Pitchfork

Some time ago, I made the point that New Order's discography contains more compilations than original albums. Hoping to right the books, the band are-- as of this writing-- hard at work on a new record, but archive-raiders at the BBC rob them of a percentage victory with this collection of two recent John Peel sessions from 1998 and 2002. Though the last few New Order compilations have seriously lacked in terms of value (Retro) and necessity (International, a reissue of 1988's Live at the BBC concert broadcast), Radio One Sessions is a watershed, must-own for fans, drawing from two crucial sessions that heralded the band's turn-of-the-century comeback.

Reuniting five tense years after the dreadful Republic tour of 1993, New Order brought England to her knees with a rousing performance at the August 1998 Reading Festival. Drunk, dazed, and elated, they resurrected a number of the Joy Division tracks so many pined for, at long last comfortably distanced from their rigid roots. And not a bit numb: At their New Year's "Temptation" set in London later that year, Sumner was so drunk he could barely take the stage. That trend continues.

All the joyous international praise and stunning poster art surrounding what really amounted to New Order rolling out the barrel was somewhat surprising, but never having relied on makeup and attitude, an older New Order was still New Order. And they were a lot more fun, as the Peel Session preview of their New Year's 1998 performance-- recorded in November and broadcast December 30th-- proves soundly. Though the running order is inexplicably (and egregiously) resequenced on this compilation, all five cuts are here (you'll need to program your disc to play 2, 3, 1, 5, 4).

Leading their first new recordings in half a decade with a Graham Massey-style drum-n-bass update of the sacrosanct Joy Division standard "Isolation" was inconceivably bold, and reminded us of a simple fact so often ignored: New Order wrote "Isolation". The history behind it-- how it "should" sound, how it could sound-- all of these questions could only be answered by New Order, and in 1998, they were out to reclaim that legacy. Raincoat-wearing sad-sacks, still hanging upside-down dead roses over six-foot "Love Will Tear Us Apart" posters, were understandably confused. But after 15 years, New Order were exhausted by the dour history saddling their songs, and wanted to breathe new, exuberant life into their stony back catalog.

"Isolation" certainly pricked up everyone's ears, and though we nodded knowingly during a predictable house update of "True Faith"-- almost nostalgic in its driving acid simplicity-- the fiery rebirth of Brotherhood's "Paradise", featuring Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie on backing vocals, was a jaw-dropping reaffirmation of New Order's pub-going pop powers. It was a dead giveaway that Get Ready would be a return to their mid-tempo heyday, but none of us knew it at the time. Connecting Brotherhood and Get Ready as sister records, "Paradise" was a howling look back on a track most had never heard, and many fans had likely overlooked. Yes, the session closed with "Atmosphere", but the version here is restrained and flat; "Paradise" takes top honors easily. "Atmosphere" was devastating during the late-90s shows (and still is), but without the crowd-- the sympathy of the Moment-- it's one of two impossible tasks sans the throaty bellow of Ian Curtis (the other being "Transmission", and you can judge for yourself thanks to this disc's enhanced content: footage of New Order performing the song live at John Peel's anniversary party in 2002).

The 2001 session, for Steve Lamacq, previewed the forthcoming Get Ready LP, and constrasts harshly with the included Peel session. Bizarrely dry and thin, these recordings are akin to Get Ready... Naked, though an intriguingly hollow version of the Power, Corruption & Lies classic "Your Silent Face" anchors the otherwise uneven set. "Close Range" benefits most from the stripped-down setting, and absolutely destroys the over-attended album version, focusing on the wah-wah guitar line, backing vocals and arpeggiated keyboards. Without the penultimate sequencing, grating, high-end hi-hats and hard-panned stereo imagery that made Get Ready so monotonous, "Close Range" could attract new listeners to a decent record beset by Billy Corgan's unfortunate presence (which, at this point, wasn't an issue).

Naturally, this collection isn't for the uninitiated, but even for casual Substance owners, Radio 1 Sessions is an alternately exciting and revealing look back on New Order's most significant unreleased recordings of the last ten years.