''Republic'' (stylised as ''Republic©'') is the sixth studio album by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band New Order. It was first released on 3 May 1993 in the United Kingdom by CentreDate Co Ltd in association with

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 on 11 May 1993 in the United States by Qwest and

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. It was the band's first album following the demise of their former label

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order (band), New Order, A Certain Ra ...

, and would be their last studio album for eight years until 2001's '' Get Ready''. ''Republic'' became New Order's second consecutive album to top 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 nominated for the 1993

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

. In the United States, it reached number 11 on the ''Billboard'' 200, the band's highest-peaking album on the chart to date. Its lead single "

Regret Regret is the emotion of wishing one had made a different decision in the past, because the consequences of the decision one did make were unfavorable. Regret is related to perceived opportunity. Its intensity varies over time after the decisi ...

" became New Order's last top-five entry on the UK singles chart. The band went on hiatus following a gig at the

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...

in promotion of the album in August 1993. Lead singer Bernard Sumner was known to dislike travelling to North America, and media reports suggested that the pressure of the long leg there contributed to the band's temporary demise, although they reunited in 1998.

Background

According to bassist

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born 13 February 1956) is an English musician. He was the bassist and co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division and its successor New Order. He often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings wi ...

, the band were forced to make the album in order to save The Haçienda, a Manchester club partially owned by the band that was losing a great deal of money. The band were also told that if they did not produce another album,

would go bankrupt and the band members, who had guaranteed loans for Factory and the club, would be ruined financially. At the same time, Hook and Bernard Sumner were "at that point in the relationship where you hate each others' stinking guts," and the band members were "all off our heads on various things," which made for a stressful working environment. While Bernard Sumner was off recording with Electronic, Hook, Morris and Gilbert wrote a whole instrumental album that would be shelved at the request of Sumner when he came back . Disputes over the music and publishing rights created further acrimony that caused the band to break up, though they reunited in 1998 and recorded two more studio albums before Hook departed with what threatens to be everlasting endurance.

Artwork

As with previous New Order releases, ''Republic'''s artwork was designed by Peter Saville and no text other than credits appears within the sleeve. Saville, who had relocated to California, depicted different aspects of the state—people relaxing on the beach while houses burn (a reference to frequent wildfires or the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, United States, during April and May 1992. Unrest began in South Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after ...

) and vast natural landscapes contrasting with the skyline of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Most of the images were taken from

stock photo Stock photography is the supply of photographs that are often licensed for specific uses. The stock photo industry, which began to gain hold in the 1920s, has established models including traditional macrostock photography, midstock photography, ...

libraries to achieve a commercial look, and were heavily retouched. Several of these images have been used elsewhere, such as direct-mail campaigns, catalogues and adverts for businesses. Another interpretation of the album's artwork alludes to the

Fall of Rome The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...

Track listing

Personnel

New Order

Musician credits for New Order are not listed in the liner notes of the album's personnel. Below are the instruments that the group typically plays. * Bernard Sumner – vocals, guitars, synthesizers and programming *

– bass, programming * Stephen Morris – drums, synthesizers and programming * Gillian Gilbert – synthesizers, guitars and programming; vocal on "Avalanche"

Production

The original liner notes list the album's personnel as follows: * Gillian Gilbert,

, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner and

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 ...

– writer * New Order and

– producer *

Pascal Gabriel Pascal Gabriel (born 15 December 1956) is a Belgian-born musician based in London, England and Provence, France. Background Pascal Gabriel's musical career began in 1977 in the punk rock band The Razors (bass guitar). He left Belgium for Lo ...

– pre-production ("Regret" and "Young Offender") *

Simon Gogerly Simon Gogerly is a British audio engineer with credits including artists such as U2, Paloma Faith, No Doubt and Massive Attack. Gogerly started his career playing keyboards on tour in the 1980s for the new wave band Dead or Alive. He the ...

, Mike 'Spike' Drake, Owen Morris and Richard Chappell – engineer * Ben Findlay – assistant engineer * Sam Hardaker – assistant engineer * Audrey Riley – cello, string arrangements * David Rhodes – additional guitar * Andy Duncan – additional programming * Dee Lewis – backing vocals * Recorded and mixed at Real World and RAK * Peter Saville – art direction (designed at Pentagram)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Republic (Album) 1993 albums New Order (band) albums London Records albums Albums produced by Pascal Gabriel Albums produced by Stephen Hague Albums recorded at RAK Studios Dance-rock albums Dance-pop albums by English artists Eurodance albums