, probably the more indie feel gives it a somewhat more current appeal. The vocals are obviously trash a lot of the time, especially in the second half. But that doesn't really detract from how good these songs are, and how euphoric they can sound. Key tracks: Love Vigilantes The Perfect Kiss Sub-Culture

Interessanter Sound, ging stellenweise in so eine Film-Soundtrack Richtung find ich. Bin ehrlich gesagt unentschlossen

Medium Rock New Wave Zeugs, ganz i.O.

OK. 2/5

Synth pop distilled. One great song. The rest just not leaving much of an impression for me.

I’m starting to realize that I not only really love new wave, but that I’m actually a pretty big fan of New Order and Joy Division. This album is no exception. It has super punchy and memorable production even if it’s very much of its time. Seriously, if you have a biased against 80s music you are gunna struggle with this album, is super “80s” sounding. My only big complaint is that I didn’t enjoy their most played song off the album “Elegia”. It was super epic and enjoyable near the end but the first 2 minutes of the song are really grating, and honestly just sounds like a wall of noise cause it’s so abrasive. That being said I do really enjoy this album, to the point where if I see it in a record store I’m gunna snag myself a copy. Honestly it’s hard to hate on this album in any major way, cause my album for today (I got low-life a few days ago and are catching up) is The suburbs by Arcade Fire, and that album is trash, so in comparison, this album is like a true work of art.

Love, love, love ❤

A solid new wave record for its time, but likely enjoyed most by New Order’s most ardent fans.

great 80's synth pop, only one song that I didn't really enjoy on the whole album

mellow. chill. airy. guitar. 80s.

Ich hörte mir das Album auf der Fähre von Giglio auf Festland an. Besser wäre es noch gewesen, wenn ich draussen gesessen wäre und den Sonnenaufgang hätte von Anfang an sehen können.

Classic, fantastic stuff. Thoroughly enjoyable.

New Order's best songs are the non-album singles collected on Substance, but this is still a banging album. Humanistic synth pop that's dark and moody but also joyfully dancey, oscillating between Joy Division, Cure, and Depeche Mode sounds of the gothy new wave, but always distinctly New Order with those incredible melodic Hooky baselines and affectless flat vocals that are nonetheless deeply emotive.

Would’ve probably been a fan if I was born earlier. Alt

great

I went off New Order a bit when they transitioned to Dance-Rock so this is not one of my favourite New Order albums. For me, I prefer tracks like "Sunrise" which hark back to the "old" New Order.

6.5/10

Favorite Track: Love Vigilantes

80’s New wave

Classic new order

Not memorial and kind of just junky 80s dance music. This album should be on the 1001 albums to demonstrate how musicians fell off rather than anything good. Stick with the Joy Division or earlier albums.

Vieną dainą žinojau, overall visos dainos pamašios, visai nieko, bet nelabai išskirtinės.

Pretty good vibe

Sad bastard music.

seems to like extending songs by repeating refrain until it becomes boring

Pretty solid 80s dance pop record. Enjoyed it overall, pretty nostalgic as everything sounded like this for a minute when I was a kid. Love Vigilantes, Perfect Kiss and Sunrise are great tracks.

Dad- 4 Mom- 6 Mike- NA Lori- 4.5 Michael- 6 Miles- NA Cole- NA Avg- 5.13

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would, low 4

Pretty cut and dry 80's alt-pop.

Never hear this album before and it is great! I was surprised how good it is actually!

Dark Synth Wave

5/10

it was so fun to listen to!! reminded me of the smiths and such bands with similar sounds

The cool kids in Hawkins Indiana were definitely listening to this in 1985.

Excellent album!

Nice album by this great band

The vocals just kill it

Exactly what you would expect a New Order record to sound like. Nothing more, nothing less.

