UPDATE (5/18): Rhino has released the unreleased track "Hellbent" for your streaming pleasure! Listen to it here.
Original post: Can you believe, in this crazy world of music catalogue titles, that nobody's ever thought to do this before? Rhino's U.K. arm is releasing Total: From Joy Division to New Order next month, marking the first time a commercial compilation collates the best of both bands. (A 2001 New Order promo compilation tacked a few Joy Division songs on the end of its running time.)
Of course, the bands share an immense amount of musical DNA. The moody post-punk sound Joy Division - vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris - was intensely critically acclaimed in England, the darling of then-new indie label Factory Records. But Curtis, suffering from epilepsy and depression, took his life a day before the band was slated to embark on their first U.S. tour. Ultimately, later that year the band soldiered on as New Order - with Sumner taking on vocal responsibilities and keyboardist Gillian Gilbert added to the mix - and gained the kind of sustained commercial success Joy Division never earned on both sides of the Atlantic.
This new 18-track compilation also features a previously-unreleased New Order track, "Hellbent." Featuring a cover by Peter Saville, the well-known former graphic designer for the Factory label, Total is out in the U.K. on June 6. (Thanks as always to Slicing Up Eyeballs for breaking this story.) Hit the jump for the track list!
Joy Division/New Order, Total: From Joy Division to New Order (Rhino (U.K.), 2011)
- Transmission - Joy Division
- Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
- Isolation - Joy Division
- She’s Lost Control (U.S. 12" Version) - Joy Division
- Atmosphere - Joy Division
- Ceremony - New Order
- Temptation (7" Version) - New Order
- Blue Monday - New Order
- Thieves Like Us - New Order
- The Perfect Kiss (7" Edit) - New Order
- Bizarre Love Triangle (7" Edit) - New Order
- True Faith - New Order
- Fine Time (7" Edit) - New Order
- World in Motion - New Order
- Regret (7" Mix) - New Order (From London Records NUO1 7” Single)
- Crystal (Radio Edit) - New Order (From London Records NUOCD8 CD Single)
- Krafty (Single Edit) - New Order (From London Records NUOX13 12” Single)
- Hellbent
The Thorn says
Do we know from which era the New Order song is culled? Because if it`s from the last couple of albums, some of us will probably want to give it a miss...
I'm a HUGE JD and NO fan, but I don't think I can stand another compilation at this point - there have been too many as is :/
Don says
I agree, there are too many compilations out there already. Plus, having JD's "Transmission" and NO's "World in Motion" on the same disc will likely cause heads to explode. 🙂 I really hope the unreleased track will be available separately.
Ryan says
I hate to say this because I like the idea: There's too much New Order on there.
Don says
After hearing it, I'm pretty sure "Hellbent" is one of the leftovers from the "Waiting for the Siren's Call" album. It's not earth-shattering, but it's way better than I expected. I wouldn't buy the full CD just to get it, though.
The Thorn says
Yep... this is without a doubt a post-'Republic' track. And a VERY average one indeed. It's certainly not worthy of being included on a career-spanning compilation. oO
I'd MUCH rather have the full score that they did for 'Control' instead. Or re-release the studio albums on DVD, in 5.1. But enough of these comps.
New Order used to be SO aweomse. Am I the only one who feels that reforming for 'Get Ready' was the worst thing they've ever done? Seems to me that they've tickled all over their legacy since... :/