Ripped direct from the vinyl, and inspired by the recent trip to Manchester and seeing a copy of the sleeve as part of the exhibition. With it being Fact 50, it was, in effect, the final artefact, on display.
mp3: New Order – Dreams Never End
The opening track on the debut album, released to a fair degree of indifference, on 13 November 1981. Much of the criticism, from the journos and fans alike, stemmed from the fact that it sort of felt like an album of Joy Division demos but without Ian Curtis‘s voice to bring it any distinction. It was, I am willing to say, the view I held back in the day and I didn’t play the album all that often for a long time.
Dreams Never End was the only track to feature the guitar/bass/drums sound, with the rest relying heavily on keyboards. Little did we know that this was the road New Order would look to go down, and it is fair to say that Movement is now regarded with a great more affection than at the time of its release, providing many pointers for what was to follow. This is, I am willing to say, the view I now also hold, and having played the album a fair bit over time, it has picked up the odd click along the way…..there’s a particularly noticeable one in the early part of this song.
The vocals are courtesy of Peter Hook, something which caused a bit of confusion the other week among some of the younger folk at Little League who weren’t aware of the song, with it having never been released as a single and something of a cult favourite. One person actually thought I was at the wind-up when i said it was New Order on the basis that Barney’s voice was never as deep as was coming out through the speakers.
It’s also worth mentioning that the band weren’t happy with how Movement was finished off in the studio by Martin Hannett, with everyone feeling his work was being impaired by his increasing dependence on drink and drugs. Nobody, however, felt confident enough to challenge him in the studio, but subsequent singles and albums would end up being self-produced.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Saw New Order live several times around the time of this album, so am still very fond of it. This track is an obvious highlight, but Chosen Time and Doubts Even Here still sound remarkable. Not sure it’s entirely accurate to say the album relied heavily on keyboards, as the textures and intense interplay of guitar and bass, and the intricate drum patterns are what stood out for me.
Those early gigs featured all three founder members having a go at vocals (think Stephen Morris sang on Procession). None of them was much of a singer, but Barney was the least bad.
I actually appreciate Movement a lot, and I think Hooky does a decent thing also nowadays performing the JD tracks – he’s not too far away from Ian’s delivery, while the New Order tracks do not work vocally as good as he is further away from Barney’s voice. IMO.
I love Movement. Dreams Never End is fantastic. That said, I’m in a tiny minority (perhaps of one) that thinks New Order peaked with their debut. I don’t mind some of what came after, but I was never sold on Sumner as a vocalist. And whenTemptation was released–with the vapid lyric “Up, down, turn around, please don’t let me hit the ground”–my love affair with the band was over. No offense to the devoted, but New Order are to Joy Division what the Foo Fighters are to Nirvana.
Not very often that I’ll bounce back with a reply…it also just happens that I’m working on some other stuff for the blog just now that I saw the comment. And, of course, you’re my musical bro from another continent, so it’s worth my while!
I don’t think any of us who are NO devotees would go on to compare them with JD in the fullness of time. It was certainly fair to do so at the time of Movement, but once Everything’s Gone Green and Temptation were issued as 45s here in the UK, it was clear we were dealing with a completely different band and sound. And yes, lyrically, very little (if any) of the NO lyrics can hold a candle to what Ian Curtis had penned for JD.
In many ways the lyrics increasingly meant it had to become increasingly only about the music, and for my money, NO made some of the best in the early to mid 80s and returned with a bang with the later release of Technique. Oh, and there’s nothing vapid about the Temptation refrain…..it’s absolutely perfect for the music over which they are sung!
Movement is an easy album to admire but difficult to love I think. Dreams Never End is a beauty though, superb song, playing, production and singing.