Was hovering at 3, Elegia pushed it up to 4

his is the point where New Order perfect the balance between post punk tension and synth pop lift. “Love Vigilantes” opens with a folkish melodica hook before Peter Hook’s melodic bass and Gillian Gilbert’s glassy keys pull it into something luminous. “The Perfect Kiss” clicks and pulses with sequencers that feel alive, while “Sunrise” brings back the jagged guitar bite. “Elegia” slows everything to a haunted glow and shows how much feeling they can draw from space and restraint. Bernard Sumner’s voice sounds unsure and human in a way that suits the material, and Stephen Morris keeps everything moving with exact, motorik drums. The flow is near flawless. Side two leans into the club with “This Time of Night” and “Sub culture,” then lifts off with “Face Up,” which turns ache into celebration. The production still feels modern, clean without losing grit, and the songwriting never chooses gloss over heart. It is sleek, sad, and euphoric at once, a record you can dance to while it quietly breaks you

Has a lot in there, remnants of Joy Division, Bits that sound like The Cure, bits that sound like Depeche Mode, and the classic sound of what new order is.

This is a fun one. New wave but with a lot of character and good production.

80er Synthie-Pop

Baseline

Rokkia, syntikkaa. Perinteistä brittirokkia kuitenkin ja aika kivan kuuloista kun otetaan huomioon vuosi 1985. Mikäs tässä kuunnellessa

I love New Order and this album is no exception. However I'm still a bigger fan of Substance which has a few (better) remixed tracks that came from this album. The energy on this album seems more tame when I prefer their more dancy tracks.

Oh good it's Adult contemporary 80's album number 27. It's very boring. Like why is it on the list boring. I'm having a difficult time making it through a song much less the album. A lot of albums have one song that carries it, I don't know what song that is here. It's just that boring.

Another 80's British band that I can't seem to get interested in. I just get bored listening to them. 2 stars or D+.

I have always liked Elegia but the rest of the album is disappointingly just run of the mill new wave

Lacking Substance, but otherwise I always welcome the New Order. Very much 'of its time' in a good and bad way. Highlights of Lowlife: The Perfect Kiss

I only knew 2 songs on this album and really enjoyed listening to it on repeats a couple of times yesterday. Bernard Sumner always cops a beating for his singing, but I kinda like the honesty of a crap singer doing his stuff with the backdrop of perfect synth and drum machines. Playing the bass an October high has such a classic sound. I recently saw New Order in concert, which made me realise how much tinkering they do to his voice on studio albums! Lol New Order are an awesome band and although I’d prefer to be reviewing other albums in their collection, it was a great excuse to be introduced to this one.

Classic ‘don’t judge an album by the opening track’ I was really worried in the first 30 seconds of this album that I was going to hate it, there’s a bit of harmonica-like but possibly a synth that had me feeling nauseous, BUT it really turns around in track 2 and I loved it! The vocals (as others have mentioned in their reviews) sounds slightly off, but I kinda liked it with the backdrop of the more polished music. I haven’t listened to a lot of New Order, but I think I’ll have to do a deep dive!

I do like New Order but as quality as their work is and as much as I’d like to sing their praises I find it hard to justify objectively. Still, 3.5 stars.

love it

One or two OK tracks but the rest? I'll give a miss to.

I'm a huge fan of synth pop but this album didn't stand out to me as much as I was expecting it to. Face Up is the highlight track for me. The other songs don't really do too much to stand out. Elegia is an instrumental which builds up to nothing and then begins to fade out when you're expecting a big crescendo.

💿 Rating: 4.8 / 5 💬 Short Review: Low-Life is the sound of survivors trying to dance their trauma away—and kind of succeeding. It’s romantic, robotic, and a little tragic… like falling in love at a bus stop in the rain while wearing shoulder pads. ❤️ Favorite Track: “Love Vigilantes” Yes, it’s got that upbeat Western-style riff. Yes, it’s about death. Yes, it will trick you into singing along to a narrative tragedy. Peak New Order.

nice 80er sound, de gsang isch mer mengisch chli störend vorcho

Me encanta New Order, sobre todo el álbum anterior a este: Power, Corruption and Lies. En este disco hacen una combinación interesante de New Wave, Post Punk y Synth Pop cada vez más alejada de Joy Division. 4/5

Ganz ok. Ich mag den beat.

Most intensive album of New Order.

I love me some New Order. I feel like they are one of the best 80s new wave bands and this album was quintessential New Order. This album made me wanna dance to new wave music all night. I would definitely jam to this album again!

I love new order. Compared to their other output this album is just ok and doesn’t grab me emotionally like the more synth punk oriented work. 3/5

There's a lot of 80's vibes here that is just not my cup of tea. For the most part, the album didn't stand out in one way or another. With that said, there are a couple entries that are solid.

