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Movement (New Order album)

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The A.V. ClubB−[2]
Blender[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB[4]
Pitchfork Media9.3/10[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Select3/5[7]
Tiny Mix Tapes5/5[8]
Uncut[9]
The Village VoiceB+[10]

Movement is the debut studio album by the English rock band New Order, released in November 1981 on Factory Records. At the time of its release, the album was not particularly well received by critics or consumers, only peaking at number thirty on the UK Albums Chart. Subsequent critical reception for Movement have been very positive.

In 2008 the album was re-released in a Collector's Edition with a bonus disc.

Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 42 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s" saying "Movement exists almost exactly in between Joy Division's post-punk sound and the synth-pop style that would come to define New Order and influence pop music for decades".[11]

In 2015, after the release of their tenth album, Music Complete, the album was remastered and released in the US iTunes Store.

Background

After the suicide of Joy Division's singer Ian Curtis in May 1980, and the subsequent shock for those surrounding him, remaining members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris elected to carry on, albeit under a new name – New Order. With the exception of two songs, "Ceremony" and "In a Lonely Place" (unreleased, but demoed in the studio and, in "Ceremony"'s case, played live before Curtis's death), all the material played would be new.

A couple of songs on Movement stem from the initial songwriting session the band undertook in the summer of 1980. "Dreams Never End" and "Truth" were both played at the initial New Order concerts (still played as trio) in the US that September.[12] At this point it was still undecided as to who should be vocalist. The interim solution was that all three members took turns at singing before finally deciding that Bernard Sumner should take the main vocalist's role with Peter Hook as back-up (though he sang lead on "Dreams Never End" and "Doubts Even Here"). The introduction in October 1980 of Gillian Gilbert, Stephen Morris's girlfriend, lightened the burden on Sumner who had to play guitar and keyboards and sing (something he found impossible to do simultaneously) and enabled the band to pursue a more electronic approach. Subsequently, the remainder of the songs that appeared on Movement were written and then recorded over a seven-month period "in two big bits, and a whole lot of little bits" (Sumner's words),[13] as well as "Mesh", "Cries and Whispers" (both early live staples and used as B-sides), "Procession" and "Everything's Gone Green", the latter forming a non-album single released as FAC53 in September 1981.

The producer of the album was once again Martin Hannett, who had worked with them as Joy Division; however, the rapport between producer and band had in the ensuing time eroded. Hannett was in a legal dispute with Factory Records and suffering from substance and alcohol abuse, and the band members—themselves still coming to terms with having to write and arrange songs without Curtis's ear and lyric-writing ability—found him uncooperative. It would be the last time they worked together.

As noted above, upon its release in November 1981—just weeks after the Joy Division retrospective/live double album Still—Movement was met with a tepid reception, with critics disappointed by what was perceived to be a lack of forward momentum after the "Ceremony" single. It is rumoured that the band considered either re-mixing or even entirely re-recording the album, but time and financial constraints prevented this.[14] Fortunately, a new song called "Temptation" would provide the band with the necessary impetus and a new direction.

Sound

Musically, Movement is a transitional album. References to Ian Curtis appear on the songs "ICB" (rumoured to be an acronym for 'Ian Curtis Buried', confirmed by Peter Hook in a 2013 interview)[15] and "The Him". The expansion of the sonic palette heard on Closer is also present on this album with synths on all but the opening track and electronic percussion (especially on "Truth"). Hook's bass takes on a melodic role while Gilbert provides the low end on the songs "Chosen Time" and "Denial". However, despite this continuity, Movement also hints at New Order's distinct sound on its later albums. Tracks such as "Senses" flirt with funkier guitar motifs than Joy Division, and "Dreams Never End" is the only song on this album with the classic guitar-bass-drums line-up.

In a questionnaire interview with the fanzine Artificial Light (No.2, Nov. 1982), the band were asked if they were happy with the album to which they replied, "We were happy with the songs, not all happy with the production."[14] Peter Hook later revealed, "We were confused musically... Our songwriting wasn't coming together. I don't know how we pulled out of that one. I actually liked Movement, but I know why nobody else likes it. It was good for the first two-and-a-half minutes, then it dipped."[16]

Artwork

The album's cover was designed by Peter Saville and is based on a poster by the Italian Futurist Fortunato Depero.

