It’s time to get back to my favorite decade. For the month of March, I’ll be looking back at some of my favorite jams from the 80s. These songs often came to me via MTV or the radio. NYC-area stations WDRE, WPLJ, WNEW, K-ROCK and Z100 introduced me to everything from irresistible pop confections to under-the-radar post-punk anthems. I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for the 80s. It was the decade when I discovered music can be a truly powerful thing. #31DaysOf80sSongs
Power, Corruption & Lies is generally considered the band’s greatest album. “Age of Consent” and “Your Silent Face” are undoubtedly some of New Order’s finest songs. But when you look at the entire body of work, I think Technique is a stronger, more cohesive album. The moment I got the CD I couldn’t stop listening to it. And I always played it start to finish. On the contrary, I do a lot of track-skipping when I play Power, Corruption & Lies. There’s not a single letdown on Technique, including Track 6: “Run”.
Technique, as a whole, has a very dance-centric persona. The band’s time in Ibiza influenced the sound tremendously, which made fast dance tracks like “Round & Round” and “Mr. Disco” as well as mid-tempo numbers like “Run” and “Love Less” feel exceptionally consistent. It was a moment in time where New Order sounded different than what came before and what followed afterwards. “Run” seemed to put us in a daydream state. Sumner sang in his sweet spot while his guitar riff in the instrumental interlude seems to lash out and lament.
“You work your way to the top of the world. Then you break your life in two.”