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 Just another day in the Brotherhood... December 15, 2008
Yes, I know, the title of my review is a lyric from Republic. Just tricking you there.
So, Brotherhood. Lacking something of the magic of the other New order albums, its nonetheless one of the most consistent of their long-players, and perhaps the most characteristic of their sound overall. The division of the album into two sides, one rocky, the other more characteristically synth-based, explicitly foregrounds the two sides to new order's music. For some reason, the recent Get Ready reminds me of Brotherhood, with its rockier approach, rough and ready sound (which is why Tony Wilson hated the album), and just a sense that, even though all parts seem to be present and correct, there is something missing.
The first side to Brotherhood is just guitar, bass, drum, and it largely works, particularly when Hooky lets rip on Weirdo and Broken Promise. But New Order were never a "rock" band, and, enjoyable as side 1 is, it's just not what New Order do best. The wistful Way of Life, the closer to side 1, points the way forward to Technique, and smooths the transition to the more "typical" NO songs on side 2, kicking off with the sublime Bizarre Love Triangle.
Perhaps Barney never wrote a better melody than here, if only the murky production didn't spoil the chorus, where his vocals are almost inaudible. But its still the definitive version of the song- Shep Pettibone's mix on Substance was just too Megamix-y, and the 94 mix was just downright cheesy. All Day Long is nice too, with its synth-y strings and swirling keyboards. Angel Dust is like a darker Bizarre Love Triangle, and demonstrates Barney's penchant at the time for noisy, clanging guitar chords (see State of the Nation). The closer, Every Little Counts is like an ironic tribute to Lou Reed, and it descends into chaos before we hear the sound of the needle slip, a reference to the Beatles' Day in the Life.
Overall, its a good album. I've never been as fond of it as some of the other recordings, but, hey, each to his own. I'll leave it for the audiophiles to discuss the remastering, and as for the bonus tracks, you can take them or leave them- there is the 12 inch version of Touched by the Hand of God- a great track, but I prefer the 7" mix- the extended version sounds padded-out with unnecessary drum-fills. If you're a fan you're likely to have most of them anyway. I also quite like the updated sleeve too, it's a bit more interesting than Saville's Minimalist original.
 Remaster okay, but bonus disc not so good October 25, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Well, the actual album is not that bad - it seems to have been remastered and, thus, improved in sound quality. For those that already know the album, the sound quality on this disc is much better than the original Factory CD, which, to me, makes it a worthwhile purchase...
However...
The bonus CD seems to have been comprised of dodgy vinyl-to-cd rips, most noticeably in Touched By The Hand Of God. It is quite frankly embarassing that such bonus tracks with pops and clicks exist (just try and listen to the first 30 seconds of the track), especially since Touched By The Hand Of God was available on CD single.
So, three stars for the remastered album, but loses 2 stars for the sub-standard bonus disc.
 Another Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle: Shame on Rhino and New Order September 30, 2008
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
When Brotherhood first came out I have to admit I felt a sense of disappointment at what I heard on this their fourth Factory album. Whereas the other three releases - including the flawed debut Movement showed a sense of bravery, exploration and experimentation - this release showed an element of retreat and failure to continue exploring new ground and sounds.
All these years on nothing has really changed my view of Brotherhood. This is as near to a conventional rock album with dance overtones as NO would do in the 1980s. There are great moments here, and the remixes of the singles from the album took them further into their dance journey, but their are awful moments on this. Every Little Counts, made me titter the first time I heard it, but Barney's doggrel should have been left on the cutting floor to give them something to release on the extensive reissue programmes to come.
As with every one of these reissues the question why has to be asked? The reissue disc is the usual bloated collection of singles and remixes of the time - which NO fans will have many times over. How many times is a NO fan meant to own 'Bizarre Dub Triangle'?
Record companies dont just have to issue things 'cus people will buy them. Labels like Rhino are meant to have a sense of custodianship and investing in protecting the artists' integrity. There is no sign of that in these issues and NO and Rhino should get a big boot up the arse!
NO must now with a small and what on Factory was a perfectly formed back catalogue be one of the most reissued/exploited bands going. This has fallen to such a low New Order must be on a par with some of the other great rock'n' roll swindles: the Sex Pistols and Virgin obviously, the Rolling Stones and Decca/London, Pink Floyd, the classic Miles Davis releases, the Beach Boys Pet Sounds.
What I find a tragedy is that New Order went from being artists who passionately cared and were involved in every aspect of their releases to this! What a fall and what unnecessary products.
