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The band’s hugely successful second compilation released in 1994, The Best Of New Order features 7” mixes of the band’s classic hits from 1985 onwards, plus four new ‘94 mixes, and is reisussed and remastered on vinyl for the first time. — (via Label)

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After an arduous summer of touring America and recording 1993's Republic, New Order needed a break. With the band on hiatus and their future uncertain, London Records decided to release (the best of) New Order in late '94 to cash in on their reputation while they were still near the forefront of public consciousness. But in spite of its commercial impetus, this remains a fine collection of music that represents the apotheosis of their shift away from their Joy Division beginnings and towards the world of mainstream pop. 

Leading off with the rapid-fire jangly guitar chords and bouncy bassline of "Let's Go (Nothing for Me)", the album treats us to a rare upbeat and uplifting song from the band. It doesn't raise your expectations for the rest of the album (especially if you already know the songs) but it is a pleasant surprise, especially with the next three tracks' being pulled from the band's first three albums. "Dreams Never End" still sounds like Joy Division post-punk, and in context of the tracklist makes much more sense as Track Two than, say, Track Eleven. "Age of Consent" and "Love Vigilantes" better represent their contemporary synthpop sound and illustrate the start of a transformation, which is fully realized in the brand new remixes of "True Faith", "Bizarre Love Triangle", and "1963" that update the classic hits with smoother production, more guitar, and less of an electronic edge (it's interesting to note that twenty years later bands are striving for the same authentic house sound that New Order was giving up). These are modern-day pop songs to be sure, which makes the acid house "Fine Time" sound jarring and primitive in comparison. Fortunately this is the only major misstep on an album that represents over a decade of music.

It's easy to imagine these tracks' being consciously laid out to achieve the effect that they do, when in fact they're basically just grouped by original album. Perhaps this near-chronological approach echoes the band's mentality over their career, with its auspicious origins, rapid rise from underground to mainstream, plateau in the late eighties, and its gradual decline. Perhaps it showcases the dreary mood and frustration the band lived with as working class low-lifes, their prolonged grief after the death of friend and band-mate Ian Curtis, the urban decay of their hometown Manchester, and the financial and emotional toll imposed by Factory Records and the Hacienda. Perhaps, as the Buddha says, life is suffering, and their music reflects their lives. Perhaps I'm just getting sentimental. — (via AllMusic)

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— 2LP, reissued on 140g black vinyl
— Cut at Abbey Road Studios

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Label: Warner Music United Kingdom
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Reissue, Remastered
Reissued: 2026 / Originally Released: 1994
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop

File under: Electronic - Synthesisers
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