New Order albums

[violaine]

I first discovered New Order through their Best of album, and now I am looking into buying a few of their previous studio albums as well. Does anyone have any advice on what would be the best ones to get first? I would also be interested in knowing people's opinions on how they would rank the albums, from best to worst. I know everyone will have a different opinion on that issue, but I would still be interested in hearing those opinions.

[LeMarchand]

I can't be bothered to check through my vinyl (those were the days!) for early album recommendations, but my suggestion would be to see what albums your favourite tracks on the compilation are on and try those, or work your way back chronologically from the release of the CD you have (some of the earlier stuff isn't as immediately accessible as the later stuff). Just so I'm not copping out too much, I liked Technique and Brotherhood.

[mindbullets]

my favourite has always been "lowlife" i'd start of with that album ,its fantastic.

[Lardarz]

I agree with mindbullets that Lowlife is the best Get that first, then get Retro (the new anthology with B-sides and remixes) - thats ace. I wasnt too keen on 'Republic' or 'Power, Corruption and Lies', but 'Movement', 'Brotherhood', and 'Technique' are all good albums. Dont have a copy of 'Get Ready' yet but from what I've heard of it it is quite good too.

[Lardarz]

If you like the earlier stuff try any of the Joy Division albums also. Closer is particularly good. Also check out the soundtrack to 24-hour Party People as well.

[jenstar]

Movement is very gloomy, and Power Corruption And Lies has some good stuff on it ("Your Silent Face", for example)but is still very much New Order trying to find their way. It's notable that the Best Of album (in its UK version, anyhow) doesn't contain anything from these albums or their accompanying singles. Low Life and Brotherhood are both very good and diverse albums (with a good mixture of light and shade) and I would recommend either for a newcomer. My own introduction to New Order was the singles collection "Substance" which is worth getting to fill in the gaps left by the "Best Of" (there's not a lot of overlap between the two).

[violaine]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone, I will definitely check them out. HMV has some of the albums mentioned on sale at the moment, so now might be a good time for me to get them. Thanks again.