What was the last album you listened to?

Artist: Yello
Album: One Second
Genre: Synthpop and New Wave
Year: 1987
Standout tracks: Moon on Ice and Si Señor the Hairy Grill

The only album beside Stella that I own of Yello and I pretty much blind buyed back a few years, much thanks to my experience with their former 1985 release.
However I do not remember playing it more than once or twice but I really cannot remember much about it, well beside the lovely album cover that is.
I will not go in with much expecations this time around, but as usual I hope for the best or the better.

01. La Habanera - Seems to continue the tropical and warmer sound of the better cuts from Stella, and while not exactly a bad thing this number is sadly not a very good one or even remotely memorable and at times it points a little too much towards their next album Flag and the hit release which was to be The Race (1988). 
An uneven and very overlong album opener which just never sit well with me.

02. Moon on Ice - Is a more downbeat and mysterious cut which feels like it should have been included on Stella rather than on this record. A much better song. Seductive and breezing cool but one I fear will "drown" out if the quality of the rest of the album do not pick up drastically.

03. Call it Love - And then we are back to another downer. Not bad really but still nowhere near a good song either and coming up after such a positive track like the one above, I just hate when that happens.

04. Le Secret Farida - Instrumental piece and again I am not that fond of Yello and their non vocal stuff. Typical filler but thankfully it do only last for about three minutes of time but not something I will ever want to hear again.

05. Hawaiian Chance - The most upbeat number up till this point, but again another and not very impressive instrumental cut which seems to be included just to fill up some space and once more it leaves me with absolute nothing to go for. 

06. The Rhythm Divine - Shirley Bassey on vocals, but the whole overblown James Bond wannabe feel just do not work for me at all.

07. Santiago - Starts out like something which reminds me of late 80s Michael Jackson or something not that far off, but then fades into an very uneven and at times annoying piece with some terrible vocal samples in arabic. Of course it had to last for almost 6 minutes of time, and I was more than ready to hand in the towel after only about 2 minutes. 

08. Goldrush - More annoying vocal samples continue and the lack of anything resembling a melody would sadly not help out much either. This album is surely a big letdown and I no longer think there might be any more quality stuff on it, beside track 2.

09. Dr. Van Steiner - Starts off promisingly, I'll give it that. But it just ends up going the wrong way not long after as this end up sounding like a mix-up of Angel No from Stella and The Race from Flag. Not bad, but it sounds a little too unfinished and is not really much to go on either.

10. Si Senor the Hairy Grill - Beside the ridiculous title it actually ends up as a rather nice surprise for a change. Very industrial sounding number, feels like a more heavy and fast relative to Let Me Cry. Now why couldn't these guys make more music like this or Moon on Ice, either slow it down or go in all the way.

11. L'Hôtel - Well, going from such a fun and feisty number as the one above, we are back to yet another boring as hell instrumental and that leaves me with not much else to hand out a very disappointing final score.

3,5/10

Peter Hook does the vocal job on that track, not Bernard Sumner. I reckon its probably the best track on the album, it seems to signal more of the direction they were going to head in, rather than being overly Joy Divisiony.

The album's grown on me, but it's not in the same league as Power, Corruption & Lies, after which I don't think there's much from New Order worth hearing at all. If you had bought the Collector's edition, you also get the 2nd CD with two versions of Ceremony & Temptation, which are worth the extra cash alone.

7/10 on first full listen

Artist: New Order
Album: Technique
Genre: Synthpop, Alternative and Dance
Year: 1989
Standout tracks: Vanishing Point

My last of their three studio albums which I own, and coming right of Power, Corruption & Lies, I am not expecting much this time either.
What little I remember from their 1989 release is that it includes one of my favorite New Order cuts, which is the terrific Vanishing Point, but beside that I can barely remember anything else from it.

01. Fine Time - Starts up in a very dance/club house similar style of play and where there sure are lots of stuff happening all at once, maybe a little too much actually.
The main melody kind of gets drowned out in all of it, and never really settles down with me that much.
I guess for those who love late 80s dance-club music, this might do well, but beside some interesting and catchy which pops up here and there, as an album opener however it is not a very strong or memorable one.

02. All the Way - A very different kind of animal than the opening cut, this however almost sounds like one of the happier The Cure songs, only that this number is not all that great or melodic. Not a bad one, still it ends up giving me very little to go on by.

03. Love Less - Continues in the same radio friendly and safe pop playing manner as All the Way but once again, not something which sticks with me for long and is just another decent pop tune that goes nowhere.

04. Round & Round - Is back to the more dance-club scene genre as Fine Time, but is not really that much of a good song either. Mediocre at best and ends up sounding like another uninspired and very flat number.

05. Guilty Partner - A darker track which again makes me think of The Cure, but one which again lacks the hooks and catchy melodies of Robert Smith and co.

