| "Crystal" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by New Order | ||||
| from the album Get Ready | ||||
| B-side | "Behind Closed Doors" | |||
| Released | 13 August 2001 | |||
| Format | CD, 12" | |||
| Recorded | 2001 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 6:51 (Album version) 4:20 (Radio edit) |
|||
| Label | London | |||
| Writer(s) | New Order | |||
| Producer | Steve Osborne | |||
| New Order singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
"Crystal" is a song by the English rock band New Order, released as the first single from their seventh album Get Ready. The song entered the UK charts at number 8.
Backing vocals for the track are provided by Dawn Zee, who regularly tours with the band.
New Order performs this song live a semitone higher than the recording.
The song is notable for a remix contest in which there were thousands of entries around the world.[1]
The music video featured a drum set with the words "The Killers" on it, which was the inspiration for the name of the American rock band The Killers.
Contents |
Singer/guitarist Bernard Sumner originally gifted the song to German record label Mastermind for Success and it was recorded by label artist Corvin Dalek. However, DJ Pete Tong heard the song and declared it to be the best New Order single since "Blue Monday", leading Sumner to reconsider the gift and have New Order record and release it.
A version of the single was also released in Japan to promote the release of the New Order DVD 316, and has a different cover that resembles the 316 cover. B-sides for the single were 4 live audio tracks taken from the DVD.[2]
The single was B-sided by a variety of remixes, and an original song titled "Behind Closed Doors".
The main music video, set to the album version, was directed by Johan Renck, produced by Nicola Doring[3] through London production company Jane Fuller Associates and cinematographed by Fredrik Callinggård.[4] It does not feature New Order; instead, it depicts a younger band miming to New Order's music and words. At the end, a large number of people come on stage to pull them off-stage.
The fictional band is named "The Killers" (the name appears on the bass drum in the video). This name later inspired a real band of the same name, who lifted a number of elements of the layout of the set in the "Crystal" video for their own video "Somebody Told Me". In 2005, at Scotland's T in the Park festival, New Order performed the song with The Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers singing the main vocals in a guest performance.
The DVD single contains an alternate music video, set to the "Special Circumstances Mix (Digweed & Muir Bedrock Radio Edit)" of the song. Directed and produced by Gina Birch and Simon Tyszko,[3] the video depicts a motorcycle ride through city streets at night, viewed through two side-by-side shots filmed with sub minature video cameras mounted in boots.[5]
The cover art for the CD and DVD shows actress and model Nicolette Krebitz removing her trousers.
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[6] | 8 |
| Irish Singles Chart[7] | 24 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Singles Sales | 19 |
| Australia ARIA Singles Chart | 53 |
| German Media Control Singles Chart[8] | 39 |
| Preceded by "Feel This 2001" by Robbie Rivera |
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single 20 October 2001 |
Succeeded by "Yes!" by Amber |