This album is simultaneously stereotypical 80s but in the next song we are alt rock. This album is a ride and would highly recommend

Low-Life is the kind of album that makes you picture a group of sad goth kids with spiky hair, wearing eyeliner, chain-smoking in a damp Manchester basement while it rains for the eighth consecutive day and then heading out to a different dank basement to all sadly dance together in. This version of New Order sounds like the Cure trying to emulate Duran Duran, but not as good as either of them. That’s not to say Low-Life is without its moments. Tracks like “Love Vigilantes” and “The Perfect Kiss” are catchy enough. The synths are moody and the basslines are danceable. And there’s no question that New Order are, at least, better than Joy Division. But that’s a low bar. Low-Life isn’t unlistenable, its just has a “neither fish nor fowl” problem that it never escapes for its entire 40 minute run time. When it’s good, you can hear what they’re trying to do and halfway get on board. But when it’s bad it’s haunted house background music.

Very 80s sound, takes me back .. but Joy Division they aren’t, and that makes them just another 80s band.

Favourite songs: Love Vigilantes, This Time of Night, Elegia, Sub-Culture Least favorite songs: The Perfect Kiss 4/5

All I’ve ever heard from New Order is the England World Cup song World In Motion and despite the lack of John Barnes rapping on here this album was BRILLIANT. There wasn’t one track I didn’t like. Top Track - This Time Of Night

3

Love me some New Order, but this one skewed a little off for me. Still enjoyed the hell out of it

Amalgam of rock and new wave

That singer is killing me, man. Couldn't carry a tune in a wheelbarrow. Weirdly charming album despite (or perhaps because of) that though. 3.5/5

Wasn't sure how I felt about this initially but it grew on me. It especially took a while to get used to the vocals for some reason but in the end I enjoyed the album. Would probably listen again to see if it's better the second time

I expected to like this more based on other New Order I’ve heard

I somehow managed to listen to this entire album without thinking about it a single time

It was good ish,

My favourite thing about New Order is just how outrageously they have to cook with the production to compensate for the fact Bernard Sumner can't really sing.

it was nice, I am not sure whether I liked or disliked the very long intros. But overall a nice discovery!

Perfect as a background music for nice vibes

I really liked this album. I've always liked Joy Division but was only vaguely familiar with New Order. But damn, I think I've kind of been missing out. I would definitely buy this if I saw it in the record shop and would probably play it a bunch of times, forget about it for a year, remember I have it, and play it a lot again. Rinse and repeat. I think with these kinds of band from the mid 80s, you're rolling the dice when you start an album but I really enjoyed this one all the way through. The vocals are not the greatest, true, and the recording is a little uneven, but the album as a whole is really strong. Would absolutely recommend to friends. 4/5

Ofc 5/5 for New Order

Muy buen album, conocia alguna pero realmente me ha gustado mucho

8 songs, love it. Curation! Immediate jams.

pop 4

Verstehe nicht, wie immer der gleiche Sound so gut sein soll.

I love new order! Such a good album! I really like that this was a very moody but also good sounding album, kind of classic new order sounds!

kinda crazy we get 2 new order albums 3 days apart

6/10 - not as good as the other new order but still solid

Once again new order is at their best when sumner shuts the fuck up. I love new order and they have so many amazing songs but I just don’t think they have a single 5/5 album unfortunately

New wave really isn't my thing I guess.

Musically out of this world and lyrically humdrum but that only somehow humanises the songs on this album. I love it, one of the best of the 80's NO were on a run of classic albums at this time.

it’s alright! very repetitive but i had fun listening.

I probably need to come back to this. I found the lyrics and vocal delivery to be a bit grating (pleasure zone!?) but as usual there is some great production. I should dig into the influences and see if the album grows on me.

I had not realized just how off key he was singing on this labum.

I liked this. It’s synthier than what Joy Division delivered which is fine, though anytime I hear New Order I just think about how much I wish there was more Joy Division, that isn’t their fault obviously but it’s still sad that we don’t get more from Ian Curtis. This was awesome though, Love Vigilantes was a great jangly opener with a clever dark story. I think I may have liked the instrumental track Elegia most, it had some haunting notes to it that I really enjoyed. Really cool stuff that had a heavy influence on really cool shit to come. 4 stars

I love almost all of the New Order I'd listened to prior to this album. So I was surprised when this barely moved the needle for me. The songs didn't stand out and the production/sound of the album isn't very appealing. I still think they're a good band and the effort is there, so I'll throw a makeup star in there.