06. Run - Now I am just not even trying anymore, as it feels like the band did pretty much the same thing when they were recording this album in the studio.

07. Mr. Disco - Well, back to the dance scene once more. The constant uneveness of trying to combine dance floor cuts with daft and dull radio friendly pop songs makes up for not a very good listen, and when both lyrics and melody goes missing no matter how many "cool" music details they end up putting in, it do not help out in anyway.

08. Vanishing Point - Without a doubt, the best thing off this record. One of my favorite of theirs and one which surely had deserved far better than to be stuck with so much mediocrity as this album sadly packs too much of. This song beat the living crap out of the rest with a fantastic 1 minute and 30 seconds long intro and never lets the listener down. I just cannot believe they did not release this classic as a single. The obvious stand out track and as it looks like for now, the only one as well.

09. Dream Attack - And once more we are back to a more pop driven and guitar dominated cut, but one that is slightly delivered in a more melodic way than the others.

Right now I am very disppointed by these three albums, and will probably only bother with Low-Life and Brotherhood if I am able of finding a dirt cheap copy of them on CD, Movement I am surely finished with for good and where Power, Corruption & Lies along with this one will only be around in my collection because of a couple of great songs, and that is it.

5/10

7/10 - Don't know that it's something I'll revisit again and again, but it's funky, fresh and I enjoy hearing Jack White do something a little off the beaten path. Maybe this is his Midnite Vultures? Get In The Mind Shaft is pretty sweet.

Artist: New Order
Album: Substance 1987
Genre: Synthpop, Post-punk and Dance-pop
Year: 1987
Standout tracks: Ceremony, Temptation, Blue Monday, Thieves Like Us, The Perfect Kiss, Shellshock, Bizarre Love Triangle and True Faith

My last and final New Order record that I own, and where it is a compilation album and not a studio release.
It looks like the original LP version only included the disc 1, which have songs on it, however my CD copy have second disc which contains another 12 cuts, mostly instrumentals, b-sides and other probably at that time, unreleased material.
I have never really given much attention to disc 2, and stayed pretty much most focused on disc 1, so this might be quite a little job to get through almost 2 hours and 30 minutes of music, but in the end I hope it is worth it, as I surely am in a bad need of something better than what I have gotten out of some of their rather uneven to just downright poor and disappointing studio albums.

Disc 1:

01. Ceremony - A fantastic cut, which I think was made shortly before Ian Curtis death and I do believe there is also a Joy Division version on their Live album known as Still. Anyway, this is one hell of a tune and one I have loved since the first time I heard it. 
Extremely catchy and the way it slowly builds up, then "explodes" only to calm down a little and finally erupts once more, is truly fantastic stuff.

02. Everything's Gone Green - Not so sure about this one. Is it an early New Order cut or an late Joy Divison song? While it has some promising moments here and there, it is surely a big letdown coming up after the powerful opener and it do not get any better looking up at the upcoming tracks which follows it.
Not bad, just not very good or memorable.

03. Temptation - Another classic, which I heard for the first time through a cover version, I think in Trainspotting (1996). Uplifiting, dreamy and very melodic song that easily make me forget the rather dull number above.

04. Blue Monday - Incredibly I did not geto to hear this monster tune until I got a hold of a FIFA Fotball game on PS2, back when those games had some fantastic music included to them.
I think, if you won certain tournaments, one could unlock several songs from the 1980s and this chilling and very danceable beast that was one day gifted to me, after having one a few cups or titles on that video game. All in all, this one I never gets tired of and it must have sounded like it came from some far away space ship, created by aliens when it first arrived the airwaves and nightclubs.

05. Confusion - A much more dance oriented sound than the ones above, never been one of my favorites as it sounds a little too "hectic" or chaotic.
The samples along with an uneven melody makes it not a bad number but still one which never have done much for my part.

06. Thieves Like Us - Now we're talking. A beautiful song, and one which have one of my favorite intros, lasting for almost 2 minutes and 30 second of time and for me it could have easily continued for much longer. A smooth, romantic and very dreamy synthpop masterpiece.

07. The Perfect Kiss - Another stunning number is up next, and few 80s songs have sounded and felt so in touch with that era as this one, or at least to how I have often pictured that time of period 
Everything works so damn well, almost like an explosion of rich and colorful sounds and even though I am not sure if this is the orginal and fully lengthed version, it is just a terrific piece of music which could easily go onto last for much longer. 

08. Subculture - Another one which I do not remember that much, and it is by no accident either. While it sure sounds like something which could easily fit in well with the whole eurodance genre of the 90s, it ends up as a bit of a downer coming up after such an incredible string of classics.

09. Shellshock - Brings back the fun and quality. A very catchy and very 80s sounding cut, which is easily among the best of this first part of the album.
I have lost count of how many hours or days I have spent by using this song as a perfect workout music to motivate me when I run outdoors.

