With an anniversary to consider, here’s my fifth album review. My tastes cover all genres and time periods, but few albums can last the ravages of time and retain their power. This time it’s a look at Movement by New Order.
Review Number: 5
Review Date: 28 November 2021
Album: Movement
Artist: New Order
Country: England
Release Date: 1981
Genres: Post-Punk, New Wave
“A simple movement or rhyme, could be the smallest of signs.”
The band’s drummer, Stephen Morris, understandably found this a painful album to listen to for some time. But in a TV interview he mentioned hearing Movement in a Manhattan store years after the event and realised that it was pretty damn good.
He’s not wrong. The album was released 40 years ago this month and has aged very well. In a sense it acts as a bridge between the old world of their former incarnation, Joy Division, and the new one of New Order.
The story of Joy Division’s demise is well known. The band’s singer Ian Curtis committed suicide in May 1980, on the eve of a planned tour of the United States. That tragedy has been covered in the reviews of Joy Division’s two studio albums Unknown Pleasures and Closer, and the compilation album Still.
The three remaining members of Joy Division picked themselves up, said goodbye to that name, and created New Order in 1980. Gillian Gilbert joined them later that year.
“Oh, it’s a strange day, in such a lonely way.”
The initial reviews of the album in 1981 were not positive but life moves on, feelings change, and many critics and fans now recognise Movement for its musical worth.
The best track by far is the opening one “Dreams Never End”. A glorious guitar riff and then full of energy when the other sounds all kick in. Perhaps it’s a clue to their beliefs – the ambitions were not low and they wanted to continue.
The title Movement is another sign. The band is remembering Curtis and some songs mourn his loss – yet at the same time they are looking ahead.
While tracks like “ICB” and “Doubts Even Here” are slow and reflect on death, others like “Senses” and “Chosen Time” are possessed of great speed and hypnotic rhythms. This is where New Order excels – dynamic bass lines, phenomenal drumming and sublime synths.
Ultimately, time and circumstance show why Movement is a fantastic album. The album was created in the wake of misfortune, but these young men showed resilience and creativity to power on.
Movement is not only memorable for the quality of music, but for capturing a painful moment in the past. This is why music can be such a powerful medium. An album can herald the beginning of a genre or make a political statement, but for New Order it was something personal.
It was also the beginning of a remarkable career, and history showed us that New Order went on to even greater heights.
“What brought the last reaction, I’ll never know.”