The Best of New Order

The Best of New Order (stylised as (the best of) NewOrder) is a greatest hits album by English band New Order. It was released in the United Kingdom on 21 November 1994 by London Records and, with a different track listing, in the United States on 14 March 1995 by Qwest Records and Warner Bros. Records.[1] Like Republic, the band's most recent studio album at the time, the cover and liner notes stylise the group's name as one word (NewOrder) instead of the usual New Order.

The Best of New Order
Greatest hits album by New Order
Released	21 November 1994
Length	69:55
Label	London
Producer	New Order Stephen Hague Arthur Baker John Robie Martin Hannett
New Order chronology
Republic (1993) The Best of New Order (1994) The Rest of New Order (1995)
Singles from (the best of) New Order
"True Faith-94" Released: 7 November 1994 "1963-95" Released: 9 January 1995

Background

The Best of New Order is the second compilation album released by the group and follows their first, the hugely successful Substance album by seven years. The group had taken a hiatus due to tensions and disputes during the recording and touring of their 1993 album, Republic. Republic had been the first album that the group had released on London Records, and with the group announcing little intention of working together in the near future, the label went ahead compiling The Best of New Order.

The compilation primarily consists of seven-inch mixes of the group's singles from 1985 onwards. New versions of "True Faith", "Bizarre Love Triangle", "1963" and "Round & Round" appear in alternative mixes. The collection also includes one non-single track, "Vanishing Point" (from the LP Technique), though the song was already popularised as the theme tune to the BBC series Making Out. Only "Thieves Like Us" (the oldest track included, from 1984) appears in the same form as on the earlier compilation, Substance. The liner notes (first on a New Order album) were provided by journalist Paul Morley.[2]

The US version of the album omits three tracks ("The Perfect Kiss", "Shellshock" and "Thieves Like Us"). This was purportedly due to the band's American label, Qwest, not wishing for some of the singles already included on Substance to be duplicated on this compilation.[3] Instead, one album track from each of New Order's first three albums is included ("Dreams Never End" from Movement, "Age of Consent" from Power, Corruption & Lies, and "Love Vigilantes" from Low-Life), as well as a previously unreleased vocal version of the track "Let's Go (Nothing for Me)" from the 1987 film soundtrack Salvation!.

The following year, a companion remix album titled The Rest of New Order was released, with similar cover art.

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[6]
The Village Voice	A[7]

The Best of New Order was released on CD, cassette, double LP, VHS and Laserdisc. Limited editions bundled together the cassette and CD in a box set. Video and Laserdisc versions included singles that do not appear on other versions, namely "Confusion", "State of the Nation" and "Spooky".

Critical reception was generally positive. Although AllMusic's William Ruhlmann felt it was not as good a compilation as Substance (1987), he viewed the album as an exceptional overview of New Order's 1980s and early 1990s music.[4] In his review for The Village Voice of the US edition, Robert Christgau said that the album shows why he prefers Bernard Sumner's impassive quality over the despairing Ian Curtis:

Where 1987's Substance showcased [their] music's remixed, interwoven glory, this pushes [Sumner's] mild-mannered vocals as far front as they'll go. Turns out he has normal feelings about love and rejection and such, dislikes war and guns without getting preachy—just super-unassumingly super-catchy, as befits Britannia's ranking pop group. I mean, could Blur or Oasis write a World Cup anthem so rousing, danceable, and informative?[7]

The album sold well in the Christmas market and peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart,[8] and was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Internationally, the compilation reached number 23 in Canada,[9] number 27 in New Zealand,[10] number 30 in Australia,[11] and number 78 on the US Billboard 200. As of May 2006, it had sold 428,000 copies in the United States.[12]

"True Faith-94" and "1963" were released as singles to promote the compilation. "True Faith-94" was released in November 1994, and reached number nine in the UK and number 11 in Ireland.[13][14] "1963" (dubbed "1963–95") was remixed by Arthur Baker in a guitar-driven arrangement and released the following January; it reached number 21 in the UK and number 29 in Ireland.[13][14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by New Order, except where noted.

