Audio By Carbonatix
Only two of New Order’s three signature elements are present on Waiting for the Sirens’ Call–Bernard Sumner’s airy voice and Peter Hook’s springy bass. And that’s not enough to keep the magic going. The Manchester legends have joined R.E.M. on the growing list of ’80s icons who have declined from revolutionary rock to easy listening. Hyped as a “guitar album,” the band’s eighth LP suffers greatly from the departure of keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, who was also absent from 2001’s well-received Get Ready and has now formally departed, leaving the programming, samples and keyboards uninspired and anemic. Even a hired-gun remix of the spacey dance duet “Guilt Is a Useless Emotion” is rote, at best, and the somewhat baffling “Krafty” finds the band dabbling in reggae. New Order now sounds more like Ace of Base than it does the band that wrote the book on electronic music.
Will you step up to support Dallas Observer this year?
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If the Dallas Observer matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
