''Brotherhood'' is the fourth studio album by English
rock band
New Order, released on 29 September 1986 by
Factory Records. It contains a mixture of
post-punk and
electronic styles, roughly divided between the two sides. The album includes "
Bizarre Love Triangle", the band's breakthrough single in the United States and Australia; it was the only track from the album released as a single and as a video (although "
State of the Nation" was added to most CD editions).
The album sleeve, created by
Peter Saville, is a photograph of a sheet of titanium–zinc alloy. Some early releases came in a metallic sleeve.
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".
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
Option or Options may refer to:
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*Option key, a key on Apple computer keyboards
*Option type, a polymorphic data type in programming languages
*Command-line option, an optional parameter to a command
*OPTIONS, an HTTP request method
...
'', 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."
Influences of
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's "
Prelude
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*Prelude (music), a musical form
*Prelude (band), an English-based folk band
*Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label
*Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition for ...
" to ''
Das Rheingold'' can be heard throughout the track "All Day Long." New Order have subsequently used the piece as a concert opener.
Critical 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." In his "Consumer Guide" column for ''
The Village Voice'',
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
selected the album as a "pick hit" and said: "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'' critic
Stuart Maconie described ''Brotherhood'' as "often overlooked, nestling as it does between two superior studio albums", and ultimately "more for the initiated than the first-time buyer."
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."
of ''
Uncut
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* ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship
* ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997
* '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...
'' 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'' Josh Modell called ''Brotherhood'' "an unsung great of the catalog that's dwarfed a bit by its massive single".
Track listing
Notes
* Most CD copies, with the sole exception of
Qwest Records' 1988 release, 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
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* Matter, anything that has mass and takes up space
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* Chemical substance, a material with a definite chemical composition
* Drug substance
** Substance abuse, drug-related healthcare and social policy diagnosis ...
''. It runs for 6:32, making the album's new total running time approximately 43:39.
Notes
* "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
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Brotherhood''.
*
New Order – production
* Michael Johnson – engineering
*
Peter Saville Associates – design
*
Trevor Key
Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish lan ...
– photography
Charts
Release history
* UK
LP – Factory Records (FACT 150)
* UK
Music cassette – Factory Records (FACT 150C)
* US LP – Qwest (25511-1)
* US cassette – Qwest (9 25511-4)
* Canada CD – Factory Records / PolyGram (830,527-2)
* UK CD (1993 re-release) –
London Records
London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...
(520,021-2)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brotherhood (New Order Album)
1986 albums
Factory Records albums
New Order (band) albums