リリースから半年以上経ってから買うのもどうかと思いますが、たまたま渋谷のレコファンで 500円引きで売ってたので捕獲。New Order が今年出した新譜の LP バージョン (2枚組) です。

The other day I happened to buy this album at the RECOFAN shop, Shibuya, Tokyo (it was sold at a reduced price). As you may know, this is the LP version (double LP set with gatefold cover) of New Order‘s brand new album in 2005, although it was firstly released over six months ago.

    

… 正直いって、このアルバムはイマイチでした。New Order らしいサウンド、演奏、ピコピコがちりばめられてはいるものの、収録曲全体から醸し出される良さがかなり希薄。シングルカットの B-1 “Krafty” がさすがにいい感じでキャッチーな佳曲ですが、John Leckie 絡みのもう1曲 C-1 “Dracula’s Castle” も特に惹かれることなく流れ去っていってしまいます。D-3 “Working Overtime” のイントロで一瞬「おっ!」となったものの、その後がやや凡庸。全体的な印象として、BGM 的に流れている分には気持ちいいんだけど、どうも「をっ、またやってくれとるな!」みたいな瞬間は一度も訪れず。

… my honest impression of this album is, it’s not the greatest New Order. Actually this album contains various tracks which were reminiscent of past New Order tunes, but this album also lacks totality of chemistry and atmosphere. B-1 “Krafty” (which was released as a single) is still a nice track with catchy melodies. On the other hand, another John Leckie-produced/mixed track C-1 “Dracula’s Castle” unfortunately lacks any charms. First 10 seconds of D-3 “Working Overtime” caught my curiosity, but the rest part is too ordinary. Overall, this album is a very nice one as a background music, but it doesn’t have any thrilling moments at all against my expectation.

ま、「New Order 健在」というだけでよしとしなければいけないんでしょうね。今更新しいことを求めてもどうしようもないでしょうし。ただ、今後こんな感じで「懐メロオルタナ」化してしまわないかは心配です。

Of course, we fans musc thank this album which shows New Order still being alive and active – it may not be a good idea that we expect “new things” to New Order. However, there is one thing to fear, if they stop any creativities and keep doing good-old Alternative songs (I hope they won’t!).