As with Bilingual, I listened to this one repeatedly. They both were still in constant rotation at home and in the car. And, over time, I learned to love them and hear the creative nuances and finesse that only these two groups could bring. Electronic's album really hit home with me, not in the singles, but in the album tracks and b-sides. That was where you could really hear the expertise that both Sumner and Marr had. The magic that the two of them shared was like no other. Honestly, though, I would have preferred a little more on Johnny's guitar, but that's beside the point. And, as for Bernard, his singing was exceptional, as always.
There were too many b-sides and non-album tracks to make one disc with them and the album, and a second disc with just the remixes. So, here you have DISC 2. Load this puppy right behind the album, and you'll be set. I also wanted to try and use the For You single sleeve as the cover of this one, but none of the pics I had of them were clear enough, and if I tried to fix it, you could totally tell and it looked stupid. Still, eventually, I would like to make a font of that typeface on the cover (unless someone out there already has it and would like to share with me) because it's fabulous, and I can think of a dozen projects I'd like to use it on.
Tomorrow is the first day of Compilation Week, we'll see you then...
From what I remember at the time of this release, Bernard Sumner was undergoing treatment for depression and was taking Prozac.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the first Electronic release was intended to be a Bernard Sumner solo record, but turned into a "soupergroup." The fact that the first album was recorded at Sarm West studios and Neil Tennant and Chis Lowe had some latent involvement beyond the actual songs they contributed to seems to have also had an effect. From 1989 (the time the first album was actually recorded), to 1995-1996 was a long time span. It did seem as though some of the vitality of youth or good drugs, and the end of the Hacienda, or some combo of it all, had passed New Order were in hiatus, and this was more of a hobby than a career move at this point.... just my take. Still a good record, but not the classic like the first record.
This album was made with the help of Karl Bartos, ex-Kraftwerk. He left KW in 1990 to start his own project, Elektric Music (with Lothar Manteuffel from Rheingold) and released an album named "Esperanto" in 1993.
ReplyDeleteIn 1995, Bartos was invited by Sumner to work on a several tracks for the new Electronic album. You can feel his "presence" through some melodies (like the very kraftwerkian intro of "Until The End Of Time").
"Imitation of Life" was a track composed in 1994 for the second album of Elektric Music. For unknown reasons, the album was never released and Bartos re-used the track for this project (as a B-side, though). The original version was called "Bombast" and was reworked for his latest solo album, "Off The Record", released in 2013.
Electronic's "Imitation of Life" :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTrXUJVg_Ss
Karl Bartos's "Bombast/Musica Ex Machina" :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9dazV42m24
Thank you for remembering this and giving it for everyone... this is the kind of music that you don't hear anymore unless you remember it from its original time. This is the kind of music that should never ever die...
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