Low-Life

Joy Division >>>> New Order but New Order >>>> lots of other good bands (and probably underrated). I don't think this is their best album but it has a lot of good tracks whose name I don't know without looking up and has some of Peter Hook's best work on bass.

Maybe now i can finally understand what my beautiful transgender wife is talking about

Wow I never noticed this on their hits, but that guy can not carry a tune.

My first time listening to a New Order album, I think. Like your sad but fabulous gay uncle's version of Joy Division.

4/10 This is the third album that New Order would release following their re-formation in the wake of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis’ death. The band are known for developing alternative dance and synth based music as they transitioned away from the post-punk sound they were more associated with when recording as Joy Division. As a big fan of Joy Division’s work and a lot of the dance music that emerged out of the late 80s and early 90s, this should be something that’s right in the sweet spot for me, but I’ve never really gelled with New Order. Time to get some fresh ears around them then. In all honesty, and going into those with optimism, I found this to be quite a struggle. While there is some decent enough synth stuff in there, I feel like they weren’t really doing anything remarkably fresh or innovative with the technology. When considered against the likes of Kraftwerk, Vangelis or even Prince, I found the synth work here to be fairly routine and lacking in the kind of nuance and ear for tone creation that their predecessors and contemporaries were able to showcase. I feel like there was also a lot of fairly limited and uninspiring pieces of melodic writing across the record, with not a lot in the way of hooks, especially for a record that seems to be approaching the general sound palette of synth pop. The other thing that really lets this record down is the vocal ability of Bernard Sumner. He’s terrible. He can’t hold a note, and what makes it worse is that it sounds like he knows it. There’s so little conviction in his vocal delivery that it almost feels apologetic in places, which is hardly the type of presentation that gels with the synth-pop, dane-rock style of music that they are presenting. It’s entirely possible for an average or even bad singer to be incredibly successful if the music and vibe of the music they write works. Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop and even Thom Yorke are not classically brilliant singers, but they sing with conviction and work their music to fit their vocal style. Here, that couldn’t be further from the truth. That’s not to say there weren’t moments on this record that I didn’t like. When they started playing with slightly darker atmospherics and richer production, things did get a little better, and I could hear flashes of quality. The run through This Time Of Night, Sunrise and Elegig was pretty good, but outside of that, I honestly couldn’t find much to grab hold of. There were some decent beats, and some solid bits of bass work from Peter Hook, but musically, I just didn’t find it to be particularly inspiring. And it’s also one of those records to which time has not been kind. It sounds very 80s, but in a more “dated” way than a “cool” way, and for music to withstand the test of time despite an aging production value, the actual musical content itself needs to be way stronger than this. Love Vigilantes - I quite like the subtle synth rumble in this, and the beat is pretty solid, but melodically it feels a bit limp. Bernard Sumner’s vocal lacks conviction too, with a slightly weak delivery and a bit of a loose approach to pitch. It also feels quite one dimensional from a dynamic point of view. There are some cool bits of production here and there, but a lot of those feel like echoes of the power of Joy Division leaking into the band, rather than something unique to their New Order sonic fingerprint. The Perfect Kiss - Well hello 80’s new wave synth pop. The core track is pretty decent here, but it does feel very let down by the lead vocal, which suffers from similar issues to the opener. I also feel like the vocal melody is very noncommittal in a way, and needs more decisiveness. The middle eight when they move to an instrumental section is much, much better, and it even drifts towards something approaching the more dance floor oriented sound that I was expecting. Tonally, it does show its age a bit, but that’s not too detrimental to it overall. This Time Of Night - This is better. There’s a bit more atmospheric work and the production helps to elevate the tonal blend into something more compelling. There’s a good pulsing pace and drive to the drums and throbbing synth lines too. The vocal still isn’t the strongest, but it works much better because he’s not trying to do a pop style vocal. It does get weaker when he transitions away from the more semi-sung conversational style to more flat out singing, and he’s very shaky on pitch, which is a shame. It’s not bad though. Sunrise - This is more like it. There’s pace, drive and sonically, it’s got a lot more about it. The atmosphere of the production is cool and, while the vocal still isn’t fantastic, it works better as part of the overall soundscape here. They build the thickness of the wall of sound through various places, giving a good bit of dynamic range. The lead guitar is quite roaming, but I actually like the almost uncertain feel that gives the vocal sections, and then it gathers everything together in the instrumental sections and the bridge. This album is starting to make a bit more sense now. Elegia - Another step in the right direction. This is atmospheric and full of shifting, layered tones, but with an underlying weight. The rumbling synth bass is lush, and the arpeggiated work in the higher register works really nicely to give a bit of air and ambience to the composition. They throw in some nice heavyweight bits too, and the intensity ramps nicely towards the end with the distorted guitar. Nice. Sooner Than You Think - The first minute of this, while sonically interesting, feels a bit unfocused. When the vocal and lead guitar come in, they echo that aspect, with a slightly roaming approach to melody that doesn’t really connect well with the rest of the track for me. The vocal is again pretty weak. Behind those two most prominent aspects of the track, there’s a promising base on which the song has been constructed, with cool synth tones and well structured musical choices, but it really feels like they half arsed the leads. The instrumental section is a bit better, but the solo work hardly screams quality either. Meh. Sub-Culture - It’s another one that has a lot going for it. The drums are great, with some cool electronic drum programming. The combinations of synth tones are great, and the underlying musical structure is great. The verses actually work very well as a whole, but I really start to get lost in the chorus. I don’t like the vocal melody, and I think the delivery has a weird cadence, and just doesn’t stack up with the quality of the rest of the work. The atmospheric production is great and they use an ever-thickening sound palette really well. It’s just a shame that the vocal is so weak. Face Up - A fantastic start with some very cool delayed synth arpeggiations. The synth choirs sound a bit of their time, but they’re building a cool, dark vibe. And then…. what the hell? It’s just weird and the quality of the sharp synth tones are very poor. This sounds like they’ve just randomly slapped together a bunch of ideas that they’ve got left over. It’s not coherent and has a very weird vibe. There are some decent bits in there, but the arrangement feels fairly scattergun. There are bits where I started to get into it, but even in those, this has some of the most significant examples of dated synth sounds on the whole record. And Bernard Sumner really can’t sing in falsetto.

