New Order – Brotherhood (Collector's Edition)

"I'm not grown up and I am not a boy, I feel no pain and I feel no joy".A little tip. Whilst the tennis racquet might be considered the weapon of choice for air-guitar, if you wish to emulate your favourite bass player may I recommend the humble hockey stick. Its extra length helps you feel that you are playing something weightier, whilst its ribbed neck provides a rough approximation of frets. And it's got a nice curved head to rest on the knee for the low-slung look. On many occasions as a teenager I would grab my school hockey stick, slap on my cassette of "Brotherhood", lolloping around the living room as if I were Hooky himself. Once, my mother came home unexpectedly, and I had to quickly hide the stick behind the settee before she caught me. Upon entering the room she found me red-faced and furtive looking, probably assuming I had been engaging in the other favourite hobby of teenage boys. Great days.Now, I can fire up my X-box for some guitar hero shenanigans, and any track from the first side of Brotherhood would make for some great game-play. Rather than mix up the songs it comes in two distinct flavours - the guitar songs on side one, and the more electronic recordings on the reverse. Consequently, one sides still sounds reasonably fresh and vibrant whilst the other sounds likes the decade of origin. "Weirdo" and "Broken Promise" are both exceptional songs, recorded at a breakneck pace, a cataclysmic melee taking the band back to their post-punk roots. The tracks on the guitar side sound fresh and spontaneous, recorded in the moment. "Paradise" is the weak spot, with its clunky keyboard bass, but "As It Is When It Was" and "Way of Life" simmer with emotional intensity, particularly the latter with its echoes of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" at its conclusion.The second side is a more mixed affair. That said, "Bizarre Love Triangle" is a stone cold classic. Despite its poor chart placing in the UK, it is a fantastic pop song, with a near spiritual chorus of love and devotion set to music as uplifting as a balloon ride. On the album, the mix is slightly mushy, so the best version of the song is definitely the Shep Pettibone mix, which appears here on the bonus CD. This representation is light and full of space and air, from the spritz of hi-hat to the twinkling keyboard lines. "All Day Long" and "Angel Dust" sound muddy and slightly flat, the electronic production not getting round the weakness of the songs in the first place. "Every Little Counts" is amusing at the first listen, the inclusion of Bernard's fluffed vocal line evidence of the bands sense of humour, but is nothing that special. Also included (though not on the original release) is the pompous and rather overbearing "State of the Nation", another example of New Order's habit in the mid 80's of pushing every fader on every instrument up to their capacity.The second, bonus CD throws up some interesting material, but nothing very new. The Pettibone mix of True Faith was previously found on the limited 12" release of that single, and as a teen, I loved it. It's busier than a bank holiday motorway, every keyboard ever invented employed to maximum effect, and although it misses the elegance of the original its noisy and silly and lots of fun. Way better is True Faith's b-side, the utterly wonderful "1963". It's a shame this song was not held back to be a single, particularly when set against the nonsense that is "Touched By The Hand of God", with its Pet Shop Boys chord stabs and clanking drum patterns.I have a soft spot in my heart for Brotherhood. Side one shows New Order at their noisiest best, bringing a freshness and spontaneity missing on the heavily processed singles of this period. It marks the end of a chapter for them in some respects, as it would be some time until they recorded as a conventional four piece again. The second side though is showing its age. The bonus CD here is again, rather disappointing, and most fans will already have the majority of this material. Another misplaced opportunity and recommended only to those missing this album in their collection. Original Release: 78% This edition: 71%