Brotherhood is the fourth studio album by the English rock band New Order, released on 29 September 1986 by Factory Records. It contains a mixture of post-punk and electronic styles, roughly divided between the two sides. The album includes "Bizarre Love Triangle", the band's breakthrough single in the United States and Australia; it was the only track from the album released as a single and as a video (although "State of the Nation" was added to most CD editions).
The album sleeve, created by Peter Saville, is a photograph of a sheet of titanium–zinc alloy.[2] Some early releases came in a metallic sleeve.[citation needed]
Music
Brotherhood saw the band further exploring their mix of post-punk and electronic styles, with the track listing being conceptually divided into "disco and rock sides".[3][4]Stephen Morris stated that the album "was kind of done in a schizophrenic mood that we were trying to do one side synthesizers and one side guitars", which he retrospectively stated "didn't quite work".[5]
In a 1987 interview with Option, Morris commented that the "mad ending" to "Every Little Counts" – which sounds like a vinyl record needle skipping the groove – is similar to the ending of The Beatles' "A Day in the Life".[6] Morris said: "What we should have done is make the tape version sound like the tape getting chewed up. The CD could have the sticking sound."[6]
Influences of Richard Wagner's "Prelude" to Das Rheingold can be heard throughout the track "All Day Long." New Order have subsequently used the piece as a concert opener.
Reviewing Brotherhood for the Los Angeles Times, Steve Hochman wrote that New Order "makes atmospheric grooves with more finesse than any contemporary computer-rocker."[15] In his "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau selected the album as a "pick hit" and said: "The tempos are a touch less stately, the hooks a touch less subliminal. Bernard Albrecht's vocals have taken on so much affect they're humane. And the joke closer softens up a skeptic like me to the pure, physically exalting sensation of the music."[14]
In a 1993 retrospective review, Q critic Stuart Maconie described Brotherhood as "often overlooked, nestling as it does between two superior studio albums", and ultimately "more for the initiated than the first-time buyer."[10] John Bush of AllMusic was more favourable, writing that "for better and worse, this was a New Order with nothing more to prove – witness the tossed-off lyrics and giggles on 'Every Little Counts' – aside from continuing to make great music."[3]David Quantick of Uncut noted "an increased tension between the frequent beauty of the music and the band's Northern self-consciousness" and concluded: "This was New Order becoming New Order and if anyone was entitled to not be Joy Division, they certainly were."[13]The A.V. Club's Josh Modell called Brotherhood "an unsung great of the catalog that's dwarfed a bit by its massive single".[4]
Most CD copies, with the sole exception of Qwest Records' 1988 release, feature the 12" version of "State of the Nation" as a bonus track (although it is not listed as such). It is identical to the version found on Substance. It runs for 6:32, making the album's new total running time approximately 43:39.
"Blue Monday '88" (Dub) (incorrectly listed as "Beach Buggy")
7:18
Total length:
54:25
Notes
"True Faith" (Eschreamer Dub) and "Blue Monday '88" (Dub) are only incorrectly listed on the disc itself. The booklet included with all five re-issued 2008 Collector's Edition New Order Factory Records studio albums correctly identifies them. [note: The booklets to the 2008 UK reissues do not contain tracklistings for the second CDs. Is this different in other markets, such as the USA?]
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