Boring 80’s

Definitely not New Order's best work. Some of the vocals on the tracks feel really weak, which takes away from the overall experience. While I’ll continue to enjoy their hits, I don’t see myself returning to this album anytime soon.

Having recently had Joy Division as my album of the day, it was cool to have this as a followup shortly after. Cleaned up and a different perspective on songwriting makes for a lighter tone, while still keeping their creativity flowing. Any album that can have both early electronic elements AND harmonica is a win for me, its a cool fusion between the acoustic and electric elements of music with the thrilling bass playing that we've come to love from Joy Division and New Order really standing out. I really enjoyed this album with some stellar standout songs in The Perfect Kiss and Elegia.

I had not heard this and thoroughly enjoyed it. Short, sharp and no filler. The transition from standard rock, to their synth based 80's sound is here and ot brings the best of both worlds. String lyrics and lovely groove.

A good-quality new wave album

Oline, necum vole

Low-Life is the third album from New Order, an English band that made synth-pop. New Order was successful throughout their very long career; the band members' history with Joy Division gave them international renown before they even produced music. Low-Life was regarded as the band's strongest work at the time of its release, and established them as more than just their noteworthy past. At the time, New Order's synth-pop was groundbreaking. They were so integral to the sound of the 80's that, in retrospect, it sounds cliche (admittedly, this cliche is one that New Order helped define). Outside of the few big hits - "Love Vigilantes" and "The Perfect Kiss" - the album feels predictable.

Liked the mix of guitars and synths.

Decent album

One of the best synth-pop albums of all time, immaculate songs and deep themes and lyrics. It's packaged in a few set of songs that let you go in a journey of love and discovery of oneself.

Meh

I have listened to New Order in my student days and this album feels a bot nostalgic because of that, but it also hits me with global nostalgia for years you havent been born yet. It was nice to listen to it, but I also felt older and it is noisy for me to listen to new order for a longer time now (that also has to do a lot with the fact i mostly listen to music while i drive in my car)

not british

The '80's called and want their moody Brit pop new wave music back. It's not bad, but there's better examples of the same thing out there that I like more. Some of the songs have riffs that sound like straight up copies of other more popular songs. Face Up, I'm looking at you.

The music is OK for background. No songs are above mid. I prefer a more professional sounding lead singer.

yayyyy fav tracks: love vigilantes; the perfect kiss; face-up

LOVED!!! I think it’s so easy for synth-y music like this to feel long and samey but this did not feel like that at all. The lyrics are deeper than your typical synth/dance music I think, probably due to the post-punk nature of it, and the sounds are textured and evocative compositions which is really cool that they could use electronic sounds to do that. I can see why this band is oft cited in subsequent generations of electronic music. Fav tracks: The Perfect Kiss, This Time of Night, Sub-culture

Ahh New Order! The band that always reliably had at least one or two tracks per album that felt great enough that you had to add them to your collection. The thing about this album is that the metamorphosis from Joy Division to New Order had finally become complete and this was clearly, in every way, a New Order album from top to bottom. They had clearly mastered the use of sequencers and samplers. The bangers that lasted the test of time in culture were "Love Vigilantes", "Elegia", and "Perfect Kiss". Personally I think they are at their best with "Elegia" where the instrumental says everything it needs to without the use of lyrics. On LOW-LIFE can hear their influences from Kraftwerk, Bowie's Berlin Cycle, New Romantic and New Wave bands like Duran Duran and the Thompson Twins. One of the selections by this list of the 80s that I think the list got right. Personally my favorite decade of music. Music was vibrant, rich, experimental, and not overly filled (as in the 70s and the 90s) with pompous social criticism lyrics. So much experimentalism in this decade that I feel like music journalists and editors should have subtitled the 80s, not the decade of excess, but rather - THE DECADE OF THE SUB-GENRE.

