Power, Corruption & Lies

Power, Corruption & Lies
Studio album by New Order
Released 2 May 1983
Recorded 22 October–14 November 1982, Britannia Row, Islington
Genre
Length 42:35
Label Factory
UK – FACT 75
US – FACTUS 12
Producer New Order
New Order chronology
1981 – 1982
(1982)1981 – 19821982		 Power, Corruption & Lies
(1983)		 Low-Life
(1985)Low-Life1985

Power, Corruption & Lies is the second studio album by the English rock band New Order, released in May 1983 on Factory Records. The album features more electronic-based tracks than their previous album Movement, with heavier use of synthesizers. It was included in the top 100 albums of the 1980s lists in both Rolling Stone and Pitchfork Media.

Title

The title of the album was chosen by Bernard Sumner from a 1981 conceptual art exhibition in Cologne, Germany. On the opening night of the exhibition the artist Gerhard Richter vandalised the exterior of the Kunsthalle by spray painting the text, "Power, Corruption, and Lies".

Artwork

Peter Saville's design for the album had a colour-based code to represent the band's name and the title of the album, but they were not actually written on the original UK sleeve itself (they were present on some non-UK versions), although the catalogue number "FACT 75" does appear on the top-right corner. The decoder for the code was featured prominently on the back cover of the album and can also be used for the "Blue Monday" and "Confusion" singles and for Section 25's album From the Hip.

The cover is a reproduction of the painting "A Basket of Roses" by French artist Henri Fantin-Latour, which is part of the National Gallery's permanent collection in London.[6] Saville had originally planned to use a Renaissance portrait of a dark prince to tie in with the Machiavellian theme of the title,[7] but couldn't find a suitable portrait. At the gallery Saville picked up a postcard with Fantin-Latour's painting, and his girlfriend mockingly asked him if he was going to use it for the cover. Saville then realised it was a great idea.[7] Saville suggested that the flowers "suggested the means by which power, corruption and lies infiltrate our lives. They're seductive."[7] The cover was also intended to create a collision between the overly romantic and classic image which made a stark contrast to the typography based on the modular, colour-coded alphabet. Saville and Tony Wilson, the head of the label, also said[8] that the owner of the painting (The National Heritage Trust) first refused Factory Records access to it. Wilson then called up the gallery director to ask who actually owned the painting and was given the answer that the Trust belonged to the people of Britain, at some point. Wilson then replied, "I believe the people want it." The director then replied, "If you put it like that, Mr Wilson, I'm sure we can make an exception in this case."[7]

The cover was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.[9][10]

Influential fashion designer Raf Simons used the album's cover art on one of his most coveted pieces from the Autumn/Winter 2003 "Closer" collection, ultimately producing four fishtail paras in varying colours with various pieces of New Order/Joy Division artwork spread around the pieces.

The street-fashion label Supreme included the album's floral motif as part of their Spring-Summer 2013 collection.[11][12]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The A.V. ClubA[13]
Blender[14]
Entertainment WeeklyA[15]
Pitchfork9.6/10[16]
Q[17]
Rolling Stone[18]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[19]
Select4/5[20]
The Village VoiceB+[21]

Power, Corruption & Lies was well-received on its release, and is still well-regarded. In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone magazine, Steve Pond felt that the band had finally separated themselves from their past Joy Division associations, calling the album a "remarkable declaration of independence" and a "quantum leap" over Movement.[18] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice found it "relatively gentle and melodic in its ambient postindustrial polyrhythms, their nicest record ever", but also "pretty much like the others."[21] The album placed at number 23 in The Village Voice's 1983 Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[22] In a retrospective review, Josh Modell of The A.V. Club called Power, Corruption & Lies "the sound of a band coming out of the shadows, retaining some of the pop elements of older days, but also embracing happiness and a whole new world of sequencers," crediting the album's humanity as a part of its charm.[13] John Bush of AllMusic stated that the album "cemented New Order's place as the most exciting dance-rock hybrid in music."[3]

In 1989, Power, Corruption & Lies was ranked number 94 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s, with the magazine citing it as "a landmark album of danceable, post-punk music".[4] It was placed at number 28 on Pitchfork's list of the best albums of the 1980s, with William Bowers' accompanying write-up for the album citing it as "the peak of the New Order's stellar 80s output."[23] Slant Magazine listed the album at number 23 on its list of the best albums of the 1980s and stated that it "marks the real beginning of New Order's career" and was "their first perfect pop record".[24] In 2013, it was ranked at 216 on NME's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[25]  

