Product Description

Following the critical dismissal of their previous record, BROTHERHOOD, New Order was at something of a crossroads in their career. TECHNIQUE (1989) found them back in favour as antecedents to a pair of oddly related trends: songs about the British tradition of holidays in Spain, and acid-house music. The first of these trends was adopted by everyone from Blur to the Pet Shop Boys. As for the second, while vacationing in Ibiza, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean, the bandwas impressed by a fleeting dance style then prevalent in the clubs there. TECHNIQUE was the band's own take on that sound, and eventually, this adaptation became one of the touchstones of acid-house music.
The album is an effective mixof strange, sampled sounds (something at which the band hadalways excelled), propulsive beats, and Bernard Sumner's ever-improving vocal style. "Fine Time", "Round & Round", and "Mr. Disco" are New Order at their most assertive, while "All the Way" and "Love Less" show their more pop-oriented side. The album's standout track "Run" sounds as though the bandhad rediscovered the power of simple bursts of guitar, withsearing solos cutting into the smooth beats.

Track Listing

1. Fine Time
2. Love Less
3. Run
4. Vanishing Point
5. All The Way
6. Guilty Partner
7. Mr Disco
8. Dream Attack

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13521 in Music
• Released on: 2000-01-04
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Technique is New Order's most fully realised dance album. Although other New Order albums have been mighty danceable, this recording contains a masterful use of the acid-house trends storming the club scene in 1989, when this album was released. New Order embraced the technology that was available at the time but never substituted brilliant song structures with prefabricated formats that sequencers, samplers, and other high-tech noisemakers can easily provide. They intelligently used these devices to incorporate elements of a broader genre beyond the "New Order sound," proving that even while experimenting with musical trends and other fleeting diversions, this accomplished group is capable of pulling off a genre-defining album without ever losing sight of their own identity. --Beth Bessmer

Customer Reviews

New Order's finest album...
I bought this album on its release in 1989 and it remains the best album New Order have ever made. It's hard to believe this was released 18 years ago and it still stands up well today, the best tracks being the brilliant Mr.Disco and Round and Round. The remaining tracks are also very good, indeed there's not a weak track to be found here.
Highly recommended.

buy this now
This is simply the finest album you can buy around this time period, its the pinnicle of new orders career, if you have purchased one of there best ofs and are thinking of getting an album then make this your nuber one purchase,
Its a happy feel good album (recorded in ibiza) that encapulates the "madchester" era, and was released 12 months before the stone roses/happy mondays etc made their mark,
stand out tracks are "love less", "mr disco" and "dream attack", the fact that none of these tracks were ever released as singles annoys me to this day

I don't get it
This album is always up there in the best albums ever list. However, I don't hear anything particularly stunning here and believe me, I've tried. I must have listened to it 30 times and I must say, there are some good songs here (tracks 2,3,4 and 6 in particular) but there's nothing that I would call 'classic'. New Order always struck me as a much better singles band as their Substance album demonstrates.