JC - Similar Bands: New Order (Case Study)

New Order were an English New Wave/Electronic band who formed in 1980. The originate from Macclesfield and were formed by Peter Hook (Bass, Backing Vocals and Electronic Drums), Bernard Sumner (Vocals, Guitar and Synthesizers) and Stephen Morris (Drums, Electronic Drums and Synthesizers). This three started the band after Ian Curtis' suicide which led to the end of their previous band Joy Division and they moved onto New Order in the same year. They then appointed Gillian Gilbert as their keyboard player.

New order combined New Wave and Electronic Dance for their music, and became one of the most influential bands of the 1980's and one of the most influential bands for electronic music ever. The bands biggest success was the song "Blue Monday" which proved they became pioneers of dance music as it is still the biggest selling 12-inch single of all time, which made them the biggest selling band on factory records.

They first received bad criticism from Joy Division Fans and Critics as the death of Ian Curtis still over-shadowed the band. They also received criticism for their choice of band name. It was claimed there band name came from Hitlers book "Mein Kampf" which quoted "the new order of the Third Reich" and the name Joy Division originated from the prostitution wing in concentration camps mentioned in the novel "The House of the Dolls". Critics believed both names sympathised with Nazi regimes but Sumner later saying "We really, really thought it didn't have any connotations, and we thought that it was a neutral name, it didn't mean much...."

Overall New Order have released 8 studio albums, the first six were released in the hay-day of electronic music and the introduction to the 'rave' scene in the early 90's. The last two albums were released in 2001 and 2005. These two albums did not succeed as much as their predecessors.

New Order - True Faith

•  The single for True Faith was released on the 20th of July 1987 and was directed and choreographed by Philippe Decouflé.
• It is a Concept/Performance video.
• Themes, choreography and other elements of the video re-occurred in the opening ceremonies for the 1992 winter Olympics in Albertville. 
• Choreographed to the beat with the face slapping at the start of the song.
• Dark lighting in the performance shots to signify the "dark processed beats" that New Order produced.
• Shots in reverse from editing techniques signifies the surrealism of the video and abstract style the director had intended.
• Blue lighting had been used during the production of the video to anchor the sense of surrealism and mystery of the video.
• The mise-en scene used (costumes) anchors the futuristic style that electronic music had in this era.
• Camera tilts to a dutch angle in one movement, adds to the abstract style intended.
• Lyrics of the song has been translated into sign language within the videos choreography. Again it anchors the the surrealism intended and could also attract other secondary audiences.
• Large focus on lead singer throughout the video, small range of shots used to focus on him. 
• Shots start to focus on drummer and crowd dancing along to the song. New Order one of the first bands to develop the "Rave" scene.

New Order - Round & Round

• The single for Round & Round was released on the 27th of February 1989 and was directed by Patrick Jean.
• It is a concept video with a lack of shot variation.
• Consists of eight young female models. The shots types were close-ups featuring the heads and shoulders.
• The shots of the eight models were edited to black and white which contrasts the one second inter-cut shots of flowers or marbles featuring lots of vibrant colour.
• The models are speaking but no diagetic sound is heard in this video.

New Order - Blue Monday (Original Video)

• This version of the songs video was released in 1983, one year after it was recorded.
• The videos colour filters show a very retro style, signifying the bands intentions for this song to be a timeless classic in the future.
• Like True Faith choreography of the hand clapping in sync to the music.
• Simple on screen special effects with the line graphics and animations.
• Shots of the Military on screen edited with a negative/false colour filter, signifies the bands interpretations of the military of being false.
• Aged low frame rate contrasts with the art style the director has gone for with the negative colour filters.
• Military footage taken from the Falklands War. The video signifies the negativity towards the idea and Margaret Thatcher, this is anchored by the False/Negative colour filters.
• Documentary footage of bombings during the Falklands War. This time shown without colour filters. Contrasts the false colour filters used in the other shots to signify how real it was.
• Band footage has been presented as small still images that cover the screen in a mosaic fashion, other shots are very low frame rate and quality to mix in with the retro art style of the other colour filters and animation.
• The electronic music and animation used in the video both processed. Animation is a processed art form, electronic music also has a processed feel to it.
• Footage from the video game Zaxxon, again it anchors how false the Falklands war was, and like a game the war could have been stopped before you get to into it.
• Sound FX of gun shots and missiles in the song matching the visuals on screen. 

After Their massive success New Order went on hiatus for five years between the years 1993 and 1998. They came back and released the album "Get Ready" in 2001. Their most influential song from their new era was the song "Crystal" which featured a fictional band mimicking New Order called "The Killers". The band originally called "Blush Responce" changed their name to "The Killers" in RESPONSE (caps intended to exaggerate the Pun) to the New Order video. The video for Crystal also inspired the video for "Somebody Told Me" by The Killers a similar set up and lighting rig. The lead singer of The Killers, Brendon Flowers joined New Order on stage for T in the Park in 2005 for the performance of this song. Without further a due here is the video:


New Order - Crystals:

• This video was released in 2001 for the new album Get Ready. The artwork for the single is in a very similar style to the albums artwork.
• The video was directed by the Swedish director Johan Renck aka Stakka Bo.
• This video is a Performance/Concept video. The concept aspect in the video isn't as clear as others, but its the way the band playing isn't New Order.
• The video features a mocking band performing the video named the killers.
• Strobe lighting during the heavier bass riffs. Anchors the faster more upbeat style of the song. 
• The lighting rig at the back is also used as an edited filter over the top of the performance footage from the back of the band, anchors the more electronic/processed feel to the song.
• Red filter and slowed down footage achieved through editing, this is shown on screen when the song slows down. Gives the video a darker, more un-nerving feel to it. 
• Band members and invading crowd in video are much younger than New Order and their core audience. These people are used to attract a new secondary audience of teens of today.

New Order - Krafty







New Order - Krafty by aquanote
New Order - Krafty by aquanote

• This video was released on the 7th of March 2005 alongside the single release.
• It was directed by Johan Renck, the same director for the video Crystals. The styles are very different but both videos are based around younger people, maybe to draw in a larger secondary audience. 
• The camera is constantly moving in this video, signifies the intense pace of a young adults life and how their emotions are constantly moving and changing.
• This video is a concept video as the video don't match the lyrics. If they did the director would have gone for a more narrative approach to the video.
• The bright shades of colour within the setting (for example the snow and the colours within the kitchen set) signify the innocent intentions of the protagonists.
• Counter-types for the young protagonists, darker haired characters signify a more pure type of nature. The fairer haired characters usually signify the sexually active types, this theory is opposed in this video.
• Mise-en scene of the clothes and condom wrappers on the floor signifies they have just pursued in sexual activity (Ooooh Cheeky)
•  The location of the roof-tops signifies the freedom the protagonists feel in the video. 

Overall the newer style that New Order has presented is much more different to their older one. You can tell that their change in sound is to "fit in" with today's music industry. The change in style will mean they are attracting a new target audience and they know that this audience are the type who will go out and buy CD singles and contribute to the bands success in the charts. But at the same time they have moved away from their older style (they still have features which they have carried on e.g. electronic drums) which as a result has pushed away the original core audience.

Here is a Brief, light hearted interview with New Order with Jools Holland. They discuss why they formed New Order after Joy Division and the reasons why they got back together after their eight year hiatus.