adicarter's Full Review: Waiting for the Sirens' Call by New Order (UK)
There’s been a renewed interest in New Order of late, tying in another and presumably final single release from “Waiting For The Sirens’ Call’ album with yet another plundering of their back catalogue in the form of another greatest hits package. Rather than focus on what is coming shortly I figured this was as good a time as any to have another listen to the ‘Sirens’ album and perhaps give it the same attention I have given their previous albums in the past.
I’ll make no bones about the fact that in my time I have been a big New Order fan. Their albums helped to sculpt my musical tastes in my youth and up to a point they were a band that it seemed could do no wrong. However since albums such as “Republic” and “Get Ready” it seemed there was a distinct absence of the fire that drove the band. The music press in the UK however had been considerably kinder to this album than I expected and I wondered was it just some form of misplaced loyalty for the British stalwarts or was there something else…
The album opens with a sense of promise, dramatic strings and a chiming melody that is so reminiscent of the old New Order. The track “Hey Joe” takes me back to the early nineties style of the band during their “Technique” phase, gleaming pop that was still slightly smudged. However this is the band with a new polished sheen that started on their previous album, everything is in its place and while it’s a good pop track I can’t help but miss some of the more adventurous rough edges that made the band stand out in their halcyon days.
“Hey Now, What You Doing” is the second track on the album and is more guitar led with more than a hint of Johnny Marr to proceedings (in style but alas not in execution). Lyrically there are few wry moments that harkens back to some of the band’s better writing but in truth this track is very anonymous in its execution. Once again there is slickness to the production that can’t be faulted but only if that’s what you are looking for.
“Waiting For The Sirens’ Call’ is a slightly moodier offering and the most obvious difference is the fact that Peter Hook’s dark cloud bass has been brought higher into the mix. That fact alone helps things no end, once again this feels a little like the early nineties incarnation of the band and just occasionally there are some beautiful hints of melody in the this track which remind you what the band could do. However for the most part this track simply coasts along in a rather anaemic fashion.
Like the previous track it suffers from being overly long. Maybe the band was having fun but an edit would have trimmed the unnecessary fat from these songs and possibly changed my opinion of them as a result.
The debut single “Krafty” is a clarion call for a band settling comfortably into middle age yet still seeking a hint of rebellion in their lives. And if anything the message of the song is possibly the most appealing aspect of the track because lyrically its weak and somewhat clichéd with its sugar coated references and metaphors. Musically there is a little bit more muscle applied to the arrangement and Stephen Morris’s drumming talent is given something to do. Hook once again chimes in with a nice bass line and there is a pleasing mix of synth and guitar that were always the band’s trademark.
“I Told You So” comes in next with some gentle guitar and mid tempo piano riff that is almost tinged with reggae, that might sound terrible but this is where the album does pick up a little. There’s a renewed vigour in the production (even if the track itself is not a high tempo exercise). There’s enough going on here to convince me that the band had a focus when they were putting this track together. Lovely drums on the outro as well.
“Morning Night & Day” reminds me of Barney’s work with Electronic only slightly updated. The production is incredibly bright which gives the track a certain push. This is lyrically the antithesis of “Krafty” in the form of it being a tale of excess. Although the production values are good the song is I fear more than a touch mediocre. It’s frustrating as well because once again there are little hints of what the band can achieve in here but unfortunately swamped in unnecessary guitar histrionics most of the time.
“Dracula’s Castle” takes baby steps towards a more sequenced edge which suits me fine and I liked the way in which this track had more a scrappy, patchy feel. The shine has been taken off the production and the song thrives as a result. This should have been a single if not for the somewhat crap title. Nice arrangement and a good vocal hook in the chorus. This is one of the tracks that I felt justified its length.
“Jetstream” is up next and features a cameo appearance from Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters. She does add something to the track but then this track needs everything it can to save it. She delivers a suitably sultry vocal to events but the track is just so damned average that its cheesiness can’t even be passed off as ironic.
“Guilt Is A Useless Emotion” makes an approach like a 21st Century Moroder track. An attractive sequenced bassline and a decent vocal from Barney make this one of the better cuts on the album. This has the potential to be dance floor filler and shows what the band could still put out. Although not as dark or moody as some of their earlier work it’s an interesting moral lecture on “how love can bought”. I loved the synth work on this one, it’s a track that I could carry around on a playlist even if the rest of the album stayed home. I would love to see a remix of this track accentuating the breaks and drops that are already in place.
“Turn” is an acoustically driven track of the type that once again turned up on some of their early 90’s releases. Once again this track does seem to work based on the urgency of the vocal delivery that I think is something that is sadly missing from much of Barney’s work on this album. Unlike so many of the other tracks in evidence here this one has a lean stripped feel to it, it’s just a shame that some of the other contenders on show could have been subject to the same treatment.
“Working Overtime” is the closer and is a little more of a rockier stomp along track than the average New Order fan might be used to, however once again it disappoints. Lyrically unimaginative and in terms of melody it does borrow from Happy Mondays in places (O.K its slight but it did linger my head as a steal from “Wrote For Luck”). In its favour the track does have a sense of the raw to it.
So what have we got here in terms of an album, well if it was any other band I would have probably been more forgiving but this is New Order and what they have delivered in the past means they have set themselves a high benchmark to meet. Am I expecting too much? quite probably. The band aren’t the bright young things they were, (and neither am I for that matter) but there is something about this album that says, “Middle aged spread”. Improvements could have been made just with a little more ruthless editing of the tracks, many are too long and for my liking I’m afraid many were too much filler.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.