Another day. Another New Order oriented posting. Oh, how we couldn’t wait for New Order’s “Substance” package back in 1987. A double CD with basically every 12″ A-side and most of the B-sides as well? Yes, please! I unwisely unloaded all of my beautiful Factory 12″ discs of New Order singles I had at the time because …hah! I wouldn’t need them on 12″ any more! Unfortunately, I did this in advance of actually buying my copy of “Substance.” Only then did I realize that I was being served lesser versions of “Temptation” and especially “Confusion!”

And that wasn’t the whole of it. I eventually discovered that the take of “Ceremony” was the 2nd version with Gillian Gilbert contributing. What was called “Mesh” on the disc was actually “Cries + Whispers” mislabeled. “Mesh” was missing in action. And several of the tracks were edited down to fit onto a 2xCD. At that time, the most music that labels would ever think of selling to us in one package. Boxed sets had barely happened by that time. Bob Dylan’s “Biograph” set the pace with a massive three CDs. The kinds of super deluxe boxes of the last 15 years with eight to twenty four discs were beyond our wildest imaginings at that innocent time.

So in the last quarter century, I’ve been buying the select New Order 12″ers that had material I was missing on “Substance” when I managed to find affordable copies. Not really all that many in the last 15 years; the “Confusion” 12″ I got last week notwithstanding. While I was in Ohio, possibly buying that record, I had a comment from negative1ne on a New Order posting trumpeting the news that finally, “Substance” was getting the much-needed makeover that I’ve been waiting for for that same quarter century I just invoked in my first sentence in this paragraph. Have the powers that be managed to correct the laundry list of wrongs that it represented?

New Order: Substance 1987 DLX RM – US – 4xCD [2023]

CD1 – Original Disc

1. Ceremony
2. Everything’s Gone Green
3. Temptation 87
4. Blue Monday
5. Confusion 87
6. Thieves Like Us
7. The Perfect Kiss
8. Sub-Culture
9. Shellshock
10. State Of The Nation
11. Bizarre Love Triangle
12. True Faith

CD2 – Original Disc

1. In A Lonely Place
2. Procession
3. Cries And Whispers
4. Hurt
5. The Beach
6. Confused Instrumental
7. Lonesome Tonight
8. Murder
9. Thieves Like Us Instrumental
10. Kiss Of Death
11. Shame Of The Nation
12. 1963

CD 3 – Further Mixes

1. Ceremony (Original)
2. Mesh
3. Temptation (12”)
4. Confusion (Original 12”)
5. Dub Vulture
6. Shellcock
7. Bizarre Dub Triangle
8. True Dub
9. Confusion (Dub 87)
10. True Faith (Remix)

CD 4 – Live from Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, California 1987

1. Ceremony
2. Everything’s Gone Green
3. Temptation 87
4. Blue Monday
5. Confusion 87
6. Thieves Like Us
7. The Perfect Kiss
8. Sub-culture
9. Shellshock
10. State Of The Nation
11. Bizarre Love Triangle
12. True Faith

They have left the first two discs alone, with no word as to whether the full 12″ lengths of songs like “The Perfect Kiss” were restored or not. In the 1987 ecosystem, there was a hard 74:28 [off the top of my head] limit to disc length that might be surmounted today. “Sub-Culture” was trimmed back nearly three minutes. “The Perfect Kiss” lost half a minute. “Shellshock” lost over three minutes! I estimate maybe seven minutes of music were missing. Unless they made these discs non-Red Book compliant, I still can’t see the unedited mixes fitting. Another concern is the caliber of the mastering, with the 21st century New Order remasters being typical examples of brickwalling.

I get more confident if I focus just on the material on disc three that puts material I had missed on the original release back into consideration. There was only the Canadian “1981-1982” CD EP where one could get the original 12″ version of “Temptation” and the going rate for that one trends a little high for my budget. Possibly more welcome would be the original Arthur Baker “Confusion” 12″ mix where the rich vibe he brought to the song was still there. Only the instrumental mix on disc two of “Substance” was there for me to scratch the Arthur Baker itch to even a low degree of satisfaction. “Confused [Beats]” and “Confusion [Rough Mix] are still record only. “The Perfect Pit” is still missing. But it seems like the rest of the things that should be here are present.

If they might have included on disc four the unedited 12″ mixes of “The Perfect Kiss,” “Sub-Culture,” and “Shellshock,” then they might have had a fourth full CD of mixes with these tracks. Perhaps adding 7″ edits where they could. Instead, the fourth disc is something of a New Order one-off; a 1987 live concert where they played the whole of “Substance” a single time in…Irvine California? Having seen New Order once, on the Technique Tour, let me admit that they did not particularly compel in the live arena. I will agree that including this unique concert made nothing but sense on this DLX RM of “Substance,” though I might have opted for a 5th CD for the live album with the mixes I’d referred to earlier as disc four.

As much as I’m all about the CDs, the LP of “Substance” is also being reissued, and with the original comfortably scraping three figures and upward, then fans opining for the album on wax will want to move on this. The Rhino webstore has it for a reasonably sane $34.98, but indie dealers have a red/blue vinyl combo that’s exclusive.

Will I be buying any of these? That’s hard to say. The Lene Lovich box is by far my top priority right now. And there are select titles of the last few years that are in danger of slipping out of my hands entirely. I’ve lived with the flawed “Substance” for 36 years now. What do I really have to gain by dropping the $49.98 MSRP for it right now? But I’d be a poor host if I didn’t point out that it can be pre-ordered at importcds.com instead of rhino.com for a substantial 25% discount, and with the release date of November 10th, there’s plenty of time for any and all interested in The States to grab the format of their choice. You’re welcome.

RED/BLUE INDIE 2xLP – $31.99

4xCD DELUXE EDITION – $37.31

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