 New Order - Brotherhood (2008 remaster) September 30, 2008
5 out of 14 found this review helpful
New Order- Brotherhood (remaster)
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brotherhood was a turning point for me,
when it came to new order, and not in a good way..
this was the point at which they had lost their
way, with the exception of 'way of life', and
'bizarre love triangle'... and maybe even 'angel dust'
it just doesn't gel..... the guitars clash,
the keyboard tracks falter....
it was then that i knew they were fallible,
just as any other group had..
the build up was great, having heard the 'bizarre
love triangle' mixes ahead of time, i knew they
had the potential to go big, and along with the
video, i had no idea how HUGE they would truly
become....unfortunately that momentum did not
carry over, with no other singles appearing,
and they imploded shortly afterwards..
yes, substance came out, and for all we knew,
that would be their swan song... with this
last studio album to be their unfortunate
legacy...
too bad, because they had the potential to
continue to be great..
they never did find the chemistry, even 21
years later, they faltered badly, with each
remaining album getting worse, and worse...
So lets talk about specifics: for the album
====================================================
1) i've done a comparison with the tracks from it,
compared to the UK release and the Canadian release,
and this version holds up pretty well without any
major issues..
2) way of life is the standard track to crank up
to hear the difference in the loudness at the end,
it is still clear, and doesn't clip
I'm listening through altec-lansing speakers, and also through
headphones
3) for the softer passages, listen to every little counts,
very clear, no distortion, no dropouts...
4) Tracks are complete and not missing parts, no glitches,
or stutters.
5) in some countries, the album included 'state of the nation',
so that's included here also..
The bonus disc:
===================================================
1) there's good and there's bad news here, on one
hand, they actually did a decent job of showing their
critical tracks from this era, and also delving into
substance era tracks....they threw in some rarities,
soundtracks, and a promo mix...very good selection
2) THE SOUND QUALITY IS ATROCIOUS... i've been very
lenient on them for their other releases, but this
is just ridiculous, clicks, pops, horrible, horrible,
where did they come from? didn't anyone check?
3) evil dust is good to have, if you didn't have
the funky alternatives compilations, the CDV...
4) true faith -dub, is the very rare eschreamer dub,
which is odd, but nice to finally have on cd..
5) where is the 'paradise (remix)'? that would have
made a lot more sense.... another missed opportunity..
===================================================
by the way, another negative, is that the artwork
has morphed into some horrible liquid looking piece,
that might resemble the original....no thanks..
back to the final points, i don't like this album,
i've never really liked it.... however, compared
to the rest of their output, its actually better
than anything that came out after their first
break up and substance..
i'd rate it very low on the scale of must have
albums, and possibly just get it for the bonus
disc, and if you're a collector
later
-1
Brotherhood and a bunch of well known b-sides, why bother? September 25, 2008
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
"Brotherhood" is New Orders fourth album. Aside from the wonderful "Bizarre Love Triangle", it has largely and unfairly written out of history. This release sees the band abandon John Robie's dated production techniques (squelchy bass and histronic female vocalist squealing) in favour of a more conventional, heavier approach. I remember trying to get my brother to listen to one song and telling him it was heavier than Aerosmith. Oh folly of youth!
Nonetheless, side one sees New Order at the heaviest they would be for years. Largely abandoning the synths in favour of a stinging two guitar assault, the material is driven and driving, fuelled by a desperate hopeless resistance, and frantic bass playing. Unlike "Movement", where sparse songs were swamped in production, this sees dense material matched with clear and pristine production. Aside from the brief interlude of "As It Is When It Was", the material on side one would be rarely visited live after release, as it started to morph into one largely homogenus mood piece. Side two is a more rewarding listen : New Order revisiting their more electronic side to produce a suite of luxurious, expansive material of no small beauty. "Bizarre Love Triangle" (despite containing barely any human elements bar bass and vocals), is perhaps their second finest moment - a glorious epic of near perfect melody. Matching the original CD release, though really it should not be here, is "State Of The Nation" at the end. It does not flow with the traditional end of the album ("Every Little Counts"), and jars the listener out of the moment. I wish they'd paid a little attention and removed it from the disc.
The `bonus' disc is again, the usual assortment and hodge podge of 12" mixes from around the same time. It lacks the instrumental version of "Bizarre Dub Triangle" (only available on a US CD single and some 12"s), tracks from compilation albums such as "Theme A La MGM", and the re-recorded material that was on the "Substance" album. In short it's an incomplete mess that misses out some obvious material recorded at the time, adds some fairly useless remixes that are far beyond the era covered by the disc, and sounds like an incomplete and ill thought mixtape. Frankly, the omissions of "Temptation" and "Confusion" which have been completely re-recorded - whilst including the partially overdubbed "Blue Monday" 1988 is baffling and utterly inconsistent. It's, once again, an incomplete disc lacking in thought or care and only worth getting if you don't already have everything on it.
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