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Substance
Inside New Order
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Narrated by:
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Peter Hook
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Keir Stewart
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Written by:
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Peter Hook
About this listen
Rollicking, no-holds-barred account of New Order's entire history.
Two acclaimed albums and an upcoming US tour - Joy Division had the world at their feet. Then, on the eve of that tour, the band’s troubled lead singer, Ian Curtis, killed himself. The next time they got together, they were a new band.
That band was New Order - their label was Factory Records; their club, The Haçienda. Their distinctive sound paved the way for the dance music explosion that followed, earning them the reputation as one of the most influential bands of their generation and changing the course of popular music.
Following on from his best-selling titles The Haçienda and Unknown Pleasures, Peter Hook has written a rollicking, no-holds-barred account of the band's entire history. Substance is packed with never-before-seen detail, discographies and technical information. This is possibly the most entertaining memoir ever written by a British musician.
Photo credit: Mark L Hill.
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What listeners say about Substance
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Gerry Corcoran
- 2021-10-08
Sex, Drugs & Epic Egos
I've been on a bit of a "band story" book kick lately and as a big fan of Joy Division and New Order since high school, I was interested to hear this, especially in light of the massive falling out Peter Hook has had with the rest of the group. This is a great listen about their crazy history.
New Order wasn't really a rock band but even as tales of those go, theirs is indeed a wild one. After the tragic death of Ian Curtis, the group decided to just push forward and that's definitely a recurring theme in their career. They battled constant creative differences, crooked managers, a legendary but utterly inept label in Factory Records, baffling personal choices that almost crippled their futures numerous times, plus near constant drug and alcohol abuse. Hook regales us with many stories about their lives both in the studio and on the road, ones as much full of partying and debauchery as creativity.
At the heart of everything New Order however, was the legendary British musician ego. Both Hook and frontman Bernard Sumner are infamous for theirs and ithe struggles from them on full display here, from pretty much beginning to end. These two are at each other so much, it's frankly a miracle that the band managed to record and tour as much as they did. Hook is not above giving Sumner credit where it's due and even sometimes admits his own faults (of which the years since the split and kicking his addictions, he has clearly been elightened on) but it's very clear that neither man was pleasant to work with. I think it's safe to say that between the very contradictory stories in this book and Sumner's, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Some do say that great art comes out of great conflict though and I think New Order's history plays that out.
Hook talks not only about the band but about his own personal struggles with addiction, relationships, finding his own creative voice and trying to look after a family through it all. Like him or not, it is remarkable what he's managed to achieve. He's clearly a gifted storyteller and both his writing and delivery of the book are quite engaging. There are some errors in the recording (I counted as least two spots where a retake of a sentence was mistakenly left in) but it really feels like you're just hanging out, listening to him tell tales of his life as a musician. I went through the book very quickly. It's an audio page turner.
This is a fantastic "band story" book but while some can be enjoyed even by those who don't know the band, this one is definitely for invested New Order fans. A lot of the stories are told from the perspective of assuming you know their albums, what they sound like and have appreciation for them. If not, I think a lot of this just won't make much sense to you. If you are a fan though, grab this whether you fall into Camp Hook or Camp Sumner or like me, just don't care who is right and just like cool stories from the studio and stage.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Chris U.
- 2022-08-01
Hooky delivers
Such an awesome story who better to tell it than Hooky himself. Can’t wait for the next one.
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- Netjel
- 2023-11-23
Like New Order Live gigs Hit and Miss
If I wanted somebody to read me their day planner I'd have sought that out
VERY slight on content VERY HEAVY on reading out a New Order Wiki page
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