New Order ★★★★
Substance 1987
WARNERS. CD/DL/LP
Greatest hits (again), now with 1987 live rendition and bonus mixes.
Keeping the …Faith: New Order roll out the singles.
ORIGINALLY PUT together by Factor y’s Tony Wilson alongside a similarly titled Joy Division compilation so he could listen to his label’s proudest recorded achievements on CD in his car, Substance 1987 endures as one of the ’80s’ finest singles comps. The two-disc assembly of 12-inch A-sides and choice B-sides is here augmented with a further disc of vintage remixes, including the original Temptation and Confusion (which were recut for the 1987 package), plus three Shep Pettibone overhauls (including a majestic 10:44 dub of True Faith) – all are on previous compilations. The fresh component here is CD4’s complete on-stage run-through of Substance 1987’s big-hitter disc, captured the month after release in San Bernardino, California. After being introduced by Wilson as “the greatest pop group in the world”, New Order perform persuasively to that effect (in the rain!), wondrously enacting their metamorphosis from doom-riffing Ceremony to stately, ‘extraordinar y’ True Faith. Miraculous, still.