Ceremony: A New Order Tribute is not the first album to pay tribute to the British techno-dance band
New Order.
Blue Order: A Trance Tribute to New Order appeared in 1997, and a decade later came
True Faith: A Tribute to New Order. But this one is more ambitious, spreading across two CDs, and it can claim at least partial authorization from the group. Band member
Peter Hook contributes the opening track, "Strangely Enough Impact," an interview segment in which he reminisces about the late
Tony Wilson, who first recorded
New Order (as well as its predecessor,
Joy Division) for Factory Records. Indeed, the album is in some ways as much a tribute to
Wilson as to the group; it's being released on what would have been his 60th birthday, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Tony Wilson Awards established in his memory by the Salford Foundation. The album isn't so different from its predecessors, however, in that it consists of performances of
New Order songs by a collection of unknown artists, some of whom are better than others.
New Order's bass-and-synthesizer-heavy sound tended to be more prominent than any individual song, and artists who try something different with the material tend to fare better than those who try to re-create it. In particular, Jimmy Oakes, who takes on both "Love Vigilantes" and "Bizarre Love Triangle," brings something new by coming up with acoustic arrangements that emphasize the songs as songs, not just as dance arrangements.
History's "Sunrise," with its guitar rock arrangement and the female vocals of Melissa Parker Caron, is another standout, and even
Light Yourself on Fire's "Chosen Time" brings an interesting wrinkle by boasting a vocal that is a heavy metal howl. The least interesting tracks are ones that are similar to
New Order's. ~ William Ruhlmann