Brotherhood | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 29 September 1986 | |||
Recorded | 1986 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 37:07 | |||
Label | Factory | |||
Producer | New Order | |||
New Order chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Brotherhood | ||||
|
Brotherhood is the fourth studio album by the English band New Order, released on 29 September 1986 by Factory Records. It contains a mixture of post-punk and electronic styles, roughly divided between the two sides. The album includes " Bizarre Love Triangle", the band's breakthrough single in the United States and Australia; it was the only track from the album released as a single and as a video (although " State of the Nation" was added to most CD editions).
The album sleeve, created by Peter Saville, is a photograph of a sheet of titanium–zinc alloy. [2] Some early releases came in a metallic sleeve.[ citation needed]
Brotherhood saw the band further exploring their mix of post-punk and electronic styles, with the track listing being conceptually divided into "disco and rock sides". [3] [4] Stephen Morris stated that the album "was kind of done in a schizophrenic mood that we were trying to do one side synthesizers and one side guitars", which he retrospectively stated "didn't quite work". [5]
In a 1987 interview with Option, Morris commented that the "mad ending" to "Every Little Counts" – which sounds like a vinyl record needle skipping the groove – is similar to the ending of The Beatles' " A Day in the Life". [6] Morris said: "What we should have done is make the tape version sound like the tape getting chewed up. The CD could have the sticking sound." [6]
Influences of Richard Wagner's " Prelude" to Das Rheingold can be heard throughout the track "All Day Long." New Order have subsequently used the piece as a concert opener.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The A.V. Club | A− [4] |
Blender | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [8] |
Pitchfork | 9.5/10 [9] |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Select | 3/5 [12] |
Uncut | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Village Voice | A [14] |
Reviewing Brotherhood for the Los Angeles Times, Steve Hochman wrote that New Order "makes atmospheric grooves with more finesse than any contemporary computer-rocker." [15] In his "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau selected the album as a "pick hit" and said: "The tempos are a touch less stately, the hooks a touch less subliminal. Bernard Albrecht's vocals have taken on so much affect they're humane. And the joke closer softens up a skeptic like me to the pure, physically exalting sensation of the music." [14]
In a 1993 retrospective review, Q critic Stuart Maconie described Brotherhood as "often overlooked, nestling as it does between two superior studio albums", and ultimately "more for the initiated than the first-time buyer." [10] John Bush of AllMusic was more favourable, writing that "for better and worse, this was a New Order with nothing more to prove – witness the tossed-off lyrics and giggles on 'Every Little Counts' – aside from continuing to make great music." [3] David Quantick of Uncut noted "an increased tension between the frequent beauty of the music and the band's Northern self-consciousness" and concluded: "This was New Order becoming New Order and if anyone was entitled to not be Joy Division, they certainly were." [13] The A.V. Club's Josh Modell called Brotherhood "an unsung great of the catalog that's dwarfed a bit by its massive single". [4]
All tracks are written by New Order, except where noted
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Paradise" | 3:50 |
2. | "Weirdo" | 3:52 |
3. | "As It Is When It Was" | 3:46 |
4. | "Broken Promise" | 3:47 |
5. | "Way of Life" | 4:06 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
6. | " Bizarre Love Triangle" | 4:22 |
7. | "All Day Long" | 5:12 |
8. | "Angel Dust" | 3:44 |
9. | "Every Little Counts" | 4:28 |
Total length: | 37:07 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
10. | " State of the Nation" | 6:32 |
Total length: | 43:39 |
Notes
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | " Bizarre Love Triangle" ( Shep Pettibone Remix) | 6:44 | |
2. | " 1963" |
| 5:32 |
3. | " True Faith" (Shep Pettibone Remix) |
| 9:02 |
4. | " Touched by the Hand of God" | 7:05 | |
5. | " Blue Monday '88" | 7:07 | |
6. | "Evil Dust" | 3:45 | |
7. | "True Faith" (Eschreamer Dub) (incorrectly listed as "True Faith (True Dub)") |
| 7:52 |
8. | "Blue Monday '88" (Dub) (incorrectly listed as "Beach Buggy") | 7:18 | |
Total length: | 54:25 |
Notes
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Brotherhood. [16]
Chart (1986) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums ( Kent Music Report) [17] | 15 |
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM) [18] | 69 |
European Albums ( Music & Media) [19] | 50 |
New Zealand Albums ( RMNZ) [20] | 22 |
Swedish Albums ( Sverigetopplistan) [21] | 33 |
UK Albums ( OCC) [22] | 9 |
UK Independent Albums ( MRIB) [23] | 1 |
US Billboard 200 [24] | 117 |
{{
cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link)