''The Best of New Order'' (stylised as ''(the best of) NewOrder'') is a

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

by English band New Order. It was released in the United Kingdom on 21 November 1994 by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

and, with a different track listing, in the United States on 14 March 1995 by

Qwest Records Qwest Records was an American record label run by Quincy Jones. History Qwest Records was established by Quincy Jones in 1980 as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, although Jones remained under contract with A&M Records until 1981. Th ...

and Warner Bros. Records. Like ''

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

'', the band's most recent studio album at the time, the cover and liner notes stylise the group's name as one word (NewOrder) instead of the usual ''New Order''.

Background

''The Best of New Order'' is the second compilation album released by the group and follows their first, the hugely successful '' Substance'' album by seven years. The group had taken a hiatus due to tensions and disputes during the recording and touring of their 1993 album, ''

''. ''Republic'' had been the first album that the group had released on London Records, and with the group announcing little intention of working together in the near future, the label went ahead compiling ''The Best of New Order''. The compilation primarily consists of seven-inch mixes of the group's singles from 1985 onwards. New versions of " True Faith", "

Bizarre Love Triangle "Bizarre Love Triangle" is a song by English rock band New Order, released as a single in November 1986 from their fourth studio album, '' Brotherhood'' (1986), which reached the top five on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart, an ...

", "

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

" and " Round & Round" appear in alternative mixes. The collection also includes one non-single track, "Vanishing Point" (from the LP ''

Technique Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s * Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989 * ''Techniques'' (album), by ...

''), though the song was already popularised as the theme tune to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series ''

Making Out Making out is a term of American English, American origin dating back to at least 1949, and is used to refer to kissing, including extended French kissing or ''necking'' (heavy kissing of the neck, and above), or to acts of non-penetrative s ...

''. Only "Thieves Like Us" (the oldest track included, from 1984) appears in the same form as on the earlier compilation, ''Substance''. The

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

(first on a New Order album) were provided by journalist

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley (born 26 March 1957) is a British music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983, and has since written for a wide range of publications and written his own books. He was a co-founder of the reco ...

. The US version of the album omits three tracks ("The Perfect Kiss", "Shellshock" and "Thieves Like Us"). This was purportedly due to the band's American label, Qwest, not wishing for some of the singles already included on ''Substance'' to be duplicated on this compilation. Instead, one album track from each of New Order's first three albums is included (" Dreams Never End" from '' Movement'', "

Age of Consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to Human sexual activity, sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is un ...

" from '' Power, Corruption & Lies'', and " Love Vigilantes" from '' Low-Life''), as well as a previously unreleased vocal version of the track "Let's Go (Nothing for Me)" from the 1987 film soundtrack '' Salvation!''. The following year, a companion remix album titled '' The Rest of New Order'' was released, with similar cover art.

Release and reception

''The Best of New Order'' was released on CD, cassette, double LP, VHS and Laserdisc. Limited editions bundled together the cassette and CD in a box set. Video and Laserdisc versions included singles that do not appear on other versions, namely "Confusion", "State of the Nation" and "Spooky". Critical reception was generally positive. Although

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's William Ruhlmann felt it was not as good a compilation as '' Substance'' (1987), he viewed the album as an exceptional overview of New Order's 1980s and early 1990s music. In his review for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' of the US edition,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

said that the album shows why he prefers Bernard Sumner's impassive quality over the despairing

Ian Curtis Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, lyricist and occasional guitarist of the band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums ''Unknown Pleasures'' (197 ...

: The album sold well in the Christmas market and peaked at number four on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, and was certified Platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI). Internationally, the compilation reached number 23 in Canada, number 27 in New Zealand, number 30 in Australia, and number 78 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. As of May 2006, it had sold 428,000 copies in the United States. "True Faith-94" and "1963" were released as singles to promote the compilation. "True Faith-94" was released in November 1994, and reached number nine in the UK and number 11 in Ireland. "1963" (dubbed "1963–95") was remixed by Arthur Baker in a guitar-driven arrangement and released the following January; it reached number 21 in the UK and number 29 in Ireland.

Track listing

Video release

# "True Faith-94" # "Regret" # "Run" # "Bizarre Love Triangle" # "Fine Time" # "The Perfect Kiss" # "Shellshock" # "Confusion" # "Blue Monday-88" # "Round & Round-94" # "World" # "Ruined in a Day" # "State of the Nation" # "Touched by the Hand of God" # "World in Motion" # "Spooky" # "True Faith" # "Round & Round" ( "Patti" version)

Personnel

* New Order – Production (All tracks except "Dreams Never End") *

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine, in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session ...

– Production ("True Faith-94", "1963", "Regret", "Ruined in a Day", "World (Price of Love)", and "World in Motion") *

Martin Hannett James Martin Hannett (31 May 1948 – 18 April 1991) was an English record producer, musician and an original partner/director at Tony Wilson's Factory Records. Hannett produced music by artists including Joy Division, the Durutti Column, A Cert ...

– Production ("Dreams Never End") * Arthur Baker – Production ("Let's Go (Nothing for Me)") * Mike "Spike" Drake – Production ("True Faith-94", "Bizarre Love Triangle-94", "1963–94" and "Round & Round-94") * John Robie – Production ("Shellshock") * Peter Saville – Design Consultant * Howard Wakefield – Design * Thomas Manss & Company – Design * Martin Orpen and Idea – Digital Imaging

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best of New Order, The 1994 greatest hits albums New Order (band) compilation albums Qwest Records compilation albums London Records compilation albums Albums produced by Stephen Hague Albums produced by Arthur Baker (musician) Albums produced by John Robie Albums produced by Martin Hannett