Started out well then took a creepy turn

Painfully 80s. I was really not fuckin with this album until 65% of the way through where he started getting a bit more interesting with the melodies. He pulled me back towards the end where I was like...waitamin do I LIKE this? Highlight: Sooner Than You Think

their reach exceeded their grasp, but that's far more interesting than playing safe

I loved this album (I just love New Order in general). Elegia reminds me of Philip Glass's music for Koyaanisqatsi, I guess they're both elegies of sorts

Doesn't have any tracks that hit me as much as other New Order albums but still incredibly consistent across the board. A really good mix of new-wave, post-punk and synth-pop

A funky way to start the day but not anything special. Love the synths and drums,.very listenable all the way through but never blew me away. Favourites: Sunrise Elegia Face-up

love new order but not my favorite album of theirs

Pretty decent!

Elegia is one of the best, most emotional tracks ever recorded

Muy bonito Ese dance rock me pareció sumamente estético No soy conocedor de todas sus obras pero puedo decir que este viaje me hizo pasarla bien Es cohesivo, se pasa bien, por si solo ninguna destaca pero no es que esté mal, simplemente no es mi nicho Reescuchen y disfruten

Fantastic album with a unfortunately out of place ending

I wanted to like this, but… Nothing on here measures up to their more familiar tracks like “Blue Monday,” “Bizarre Love Triangle,” or “Shellshock.”

Huh, actually enjoyed this one. I'd not heard it before. I'd be willing to hear more. Always love Peter Hook's bass lines anyway.

good music! 4.5 the perfect kiss, this time of knight, sunrise, ELEGIA !!!, sub culture

All bands (well most anyway, I see I have AC/DC to review next lol) transition and that's OK. Sometimes I prefer the origin, sometimes the destination. Everything before this by both Joy Division and New Order I rate highly. This is 50/50 for me as personally I'm not overly keen on their destination.

Good but a bit too 80s synthy for me.

What it lacked in change of singer and lyricism it made up for with 80’s beats

Could have been worse but I still don't like this 80s british sound and listening to more of it isn't making me like it anymore. Stop with the synthesisers!! Also some voice lessons would be great for this guy.

I like Joy Division, I like Depeche Mode, so I should like this - but I do NOT like Bernard Sumner's singing.

I’ve always really enjoyed New Order but this is my first time listening to this record straight through. A great discovery. Maybe it’s because it’s October 30th, but I’m loving the vibe of Elegia. Face Up is another standout track that I had not heard before.

Number: 300 Familiarity: Moderate (3) Rating: 4 Before: ======= I like some of New Order's music a lot. In fact Power, Corruption & Lies, 5 stars no doubt, is one of my favorite albums of all time, and probably would be in my top 50 essential albums list. I'm not a huge fan of this one though. After : ======= All songs considered this is a low 4 for me. And circling back to Power, Corruption & Lies, I checked my list of favorite albums by years list and I have it ranked as number 6 between The Replacement's Hootennny at 5 and The The's Soul Mining at 7. 1983 was a really good year for music, imho.

Aunque es rock britanico, no es tanto mi estilo

Rough rock. Not my cup of tea.

I enjoyed this alot not mega singels but a good listen

I've always said I might like New Order is they had a decent singer, if the drum sound wasn't shite, and if they weren't so repetitive.

