Following last year’s inaugural box set, New Order have today released a deluxe reissue of their 1983 sophomore album, Power, Corruption & Lies. Released via Rhino, the definitive edition includes a 12-inch vinyl, two CDs, two DVDs, and a hardback book.
The reissue contains Power, Corruption & Lies remastered from its original analogue tape masters for the very first time by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios, pressed on both CD and vinyl. A second disc boasts previously unreleased recordings from New Order’s writing sessions, such as early takes of Blue Monday (including an instrumental), Age of Consent,Ecstasy, and a demo of Thieves Like Us tracked in New York.
Originally released in 1983 via Factory Records, the critically acclaimed LP was widely seen as an idependent step away from the band’s Joy Division origins. Whilst their 1981 debut album, Movement had felt like a more danceable continuation, Power Corruption & Lies cemented New Order’s place as one of the most innovative post-punk-electronic bands on the planet, with a sound that was their own. Propelled by singles Age Of Consent and Your Silent Face, the album made it to number four on the UK album charts, while non-album single Blue Monday gave New Order their first Top 10 single, and remains one of the UK's best-selling 12-inch singles of all time.
Drummer Stephen Morris told Rolling Stone that when they produced Power, Corruption & Lies they had only started experimenting with the synthesizers and sequencers that feature so prominently “two weeks before we went into the studio,” describing Blue Monday as “an exercise in learning how to use sequencers.”
The additional DVDs are filled with complete concert films and TV performances; including a 26 June, 1982 performance at Manchester’s The Hacienda, a 24 April, 1983 concert at Ireland’s Rosehill Hotel; and another Hacienda gig from 20 July, 1983. The Power, Corruption & Lies box set is completed by a 48-page book featuring rare photographs and 'original text', compiled by Warren Jackson, New Order’s longtime visual coordinator. Peter Saville, known for his iconic Factory Records graphic work, designed the whole collection.