Maybe it's just because I've been in a synth phase and because I hadn't really heard this before but I thought was great. I'll be generous and go all the way to 4

Well I wasn't expecting this - I think this is really good! I really like all the layers to the songs. It's got surprising depth to it, despite being quite heavy on synths. I like how it's upbeat but also quite melodic. It's 80's, and it has some trappings of the 80's, but it doesn't sound dated to me, or at least it's held up way better than some other bands from the era. Surprised by this one, as New Order were never on my radar as being a band I might like.

Did not think I would enjoy this as much as I did. Really cool fusion of punk and new wave. Will definitely be listening again.

I watch a lot of 120 Minutes on MTV Classic and one of its weaknesses is they do not seem to have a very large catalog of videos available - I'm sure it has something to do with contracts/rights/whatever - so you end up seeing a lot of the same videos over and over. And they are VERY New Order-heavy, in my opinion. Which would be great if I were a New Order fan. (Or even a Joy Division fan.) Alas... According to Wikipedia, the "hit" off this album was "The Perfect Kiss" which doesn't sound even remotely familiar to me, and I think I would remember the frog sounds. I don't hate ALL dance music, but there is not very much of it I really like. And I don't hate this. But I don't like it.

I think New Order are great but not sure about this album being on the list. Had this on tape back in the day. I prefer Brotherhood and Technique. Good but not great. Love Vigilantes and Face Up my highlights

Took a couples of listens but this grew on me - although I still prefer their later Balearic/having it large in Ibiza moment.

You know the meme where Joe Rogan grabs the shoulder of his UFC co-commentator and screams “Woooah!” whilst witnessing a blistering knockout performance in a championship fight? Well that’s kind of how I felt upon discovering this album. Except this wasn’t so much of a one-punch KO, this was more of a five round, 25 minute beat down of monumental proportions. Once it starts, there’s no letting up from start to finish. A technically skillful warrior who better restrains and directs the raw power the up and coming fighter known as Joy Division once brought to the ring, we witness a relentless ability to sustain a high championship standard tempo, but it never strays too far from the elegant. It’s a stand out performance, it really is. I’ll 💯 be going on YouTube to watch some other early fights. Side note : I was fully expecting Robert Smith to deliver the vocal on sunrise. It sounded so much like The Cure! To my ear

מאוד אייטיז חוץ מרצף של שלושה שירים לקראת הסוף שמתחיל ב sunrise אם כל האלבום היה כמו הרצף הזה הוא היה 4 ובלי הרצף הזה הוא היה 2 Sunrise שיר מועדף

It’s was good.

I really like Joy Division

Solid album, but nothing stood out to me

The Albumator has kept me in a prog rock abyss for the past few days, so this is a welcome change. I really enjoyed this album. It’s concise, it’s upbeat and it’s really dancey. A bit of a change from Power Corruption and Lies, but I love the vibe on this album. Bernard Sumner’s vocal style isn’t for everyone, but I love his loose style. Great album from a really influential band.

I never understood this stuff. Bad singing. Not much in terms of dynamics or melodies. As a musician, I’m not impressed. Amateur crap

Some cool ones but not wonderful

I love the albums on this list that remind me of the good of the 1980s, and while I am not sure this is the best New Order album, it sounds great! It has depth, heart, and scope. Most of all, it captures the rebelliousness of the 80s without whining or feeling over the top. The first half is stronger than the second, but it all sounds good. Hats off to the boys from Manchester!

I acc didn't hate it, but still new order is not my favorite. There were some strong songs however

3+ is gonna be my new categorization for an album that is a 3 but I feel good about. The songs here aren’t super strong but WOW the instrumentation and the synth arrangements are so cool. Almost a 4, if the songs themselves were a bit stronger I think.

Look, I love New Order and new wave in general. But I oscillated constantly between these two states: 1) when the hard-hitting synths played: locking eyes with a mysterious hot stranger across the night club as the teal/pink lights flicker, what a vibe. Perfect Kiss is fun like that, including the froggy sounds. to 2) as soon as the vocalist Bernard...vocalizes?, especially way out of his range (think of like 1:40 in Face Up), I just shrivel inside. No more hot mysterious stranger. More like embarrasing overly obnoxious cousin. It does seem like he finds his suitable vocal range (and/or just improves) in later albums.