General Release

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Album	Length
1.	"True Faith-94"	New Order, Stephen Hague	Previously unreleased	5:34
2.	"Bizarre Love Triangle-94"	New Order	Previously unreleased	3:54
3.	"1963-94"	New Order, Stephen Hague	Previously unreleased	3:46
4.	"Regret"	New Order, Stephen Hague	Republic 1993	4:08
5.	"Fine Time"	New Order	Technique 1989	3:08
6.	"The Perfect Kiss"	New Order	Low-Life 1985	4:49
7.	"Shellshock"	New Order, John Robie	Pretty in Pink 1986	4:23
8.	"Thieves Like Us"	New Order, Arthur Baker	Single release only	6:36
9.	"Vanishing Point"	New Order	Technique	5:14
10.	"Run" (Incorrectly credited on UK editions as "Run 2")	New Order, John Denver	Technique	4:29
11.	"Round & Round-94"	New Order	Previously unreleased	4:00
12.	"World (The Price of Love)"	New Order, Stephen Hague	Republic	3:38
13.	"Ruined in a Day"	New Order, Stephen Hague	Republic	3:57
14.	"Touched by the Hand of God"	New Order	Salvation! 1988	3:42
15.	"Blue Monday-88"	New Order	Single release only	4:07
16.	"World in Motion"	New Order, Keith Allen	Single release only	4:30
Total length:				69:55

US version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Album	Length
1.	"Let's Go (Nothing for Me)"	New Order, Arthur Baker	Salvation!	4:02
2.	"Dreams Never End"	New Order	Movement	3:11
3.	"Age of Consent"	New Order	Power, Corruption & Lies	5:13
4.	"Love Vigilantes"	New Order	Low-Life	4:18
5.	"True Faith-94"	New Order, Stephen Hague	Previously unreleased	4:27
6.	"Bizarre Love Triangle-94"	New Order	Previously unreleased	3:54
7.	"1963–95" (Actually the Arthur Baker Radio Remix)	New Order, Stephen Hague	Previously unreleased	4:02
8.	"Fine Time"	New Order	Technique	3:08
9.	"Vanishing Point"	New Order	Technique	5:14
10.	"Run"	New Order, John Denver	Technique	4:28
11.	"Round & Round-94"	New Order	Previously unreleased	4:00
12.	"Regret"	New Order, Stephen Hague	Republic	4:08
13.	"World (The Price of Love)"	New Order	Republic	3:38
14.	"Ruined in a Day"	New Order	Republic	4:22
15.	"Touched by the Hand of God"	New Order	Salvation!	3:41
16.	"Blue Monday-88"	New Order	Single release only	4:07
17.	"World in Motion"	New Order, Keith Allen	Single release only	4:29
Total length:				70:22

Video release

1. "True Faith-94"
2. "Regret"
3. "Run"
4. "Bizarre Love Triangle"
5. "Fine Time"
6. "The Perfect Kiss"
7. "Shellshock"
8. "Confusion"
9. "Blue Monday-88"
10. "Round & Round-94"
11. "World"
12. "Ruined in a Day"
13. "State of the Nation"
14. "Touched by the Hand of God"
15. "World in Motion"
16. "Spooky"
17. "True Faith"
18. "Round & Round" ("Patti" version)

Personnel

• New Order – Production (All tracks except "Dreams Never End")
• Stephen Hague – Production ("True Faith-94", "1963", "Regret", "Ruined in a Day", "World (Price of Love)", and "World in Motion")
• Martin Hannett – Production ("Dreams Never End")
• Arthur Baker – Production ("Let's Go (Nothing for Me)")
• Mike "Spike" Drake – Production ("True Faith-94", "Bizarre Love Triangle-94", "1963–94" and "Round & Round-94")
• John Robie – Production ("Shellshock")
• Peter Saville – Design Consultant
• Howard Wakefield – Design
• Thomas Manss & Company – Design
• Martin Orpen and Idea – Digital Imaging

Charts

Chart (1994–95)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11]	30
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9]	23
European Albums (Music & Media)[15]	25
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10]	27
Scottish Albums (OCC)[16]	6
UK Albums (OCC)[8]	4
US Billboard 200[17]	78

References

1. Atwood, Brett (25 March 1995). "Qwest Issues New Order Best-Of Set". Billboard. p. 10. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
2. ARTISTdirect
3. "New Order:Albums:? - (The Best Of) New Order". www.niagara.edu. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
4. Ruhlmann, William. "Review: The Best of New Order – New Order (US Version)". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
5. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 10 (4th ed.). p. 170. ISBN 0195313739.
6. EW review
7. Christgau, Robert (26 December 1995). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
8. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
9. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2721". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
10. "Charts.nz – New Order – (The Best Of) New Order". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
11. "Australiancharts.com – New Order – (The Best Of) New Order". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
12. Caulfield, Keith (5 April 2006). "Ask Billboard: New Depeche Order Mode". Billboard. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
13. "New Order | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
14. "Search the charts". The Irish Charts. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
15. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11 no. 50. 10 December 1994. p. 15. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 27 April 2020 – via American Radio History.
16. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
17. "New Order Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 April 2020.