Released 29 September 1986 Brotherhood
(1986) Technique
(1989) Release date 29 September 1986 Label Rhino Entertainment | Length 43:30 Artist New Order Producer New Order | |
 | ||
Recorded Jam, London; Windmill Lane, Dublin; Amazon, Liverpool (1986) Genres Rock music, Post-punk, New wave, Synthpop, Alternative rock, Alternative dance Similar Low‑Life, Movement, Technique, Power - Corruptio, Get Ready | ||
Brotherhood is the fourth studio album by the English rock band New Order, released in 1986 by Factory Records. The album contains a mixture of post-punk and electronic styles, roughly divided between the two sides.
Contents
Brotherhood includes the band's break-out single in the USA and Australia, "Bizarre Love Triangle". It is the only track from the album released as a single and as a video (although "State of the Nation" was on the CD). It found its way onto many 1980s soundtracks, including Married to the Mob.
The album sleeve was created by Peter Saville and is a photograph of a sheet of titanium-zinc alloy. Some early releases come in a metallic effect sleeve.
In 2008 the album was re-released in a Collector's Edition with a bonus disc.
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". 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."
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". 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."
Reception
Reviewing Brotherhood for the Los Angeles Times, Steve Hochman wrote that New Order "makes atmospheric grooves with more finesse than any contemporary computer-rocker". Robert Christgau of The Village Voice rated it a 'Pick Hit' and remarked: "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."
In a 1993 retrospective review, Q wrote that Brotherhood was too similar to Low-Life and "suffered from an absence of truly great songs, 'Bizarre Love Triangle' excepted." 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." 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." The A.V. Club's Josh Modell called Brotherhood "an unsung great of the catalog that's dwarfed a bit by its massive single".
Track listing
All tracks written by New Order; except where indicated.
Certain editions, including the original Factory Records CD, the 1993 London Records re-release and the 2008 Collector's Edition, 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 43:30.
"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.
Personnel
Release details
Songs
1Paradise3:51
2Weirdo3:53
3As It Is When It Was3:46