#262 New Order, 'Power, Corruption & Lies' (1983)

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Out of the ashes of Joy Division came New Order. Following Ian Curtis’s suicide, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris were joined by keyboardist, Gillian Gilbert to form New Order. ‘Power, Corruption & Lies’ was their second album and the album that put them on the map, really. Stylistically different to their debut record and even their previous output at Joy Division, this album was more synth based, leaning more towards an electronic sound, heavily influencing the sound of New Wave and Post-Punk music in the ‘80s.

Two months prior to the release of this album, megahit single, ‘Blue Monday’ was released. That song would go on to become the biggest selling 12” single of all time, but for whatever reason wasn’t included on this album. But this album doesn’t even need that single to make it great. This is the sound of a band reinventing itself and making a damn fine pop record in the process. The iconic cover, created by frequent collaborator, Peter Saville, was one of ten chosen by the Royal Mail in 2010 for their “Classic Album Cover” postage stamp series.

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