Search - Various Artists :: New Order Tribute - Thieves Like Us - Limited Edition

Dance floor devastation indeed

Gentile Ben | 01/12/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's not too often that I actually condescend to purchase tribute albums. In fact, I can honestly say that i have NEVER condescended to purchase a tribute album before, and the only reason I am writing this today is because this particular tribute album was thrust into my hand by an unknown entity at a Toronto night club with the promise that i would not be dissappointed. As with most things in my life, this was taken with a grain of salt. Make that a barrel. Does salt come in barrels? Anyway, I returned home from the aforementioned night club with the intention of listening to what I was certain would be amateurish synth drivel by washed up eighties misfits in search of the musical stardom that had escaped them for so long. Track one begins, a Russian band I think, if the information on the record labels website is accurate. It is a teeth gritting assult on the senses once known as 'Age of Consent', and there is a sparkle of interest slowly blossoming in my tired red eyes. The next track, a loosely timed and heavily sedated version of 'Ruined In A Day' starts to swirl between my gargantuan speakers and I am hooked in an instant. Clearly I was not misled. I abandon my brutally negative attitude towards tribute albums and plunge headlong into this offering, adjusting my mental state accordingly as the album drones on. 'Touched By The Hand Of God' is as seductive as it is pleasing, 'Hurt' sounds like a beaker full of liquid E was poured all over the original, forever erasing the scratchy vocals as it sends my head spinning and reeling through its maniacal techno-rampage, and 'Round & Round' is the perfect interpretation of an otherwise boring and virtually unlistenable song. The disc is not without its faults, but I must forewarn you that I am far too critical to be trusted on my negative findings....'Regret' sounds to me like a tidied up boy-band cleansing of a perfectly wonderful song; 'Angel Dust' is cool, but boring; 'Times Change' is just bad. There are also moments of pure evil, such as the infamous Suzuki Kid's version of 'Confusion' and fadestation's muddy, yet sinister 'In A Lonely Place'. So what conclusions can we come to? Well, if you are a New Order fan (like me -- really, I am...) this should not offend you too much. The bands on this album have at least paid honest tribute to a great band, and done so with a fair bit of integrity and good taste for the most part. If you aren't a New Order fan, it really doesn't matter because this album gives you a chance to hear a lot of sensational talent on their way to some sensational things, looking back at one of the influences that got them this far in the first place."

Solid Tribute album

Gentile Ben | USA | 02/19/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Tribute albums are always iffy since they usually make you want to take out the real thing. But occasionally, like remakes in general, they bring out something in the song you might not have heard before. This tribute album scores more hits than misses, particularly since it admirably avoids the monster hits the band has done: Blue Monday and Bizarre Love Triangle. New Order's solid songs are here of course, Regret, Touched By The Hand of God, and True Faith, but also some of there less mainstream songs though well known to New Order fans. On the negative side is the irritating Konfusion, essentially a woman reciting the lyrics rather than singing them; kind of a monotonic rap. It has grown on me a little, but I still skip it more often than not. A couple of the songs, particularly Regret, sound like they've been turned into basic top forty songs, not that New Order hasn't got some of the greatest pop songs in the business, but these seem to have been recreated via Engelbert Humperdinck meeting a drum machine. Still, a great version of "In a Lonely Place", dark and foreboding in the original, it gets darker in this version. Nice work on Ruined in a Day--since I wasn't a huge fan of it when New Order did it, I actually was surprised that the song is pretty good. Perhaps better than the original (sacrilege I know). If you're a New Order fan, you'll enjoy the reworkings, better than "Blue Order" the trance tribute, which only had a couple of interesting songs on it. If you're not a New Order fan then get thee to Substance right away and become one--it's a great intro to the band and will lead you to major treasures like Technique, Movement, etc etc."

Very Inviting

Gentile Ben | 01/25/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well....what can I say....the last review sums up this album pretty well. The CD ranges from straight forward covers to crazy remixes...all produced very well...all with a different flava while still paying due homage to New Order. I've heard tribute albums for other bands (Cure, Depeche Mode) and although a few have been good I don't think any can compare to this one. It's about time someone got it right. Respects to the people at Something Inviting for putting out a CD that sounds great, looks great, and feels right. (Love the title by the way). Keep it up....looking forward to seeing what comes next from this label and its artists.Tracks to look out for (although there were only a couple I didn't care for):#3 Touched by the Hand of God - Strange Angels -Looking very forward to hearing more from these guys....#5 Hurt - Sensoria - Great four on the floor!#7 In a Lonely Place - Fadestation - Very atmospheric#8 Mesh - Florentine Cruise - Nice and eery (sp?)#9 Konfusion - Suzuki Kid - 10 points for origionality!....definately "Konfusion"#12 World in motion - International Jewel Thieves - great beats Just also gotta say thanks for not doing another damn Blue Monday or B.L.T. cover.. ;-)Steven Lawrence, Detroit, MI"