I used to genuinely hate new wave music and I could never explain why. Then recently I listened to the Pet Shop Boys' "Introspective", which isn't even new wave, and it somehow unlocked my appreciation of late 80s synth-rock/pop. There's something about the contrast between the upbeat stretches of songs and the more somber rock-oriented stretches that brings the fabric of these albums together. This is a 4.5 rounded up.

This is really good. The integration of rock and newer, more electronic sounds is seamless. The soaring synths are used perfectly in e.g. the perfect kiss. This is like my favorite aspects of Kraftwerk in conversation with Prog Rockers. In short, it's awesome.

This sounds like ambient music, but with words. It just kind of exists in a non-offensive way without anything to draw your attention to it. It's not bad, but it's definitely not good.

there is a obscure album by an italian artist i listened to once that was very reminiscent of this album. i feel two types of away about it. some part of me really found it compelling as a listen, and other parts of me felt like i was in the soft rock era of the 2000s. I do not believe the latter feeling was warranted. also alex and tom said my reviews are unpredictable and now i'm in my head about the whole thing

Top Three Songs: 1) Elegia 2) Sooner Than You Think 3) Love Vigilantes Bottom Three Songs: 1) Sub-Culture 2) Face Up 3) Sunrise

Elegia is such an incredible instrumental. Didn’t vibe too much with the rest of the album, nothing stand out for me.

I was astounded to learn that Love Vigilantes is a beloved New Order song, because my first impression of hearing it was "what the fuck is this" and I only felt that more intensely as each far superior subsequent track came on.

Great album

I liked this more when it was dark, moody and Cure-like and less when it went full pop

3.5

slightly-spooky club music

i liked the harmonica on the first song

Similar to joy division but it didn't bring me joy.

Crack a miller low-life and dance through pain.

80’s new wave. I get the hype now. Uppy and happy. Definitely makes you want to dance. I’ll venture into their catalog for sure. I now understand the club hype and gen x love for them.

-NO MORE 80S POP PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. -I LIKE THE ENDING OF "SUNRISE" THO. -IF BILLY IDOL & FLOCK OF SEAGULLS HAD A BABY, THIS IS THE ALBUM THEY WOULD MAKE. -EVERY SONG REMINDS ME OF BLUE MONDAY AND THAT SCENE IN HOT ROD WHEN THEY ARE DANCING OUTSIDE OF THE VAN.

I loved this. Last song sounds a little goofy for a "motivating" track but besides that, album was a banger. Sounds like I'm in a dark ass room, dancing my ass off, sipping on gin, hands up and everything.

There are a few songs that could be decent if they got rid of their lead singer. My god he is horrible.

This wasn't terrible. Probably wouldn't seek it out again though.

so lala, nix was mich vom Hocker reisst

I’ve always found New Order albums confusing affairs - is it an album? Is it a compilation? I always thought of them as a singles band, then they released that God-awful football song and I took to disliking them, in spite of everything. I like this though and it surprises me that I’ve never listened to it properly before now.

Off the cuff remark: Never really "got" New Order. Generally not a fan of too much synthi sound perhaps? Tend to prefer the music over Bernard Sumners voice and iffy lyrics Standout Track: Sunrise Revisit?: Probably

I like it more than I probably should. 3.

I enjoyed some songs and others felt underwhelming. Personal enjoyment: 3/5 Relevance to this list: 2/5

Really enjoyed this, very similar to The Cure (or The Cure is similar to this?)

Awesome! New Order. Dude, The Perfect Kiss is on this album, and Elegia! What a great album so far. Totally diggin it. 5 stars. Oh shit!! I forgot about Sub-Culture!! It's been forever since I heard it.

A nostalgic listen for sure. I was never one for Brit synth pop though aside from a bit of Depeche Mode from time to time. I prefer Joy Division, but this ain't bad. 3/5 Album 69/1001

esse me tirou um sorriso num dia horrível tá graças a deus new order não tem erro

PEDRADA MÁXIMA. infelizmente eh o ultimo new order da lista. não é meu preferido, mas acho que é um dos mais coesos dos mano absurdíssimo!!!!! ouviria esse aqui todo dia o dia todo durante o resto da minha vida!!

Euuh, niet heel speciaal maar ook echt niet slecht. Beter dan 3, maar weet niet of het echt 4 waard is.