Beating Retreat 2008 - Bands Of The Household Division

Advantages: Epic
Disadvantages: None

...way over the heads of many, but if they hit you then you stayed hit, seduced by the compulsive power and raw emotion of their art. Like so many, Joy Division were an acquired taste, exciting passion, love and contempt in those that knew of them, and twenty odd years have not changed the memory. The brasher dance rhythms of New Order excited more chart attention, but the original sound of Joy Division was something else, the stuff of the massive cult, spawning endless hordes of copyist Northern bands with their death march worldview and urgent beats. I LOVED THEM... Joy Division were a band from the grimy wastelands of Salford, committed and defiant and different. Emerging from the ashes in the mouth, rank punk rantings of Stiff Kittens and Warsaw, they were reborn with a new name and individual stance, pushed on the ultra hip (to... Read review

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Advantages: Brilliant raw rock
Disadvantages: No longer with us

...This album is a must for all Joy Division fans and the legion of New Order fans who might wish to dip into the history of where the band came from. It has the best of Joy Division and that is an excellent set of tracks. The album starts with the original version of Love Will Tear Us Apart which is a little faster but also rawer than the version people may be more familiar with. Even after hearing this for so many times it still raises the hairs on the neck as that characteristic guitar riff opens it into the soaring keyboard refrain. Typical understated delivery from Ian Curtis as the track drives along with the drumming of Stephen Morris. This is followed by Transmission which has a marked punk style but with a discipline rare in that genre. Curtis’s deep voice is typically moody and dark but there are perceptible signs... Read review

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Advantages: Good selection
Disadvantages: As with all compilations there are some filler tracks

...track is "Real Girl" by Mutya Buena, proving she has what it takes to break free from The Sugababes and go it alone. Recent hit, "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse is included, but without the Midas touch of Mark Ronson, the more acoustic version of the track falls flat. "Apologize" is a welcome inclusion, although the fact that Timbaland (I want my finger in every pie) takes the credit for a track which is built on an excellent vocal performance irritates me more than it should. Two of the most overrated bands in 2007 for me were Razorlight and The Feeling. I find their music listenable, but they are nowhere near the genius that a lot of the music press claim. "Somewhere Else" is a good sing a long song and nothing more really, whilst "Sewn" makes me press the forward button. Someone I expect we will hear a lot of in 2008, is Kate Nash... Read review

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