Thursday, December 13, 2007

New Order: the Pink Floyd of the 21st Century?

So what the hell's the deal with New Order? Now that they're getting some film love with an Anton Corbijn biopic about the history of Joy Division, Peter Hook's declaring New Order as kaput. What is it with bassists and their big heads, anyway? Given, Hooky's bass is the absolute driving force behind their sound (I'm now sure of this after seeing them live at Coachella a couple years back - amazing!), but how can one member unilaterally declare a band splitsville when the other members clearly want to keep carrying on.


Although Gillian Gilbert is on indefinite hiatus from the band, I'd love to hear her take on the whole thing. We know Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris are all about carrying on, but if it was 3-to-1 against, it would be a helluva mandate - similar to that other British band that went through a similar scenario in the late 80s: Pink Floyd. Roger Waters' contribution to them was mainly in the songwriting realm (I think his bass-playing is unremarkable at best - sorry), Hooky's bass is used as a melodic instrument in New Order, bringing an analog heart to an otherwise electronic body of work. Conversely, Waters' bass parts were easily covered by hired guns on the Momentary Lapse of Reason and Division Bell tours.


So what's the real dilly, yo? Anybody have some inside info? Inquiring minds want to know...