New Order - Brotherhood

New Order split the difference between guitars and machines on Brotherhood, the 1986 album that gave the world Bizarre Love Triangle, presented here in remastered form.

Their fourth studio album, released on Factory Records and produced by the band themselves, is roughly divided in two: one side leans on chiming guitars and post-punk drive, the other on gleaming synths and sequencers. Recorded in London, Dublin and Liverpool, it caught the Manchester group at a creative high, confident enough to let both halves of their personality stand side by side without compromise. The lineup of Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert sounds completely in sync.

Paradise opens the record with urgent guitars and Peter Hook's melodic bass, and the songs that follow keep the rock side taut and wistful. Bizarre Love Triangle remains one of the great synth-pop singles, a rush of shimmering electronics and lovelorn lyrics, while Every Little Counts closes the album with Bernard Sumner barely holding back laughter before a dramatic orchestral swell takes over.

Brotherhood is the bridge between New Order's post-punk roots and their dance-floor future, and it still sounds remarkably fresh. This remastered vinyl brings crisp detail to both halves of a record that never quite chose a side, and is all the better for it.