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May 24, 2017 Web Exclusive By Lily Moayeri

New Order is not a stranger to the live concert album with five or so underneath its belt to date. The legendary Manchester group’s latest live album, NOMC15, is a 19-track affair captured the second of two sold-out nights at Brixton Academy, London, November 2015. The shows, in support of New Order’s last studio album, 2015’s Music Complete, include material from that release as well as all the favorites—and there are many—from the group’s longstanding career, and of course the requisite songs from their time as Joy Division. NOMC15 is captured by live show recording experts Live Here Now, and presented to fans as a pre-order in a number of bundle options via PledgeMusic.

NOMC15 has less than a handful of songs from Music Complete—although that album was met with overwhelmingly glowing reviews worldwide. Knowing its audience, New Order makes sure to present the classics for which people paid the ticket. Experienced live in-person, these sounds excellent and really get the crowd’s pulse racing both for nostalgia reasons and because they’re just great songs. Recorded live, however, these same songs come across very thin. Synths that are driving on record end up translucent with Bernard Sumner’s delicate voice weakening as NOMC15 progresses. Even Stephen Morris’ untouchable drumming when presented this way is serviceable at best. The landmark “Bizarre Love Triangle” has never sounded so frayed, “Perfect Kiss” never so robotic, “True Faith” never so shaky, and “Temptation” never so wimpy. “Love Will Tear Us Apart” sounds lo-fi and kind of sweet, which is strange for such a dark song, but Sumner’s lack of hold on the melody might have something to do with that.

This is not the best way to experience New Order, but it nevertheless doesn’t take anything away from their timeless studio albums or their memorable live shows face-to-face. (www.neworder.com)

Author rating: 4/10