10. State of the Nation - Well, there had to be another one I guess. Not as forgettable as Subculture but still a very uneven and dull song which sounds most like a filler and not a great one.

11. Bizarre Love Triangle - The album or side 1 finishes very strong with the first out of two classics in a row. 
I remember well that this was played very effectively in a TV teaser/trailer for the 1988 romantic screwball comedy Married to the mob by Jonatha Demme, but it was I think an instrumnetal version and I was very happy when I finally discovered that it was included on this album.

12. True Faith - Hard not to think about American Psycho when hearing this one, but again another brilliant piece of 80s music which brings disc 1 one to an end.

Disc 2:

01. In a Lonely Place - Disc 2 opens up in a very Joy Disvison heavy manner. Dark, brooding and atmospheric, but way better than anything off Movement which is a nice touch.

02. Procession - Another fine little surprise. Maybe a bit more uplifting and melodic than the album opener but again I am glad to have discovered it as I do not remember hearing it before.

03. Mesh - Continues the Joy Division sound, and is a more fast forward moving piece, but compared to the first two cuts, a slightly lesser song.

04. Hurt - And here it comes. A very messy and poor number which is more annoying than coming close to being good. Does not get better that it last for almost 7 minutes of time, which is far too long.

05. The Beach - Blue Monday instrumental or remix. Not as great as the original but it pretty much contains most of the single version or 12 inch that is never a bad thing.

06. Confused Instrumental - Confusion all over again, but still not one I will seem to warmen up to. 

07. Lonesome Tonight - A very guitar and pop driven track which stands out from most of the material of the record but not much else.

08. Murder - My interest have surely gone down, fast and now I am just skipping through the final numbers, as they are mostly skippable fillers which gives me little or nothing of interest.

09. Thieves Like Us Instrumental - A great non vocal version, which surely had deserved to be put on the first disc and not among so many poor and dull sleepers.

10. Kiss of Death - The Perfect Kiss all over again, great and all but it will be of little help for disc 2 as it is just far too uneven and poor to ever have an chance of stadning up to disc 1. 

11. Shame of the Nation - Switch Shame with State and you get what you are in for. I just cannot wait for this side to finish and sadly I am still not there.

12. 1963 - One of the better and few cuts to end off a very uneven and disappointing disc 2 with.

Well, I would gladly have given this compilation a deservedly final high rating but as it comes with a part 2 which is nowhere near of the same quality, that is very hard to ignore as it surely brings down the score by a few notches and there are just too many boring and down right dull fillers to be included and as of that I end up with a:

7/10

Venus and Mars - Wings

Artist: Depeche Mode
Album: A Broken Frame
Genre: Synthpop
Year: 1982
Standout tracks: None

Just a little note, that the Speak & Spell version I got on CD turned out to be the 2006 remaster, which did contain Dreaming of Me as the 12th and final track of that album, where as my other copy of the record has it as one of several bonus cuts. Still, I think such a good song deserved to be on the final product and if I had take it away, I would have to decrease my rating of their debut as well, I will not that.
Anyway, moving onto their second release, which came up in what I guess must have been a rather hectic period of time, as their main creative force Vince Clarke had left and now the guys had to find their own voice and sound if not, then an uncertain future might lie ahead of them.

01. Leave in Silence - Not exactly an strong opener this, very downbeat and lacks the extra punch that a good first track usually needs, but I guess this album might be a very different one to their debut release. 

02. My Secret Garden - More of an atomospheric piece, or at least that is how it start up things with. From only hearing the first two songs, this albums surely seem far more "serious" than Speak & Spell, but again this is not something which stays with me for long and yet another forgettable filler is to be heard.

03. Monument - Most likely the "best" of the first three, but that means very little as none of them makes any big impact on me.

04. Nothing To Fear - Finally something with a bit of a beat and melody to it and one which also sounds like a very "typical" Depeche Mode number.

05. See You - Another upbeat song which fits better into the sound I was hoping for, and would probably not have looked all that lost if it was included on their debut.

06. Satellite - Yet a downer that goes on for far too long. 

07. The Meaning Of Love - Sounds like it was straight of Speak & Spell, and would probably fit there better than on this uneven second album. 

08. A Photograph Of You - Opens up promisingly, almost like it was a big 80s hit I have heard somewhere but lost memory of, but then the vocal parts comes in and that is the end of that.

09. Shouldn't Have Done That - Well, back to the more dramatic and lowkey act I guess.

10. The Sun & The Rainfall - Well, this album sure took its sweet time before getting to what is at least a bit better song material. Sadly it is just a little too late for my part as this surely was not a very good record. Far too many forgettable and boring numbers, with far too much length to them as well. The closing act, while surely the better of a bunch of not so great ones, is not enough to save it and I end up with a:

4/10