Really good. Right up my alley - I love British post punk and new wave. Very cohesive album that's very listenable without necessarily being very catchy.

Listened before? No Familiar with the artist? Yes Thoughts: - I haven't actually listened to a New Order album before, and it sounds like this isn't considered one of their best, but I really enjoyed it! - The first song being the pov of a dead soilder ghost was a great start for me :) - Feels appropriate for this time of year... - Elegia must have inspired some of the Stranger Things soundtrack, lol. I love this track though, which is odd for me with instrumental songs. Favorite track(s): The Perfect Kiss, Elegia

Someone said something about the singer sounding like they’re singing at karaoke and u can’t unhear it

I had to go back and re-listen to part of this to remember it as it was quite forgettable. Why is this on the list?

I thought I liked New Order, but this is absolutely diabolical. All the songs are terrible with bad arrangements and not very well executed. I know that Bernard Sumner isn't a great singer as such, but this is pain-inducing stuff.

Ew

It’s ok, but I don’t really care much for it.

Yes love this

A good album, not my fav from New Order, but good.

Honestly feel nothing about this

That's definitely New Order, but it's no Blue Monday. It's just a regular, forgettable any-day-of-the-week. Nothing special, nothing stands out.

The cure minus

6/10

9/10 od razu po usłyszeniu pierwszych nutek juz wiedzialam ze to bedzie album ktory mi sie mega spodoba bo to bardzo taki mój typ muzyki ulubione piosenki: This time of night, The perfect kiss, Sunrise, Sooner than you think

I'm sorry. I tried to listen it multiple times. The songs are just forgettable. nothing sticks.

Knowing nothing about New Order, I wasn't too excited when I saw the genre tags. But maybe I would be pleasantly surprised! The first two tracks made me think of The Cure, a band who I quite like ("Disintegration," at least). But this album fell off after that. Every song ended up sounding the same, and nothing really went anywhere. The vocals are also a little pitchy at times. I wish I could write a longer review for this album, but there's really not much I can talk about. There's some cool stuff here, it's just not my cup of tea. ----- #0029 Heard on: 21 Oct. 2026 Rating: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ (266 / 350) Favorite track: The Perfect Kiss Least favorite track: Sooner Than You Think

# Album Name: Low-Life # Artist: New Order # Rating: 4/5 # Comments: Good album. Doesnt have the hits but its a solid listen. # Top Tunes: Vigilantes / perfect kiss / sunrise / elegia / sub-cult / face up # Would I listen to it again? Yes

Love vigilantes - 4 The perfect kiss - 2 This time of night - 4 Sunrise - 3 Elagia - 3 Sooner than you think - 3 Sub-culture - 3 Face up - 3

5/10 - pleasant enough to have in the background

good album, good vibes elegia is real good, no lyrics straight vibes

Perhaps their record containing the most hits and which to me is the culmination of the sound they envisioned in 'Power, Corruption & Lies'. While it is baffling why the former was not considered for inclusion, this record remains a more than worthy addition on its own. 9/10 [KEEP]

3.5 - pretty good

Has one of my fav New Order songs on it. Is it my favorite New Order album? Far from.

Review tbc

can’t remember properly, but seemed full of bangers

God these are so boring lately

Only New Order can sound this upbeat and somehow sound devastatingly dark at the same time. Favorite track: Sub Culture

Nothing to say really, sounded good to me :)

Like it a lot, especially Love Vigilante and Sub-Culture. Instrumental brings it down a little bit given the context of it, I see why it was included

It's New Order, baby, simply the coolest sound of the 80's. And, by the way, Bernard Sumner's vocals are awesome: frail and hesitant like he himself was when he had to take the place of Ian Curtis (indeed it took quite long to convince him). If you know the background, his voice sounds even moving. And, anyway, it is a perfect match for his lyrics about disfunctional human relationaships. Those who mock his way of singing just show they don't know shit...

I was really hoping I could get through my life without having to hear this, or any other New Order stuff for that matter. But here we are. It's truly shocking to me that this was so popular and that critics were so enamored. Simply incomprehensible. I have a lot of complaints about New Order, from their lack of focus (am I The Cure? Am I Depeche Mode?) to the infantile lyrics to their inability to simply tune their instruments. Worst of all, the sound that gives me nightmares in the daytime, is Bernard Sumner's appalling vocals. Just awful. But I tried. I listened to the whole thing. I even tried to like Sunrise, Love Vigilantes... but that dude's voice is terrible. And to think people criticize Robert Plant and Freddie Mercury.