Track listing

All tracks written by New Order, except where indicated.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Age of Consent"5:16
2."We All Stand"5:14
3."The Village"4:37
4."5 8 6"7:31
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."Your Silent Face"6:00
6."Ultraviolence"4:52
7."Ecstasy"4:25
8."Leave Me Alone"4:40
American CD bonus tracks version[26]
No.TitleLength
1."Age of Consent"5:16
2."We All Stand"5:14
3."The Village"4:37
4."5 8 6"7:31
5."Blue Monday"7:32
6."Your Silent Face"6:00
7."Ultraviolence"4:52
8."Ecstasy"4:25
9."Leave Me Alone"4:40
10."The Beach"7:22

The Australia/New Zealand cassette edition (available 1983–92) featured "Blue Monday" at the end of side one.

2008 Collector's Edition bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Blue Monday" 7:32
2."The Beach" 7:22
3."Confusion"New Order, Arthur Baker8:15
4."Thieves Like Us"New Order, Arthur Baker6:38
5."Lonesome Tonight" 5:13
6."Murder" 3:57
7."Thieves Like Us" (instrumental)New Order, Arthur Baker6:59
8."Confusion" (instrumental)New Order, Arthur Baker7:36
Total length:53:32

Personnel

New Order
Technical

Release details

After Music Complete's release, the album was remastered and rereleased for the US iTunes Store.

Charts

Chart (1983) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] 38
Canadian Albums (RPM)[28] 66
German Albums (Media Control)[29] 18
scope="row" New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[30] 3
scope="row" Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 16
UK Albums (OCC)[32] 4
UK Independent Albums (OCC) 1

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gwillim, Keith (16 June 2002). "New Order: Shot Right Through With a Bolt of Blue". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Modell, Josh (3 May 2005). "New Order: Waiting For The Sirens' Call". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Bush, John. "Power, Corruption & Lies – New Order". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  4. 1 2 Azerrad, Michael; DeCurtis, Anthony (16 November 1989). "The 100 Best Albums of the Eighties: New Order, 'Power, Corruption & Lies'". Rolling Stone (565): 53. Citation posted at "100 Best Albums of the Eighties: 94 | New Order, 'Power, Corruption & Lies'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  5. ↑ Jackson, Josh (8 September 2016). "The 50 Best New Wave Albums". Paste. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  6. ↑ "Ignance-Henri-Théodore Fantin-Latour". The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Grundy, Gareth (29 May 2011). "Peter Saville on his classic Joy Division and New Order artwork". London: the Observer. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  8. ↑ Peter Saville, Tony Wilson (2002). 24 Hour Party People (DVD (commentary)). Pathé.
  9. ↑ "Classic Album Covers: Issue Date – 7 January 2010". Royal Mail. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  10. ↑ Michaels, Sean (8 January 2010). "Coldplay album gets stamp of approval from Royal Mail". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  11. ↑ "Peter Saville: From New Order to Supreme". Hypebeast.
  12. ↑ "Supreme x Vans 2013 Spring/Summer Collection". Hypebeast.
  13. 1 2 Modell, Josh (10 November 2008). "New Order". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "Back catalogue: New Order". Blender. 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  15. ↑ Howe, Sean (7 November 2008). "New Order: Reissues". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  16. ↑ Ewing, Tom (10 November 2008). "New Order: Movement / Power, Corruption and Lies / Low-Life / Brotherhood / Technique [Collector's Editions]". Pitchfork. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  17. ↑ "New Order: Power, Corruption & Lies". Q (84): 97. September 1993.
  18. 1 2 Pond, Steve (18 August 1983). "New Order: Power, Corruption & Lies". Rolling Stone (402). Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  19. ↑ Gross, Joe (2004). "New Order". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 582–83. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  20. ↑ Harrison, Andrew (August 1993). "Republish". Select (38).
  21. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (28 June 1983). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  22. ↑ "The 1983 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. 28 February 1984. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  23. ↑ "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork. 20 November 2002. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  24. ↑ "Best Albums of the 1980s". Slant Magazine. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  25. ↑ "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 300–201 – 216. New Order, 'Power, Corruption And Lies' (1983)". NME. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  26. ↑ John Bush. "Power, Corruption & Lies". AllMusic.
  27. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  28. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Albums". RPM. 38 (20). 16 July 1983. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  29. ↑ "Discographie New Order". Charts.de. Media Control. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  30. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  31. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  32. ↑ "New Order | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
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