‘Age of Consent’: 5.13
I’ve lost you, I’ve lost you, I’ve lost you, I’ve lost you . . .
The recorded version is different to the live version. In those days it was too difficult to change the song once it was recorded and on tape. A great bassline, even if I say so myself, changing subtly throughout. Barney’s plaintive vocal reaching and searching for the key gives it a lovely edge. A keyboard low bass note overdub on the chords gives it strength. Beautiful guitar motifs, both lead and rhythm. The long dropdown to build tension leads to one of Barney’s best melancholic string endings, Steve’s syndrum dropdown being the first of our many dub breaks to come, one of our greatest ‘live’ songs. The title came from a Sunday Times article about children having sex younger and younger, leading to a call for a reduction in the ‘Age of Consent’, something, as a father, I am completely against.
‘We All Stand’: 5.13
Three miles to go, we’ve got three miles to go . . .
A more complete contrast is hard to imagine. For the low line, my first use of a fretless bass, with an overdubbed six-string playing a chord-like figure. It would be sequenced ‘live’. The use of mainly ‘real’ instrumentation, piano, oboe etc., completes the change in feel, unusual so early in a record. Steve obviously draws from ‘The Sunshine Valley Dance Band’ for the jazzy drums. A story of isolation and fear in war, Barney being quite fixated on soldiers and warfare early in our career, a theme that would recur many times.
Our love is like the flowers, the rain, the sea and the hours . . .
Our first sequenced love song, the story of a doomed relationship, and we wax very poetic. A magnificent hybrid song, of rock and dance (soon to be our speciality). Sometimes delivered very aggressively, belying its pop song appearance. The name came from the cult TV show The Prisoner starring Patrick McGoohan.
‘5.8.6. Intro’: 1.44
A wonderful piece of music: mean, moody and magnificent. Originating from hearing a slowed-down version of the main song and deciding to overdub the bass and keyboards to form an intro. Mistakenly labelled as part of the main song.
‘5.8.6.’: 5.44
Heard you calling, yes, I heard you calling . . .
Our earlier dispute over the bass guitar seemed to have been forgotten for the LP version, with Barney enthusiastically helping me do a disco number on the bass guitar. A veritable tour de force of great keyboard overdubs and sounds, and Steve works very hard on both drum machine, Simmons SDSV and ‘live’ drum overdubs, conjuring up a fantastic atmosphere.
‘Your Silent Face’: 7.31
A thought that never changes remains a stupid lie . . .
Another sequencer tour de force by Barney, ripped off a Kraftwerk tune, which I cannot remember for the life of me, hence the working title ‘K.W.1’ (at least we were honest). For the vocal line Barney suggested using the bass riff from a mistake I had made on another song. He’d seen a live video of a Toronto gig where I had played the wrong riff to a song, but he loved it. Seeking out the video, sure enough it was great, and became the vocal line (that acid seemed to really make him appreciate me more; I must try some). The use of the traditional oboe sample perfectly balances the ultra-modern sound of the synthesisers.
‘Ultraviolence’: 4.52
Who felt those cold hands . . .
Written with the working title ‘Who Killed My Father’, this track has a real Joy Division feel to it, great bass riffs. The melody in the middle was written on the fretless and is sort of in between two notes, so live it never sounded as good as it does on the record. Great Simmons sounds by Steve.
A simple and effective song, dark and mysterious. The lyrics are obtuse and exact. Perfect.
‘Ecstasy’: 4.26
Touch my soul . . .
What I used to love about ‘old’ New Order was the willingness to experiment. This instrumental was only ever meant to be just that, an instrumental. Later, if Barney couldn’t get a vocal the track would be changed, sometimes out of all recognition, to facilitate the vocal, robbing us of great moments like these, which to me speak more than a thousand lyrics ever could. A great dance tune. Top drum riff and melodies.
‘Leave Me Alone’: 4.40
A thousand islands in the sea . . .
One of my favourite tracks of our career.
An achingly melancholic bass riff, which summed up perfectly the book I was reading at the time, Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The recording lasted the full length of the book and as the track built with Barney’s beautiful guitar lines taking it to perfection, my heart was ripped asunder as the marriage of Dick and Nicole Diver disintegrated. The will-he-won’t-he affair with Rosemary had me shouting, ‘No! No! No!’ in my seat. His problems with alcohol would even echo my own in later life. An 80-millisecond delay on the snare drum makes the track swing gloriously.