This is the album when New Order moved into their own group instead of the ashes of Joy Division. They mastered the art of synth over traditional rock instruments. The lyrics on this album, though, are a little dry, and that’s what’s preventing it from going full 5 stars.

the second best New Order album on the list

love vigilantes is such a heartbreaking tune to start an album with but it def works

is this really what new order is known for tho? just put blue monday on and call it a day. sub-culture is actually what i'm here for. if only the first 30min of the album was like this. it was fine. mostly just blended into background noise. is this more worth listening to before i die than old khmer psychedelic rock? eh, not really. blue monday would've been, tho.

I mean this was fine? Nothing caught my ear, and I didn't necessarily hate it? 2.5 seems appropriate it feels like? It didn't stand out to me in any way.

Tråkigt

Låtarna med gitarr, bra. Låtarna med synt, mindre bra.

I enjoy new wave enough but there wasn’t much to this album that I haven’t heard before.

Synth pop; it kind of reminds me of a lot of other stuff from the time. Nice album start so far, on the 2nd song. It's only 40 minutes long lol. Yeah, it's a decent listen; I don't have too many notes yet. Okay, this sounds like it could be in ahs. Specifically, the song Elegia. lot of instrumental stuff, which I'm enjoying as a Focus Friday type album. The song " Sooner Than You Think " kinda feels very, umm... what is that movie?? american psycho.

I had not heard the whole album before. Seems like they were just getting their seas legs with this one but there are some great tracks on it.

80s Synthesizer, nice bassline

Canonical New Wave I hadn’t previously heard in album form, just happy to be here for it.

It's New Order, it's witnessing their evolution after Ian Curtis and Joy Division and it's witnessing what they will become. Loved to listen to this Easy 5/5

Амейзинг

If I could score it 6 stars, I'd be talking about giving it 7.

Solid new order album without any of the hits. Really liked the track elegia

I'm not a Cure fan but this sounds like Cure lite to me, just generic sounding early 80s bland pop that had absolutely no staying power. I did like Elegia quite a bit and Sunrise is alright, but neither can bump this up to a 3 for me. 2 stars

This whole album bangs, fucking hell all these songs are so good. I can hear how influential this was on so many artists

Sumner cannot sing…and that’s all a part of the charm. NO rocks. Never listened to this album all the way through before. Absolute knock on from me, as it’s so good. 5/5!

why is bro on the cover art

Good stuff, great band. It was a new album to me, without any of my preexisting favourite New Order tracks, which helped me just enjoy the sound. A low 4 or high 3- has one notable whiff (for me) of 'sub-culture', it's strange that was a single!

Nothing special.

1/2

Stunning. There are no truly stand out individual tracks in the way of Blue Monday or True Faith, but the whole album works perfectly as a journey from post-punk to the more electronic dance version of New Order.

Cool kinda weird sorta slow but also fast songs, I like the vibe of it

DAYUM, they cookin' Full on 80's and I love 80's

I really wanted to like this album. New Order has always been hit or miss with me. Really like Joy Division and I have always equated them in my mind, but they are so different. This one is very light and sunny, almost to the point of being cloying. “Love Vigilantes” is a great pop song but the production or sound or something is just off. I listened to Peter Hook’s live version with his band The Light and it’s faster and grittier, really makes it pop. “Sunrise” also has some really good riffs, but something is just restrained. I can’t put my finger on what it is because the music has potential. It just doesn’t sound right

this was really cool, i’d heard most of these songs but never listened in full. adding to my library

I really enjoy new order. It is crazy how they adapted their sound after being part of joy division. You can hear how this leads into the cure in any five to ten years. I will listen to this again at some point. 7/10 Top song... Sunrise

I don't like this style of music

Pretty chill album, would listen again.

Very 80s

THAT'S HOW GOOD THE FOURTH BEST NEW ORDER ALBUM US. THAT'S WHY THEIR THE GOAT!!!

this was alright, not really my jam unlike some other New Order i've heard

The first synth-pop album that can honestly be said to have been played by real live people. And the bass is doing its thing, folks.

I love New Order! The hits are great and the weaker tracks are still very enjoyable and listenable. I somehow hadn't heard a single track from this album before, so it was great to hear all of these tracks for the first time. You can definitely still feel the Post-Punk style that Ian Curtis left on the members, but New Order manages to balance the haunting style, that their ex-bandmate brought to Joy Division, with Synthpop and Dance influences. My favourite tracks were 'Love Vigilantes', 'Sunrise' and 'Sub-Culture', though the whole album was very consistent!

New order.

Boring

Gotta admit the selection of New Order albums for the book is strange, surely Power, Corruption and Lies and Brotherhood would have made more sense if they only got 2. Anyway I like the band so not complaining about this coming up either! Plenty of highlights on this - Love Vigilantes, Perfect Kiss, Sunrise, Face Up, there are lots of tracks I liked. The rhythm section is on point here, every song has a pleasing groove and had me nodding along. Loved it