In the background are four horizontal lines: with the top line having two vertical lines going up, and the bottom only one going down, with one circle each aligned on the top-right and bottom-right corner. The four horizontal lines create three rows: the top one saying "New Order", the middle "FACT 50 1981", and the bottom the name of the album.

The shape created by the top three lines is an 'F' (lying on its back), which refers to Factory Records/Factory Communications Limited and the bottom two lines create an 'L' (lying on its front), the Roman numeral 50, the original catalogue was FACT 50. The blue colour of the lines was chosen by the band; the first copies in the US had the same design in brown on an ivory background.

  • US vinyl (1981)
    US vinyl (1981)
  • Canadian cassette (1981)
    Canadian cassette (1981)
  • UK cassette (1986)
    UK cassette (1986)
  • US CD, 1st pressing (1988)
    US CD, 1st pressing (1988)

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris, except where indicated

Original album
No.TitleLength
1."Dreams Never End"3:13
2."Truth"4:37
3."Senses"4:45
4."Chosen Time"4:07
5."ICB"4:33
6."The Him"5:29
7."Doubts Even Here"4:16
8."Denial"4:20
Total length:36:12
2008 Collector's Edition bonus disc:
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ceremony"Joy Division4:23
2."Temptation" (7" version) 5:26
3."In a Lonely Place"Joy Division6:16
4."Everything's Gone Green" 5:30
5."Procession" 4:27
6."Cries and Whispers" 3:25
7."Hurt" 8:13
8."Mesh" 3:02
9."Ceremony" (original version)Joy Division4:39
10."Temptation" (12" version) 8:47
Total length:54:08

Personnel

  • Bernard Sumner – vocals, guitars, melodica, synthesizers and programming
  • Peter Hook – 4- and 6-stringed bass, vocals ("Dreams Never End", "Doubts Even Here")
  • Gillian Gilbert – synthesizers and programming, guitars, spoken words ("Doubts Even Here")
  • Stephen Morris – drums, synthesizers and programming
  • Martin Hannett – production
  • Chris Nagle – engineering
  • John and Flood – assistants

Release details

  • UK 12" – Factory Records (FACT 50)
  • UK cassette – Factory Records (FACT 50C)
  • UK CD (1993 re-release) – London Records (520,018-2)

Chart positions

Chart (1981) Peak
position
New Zealand RIANZ Album Chart[17] 8
UK Albums Chart[18] 30
UK Independent Albums Chart[19] 1

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Bush, John. "Movement – New Order". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  2. ^ Modell, Josh (10 November 2008). "New Order". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Back catalogue: New Order". Blender. 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  4. ^ Howe, Sean (7 November 2008). "New Order: Reissues". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  5. ^ Ewing, Tom (10 November 2008). "New Order: Movement / Power, Corruption and Lies / Low-Life / Brotherhood / Technique [Collector's Editions]". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  6. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 582–83. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
  7. ^ Harrison, Andrew (August 1993). "Republish". Select (38).
  8. ^ Mister Joseph. "New Order: Movement". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  9. ^ Quantick, David (24 September 2008). "New Order – Reissues". Uncut. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  10. ^ Christgau, Robert (4 May 1982). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Best Albums of the 1980s". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  12. ^ "Concerts in 1980 by New Order". neworderonline.com. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  13. ^ Johnson, Mark. An Ideal For Living Bobcat Books, 1984 ISBN 0-7119-1065-0 p.76
  14. ^ a b Johnson, Mark. An Ideal For Living Bobcat Books, 1984 ISBN 0-7119-1065-0 p.84
  15. ^ Whittaker, Richard (17 September 2013). "Peter Hook: Life in a Northern Town". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  16. ^ Middles, Mick. From Joy Division To New Order Virgin Press, 1996 ISBN 0-7535-0041-8 p.168
  17. ^ "Discography New Order". Charts.ord.nz. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  18. ^ "Chart Stats: New Order". ChartStats.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  19. ^ "Indie Hits "N"". Cherry Red Records. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
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