Power, Corruption & Lies
Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox album Power, Corruption & Lies is the second studio album by the English rock band New Order, released on 2 May 1983 by Factory Records. The album features more electronic tracks than their debut studio album Movement (1981), with heavier use of synthesisers. The album was met with widespread acclaim, and has been included in music industry lists of the greatest albums of the 1980s and of all time. The cover artwork was by Peter Saville, and in 2010 it was one of ten classic album covers from British artists commemorated on a UK postage stamp issued by the Royal Mail.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Music
Power, Corruption & Lies, an evolution from New Order's debut album, Movement (1981), combines the band's roots in post-punk with influences from electronic music into a sound described as synth-pop,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> electropop,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> new wave,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> synth-rock,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> dance-rock,<ref name="Bush"/> post-punk<ref name="RS1989"/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and dance-punk.<ref name="EW Staff 2019">Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to Matt Mitchell of Paste Magazine, "[the album] was, at the time, the heaviest the band had ever flirted with electronica." Mitchell further characterized the album's sound as "a gentle portrait of ambient, post-industrial tenderness."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The track "5-8-6" has been called "a literal interpretation of early house music", while influences from Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder has also been noted. Additionally, the album's sounds have been categorized as synth-pop, and darker songs such as "We All Stand" and “Your Silent Face” are contrasted with brighter and more optimistic songs such as "The Village”. GQ India assessed: "By doing what Joy Division had not been able to do - playing in America, visiting New York clubs, getting a serious hit with 'Blue Monday' - the light began to seep in through the once cavernous darkness of the New Order sound. The sheer force of Power, Corruption and Lies comes from the intensity of this newfound light and euphoria charging through their music."<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The hit single "Blue Monday" was recorded in the same sessions and released separately as a non-album twelve-inch single, later appearing as an added track on some CD versions of the album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Qwest" />
Artwork
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Peter Saville's design for the album had a colour-based code to represent the band's name and the title of the album, but they were not written on the original UK sleeve (they were present on some non-UK versions), although the catalogue number "FACT 75" does appear on the top-right corner. The decoder for the code was featured prominently on the back cover of the album and can also be seen on the "Blue Monday" and "Confusion" singles and for Section 25's third studio album From the Hip (1984).
The cover is a reproduction of the painting A Basket of Roses by French artist Henri Fantin-Latour, which is part of the National Gallery's permanent collection in London.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Saville had originally planned to use a Renaissance portrait of a dark prince to tie in with the Machiavellian theme of the title, but could not find a suitable portrait.<ref name="Grundy">Template:Cite news</ref> At the gallery Saville picked up a postcard with Fantin-Latour's painting, and his girlfriend mockingly asked him if he was going to use it for the cover. Saville then realised it was a great idea.<ref name="Grundy"/> Saville suggested that the flowers "suggested the means by which power, corruption and lies infiltrate our lives. They're seductive."<ref name="Grundy"/> In 2014, the cover was itself added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite web</ref>
The cover was also intended to create a collision between the overly romantic and classic image that made a stark contrast to the typography based on the modular, colour-coded alphabet. Saville and Tony Wilson, the head of New Order's label Factory Records, also said<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> that the owner of the painting (The National Heritage Trust) first refused the label access to it. Wilson then called up the gallery director to ask who actually owned the painting and was given the answer that the Trust belonged to the people of Britain, at some point. Wilson then replied, "I believe the people want it." The director then replied, "If you put it like that, Mr Wilson, I'm sure we can make an exception in this case."<ref name="Grundy"/>
The cover was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Fashion designer Raf Simons used the album's cover art on one of his most coveted pieces from the Autumn/Winter 2003 "Closer" collection, ultimately producing four fishtail parkas in varying colours with various pieces of New Order/Joy Division artwork spread around the pieces. The street-fashion label Supreme included the album's floral motif as part of their Spring–Summer 2013 collection.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Critical reception
Template:Album ratings Power, Corruption & Lies was praised critically on its release, and is still well regarded. In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone magazine, Steve Pond felt that the band had finally separated themselves from their past Joy Division associations, calling the album a "remarkable declaration of independence" and a "quantum leap" over Movement.<ref name="Pond"/> Robert Christgau of The Village Voice found it "relatively gentle and melodic in its ambient postindustrial polyrhythms, their nicest record ever", but also "pretty much like the others."<ref name="Christgau"/> The album placed at number 23 in The Village Voice's 1983 Pazz & Jop critics' poll.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In a retrospective review, Josh Modell of The A.V. Club called Power, Corruption & Lies "the sound of a band coming out of the shadows, retaining some of the pop elements of older days, but also embracing happiness and a whole new world of sequencers," crediting the album's humanity as a part of its charm.<ref name="Modell"/> John Bush of AllMusic stated that the album "cemented New Order's place as the most exciting dance-rock hybrid in music."<ref name="Bush"/>
In 1989, Power, Corruption & Lies was ranked number 94 on Rolling StoneTemplate:'s list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s, with the magazine citing it as "a landmark album of danceable, post-punk music".<ref name="RS1989">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Rolling Stone also placed the album at number 262 on the 2020 edition of its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time (it was not included on the original 2003 and 2012 lists).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It was placed at number 28 on PitchforkTemplate:'s list of the best albums of the 1980s, with William Bowers' accompanying write-up for the album citing it as "the peak of the New Order's stellar 80s output."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Slant Magazine listed the album at number 23 on its list of the best albums of the 1980s and stated that it "marks the real beginning of New Order's career" and was "their first perfect pop record".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2013, it was ranked at number 216 on NMETemplate:'s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Space
In 2016, Paste Magazine named the album as the eighth-best post-punk release of all time. Staff writer Ross Bonaime said: "Power, Corruption and Lies is filled with themes of loneliness, anger and loves lost; it’s easy to see how New Order has influenced everyone from The Smiths to M83. Curtis would have been proud."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
GQ India wrote that the album "was a crucial release of British synth-pop, where acts like Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode showed that electronic innovation could walk hand in hand with songwriting every bit as sharp as anything from the 1960s, as well as taking its place at the cutting edge of style."<ref name=":0" />
Track listing
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- "Blue Monday" only appears on certain cassette and CD versions of Power, Corruption & Lies.<ref name="Qwest">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
2020 Definitive Edition
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Personnel
New Order
- Bernard Sumner – vocals, guitars, melodica, synthesisers and programming
- Peter Hook – 4- and 6-stringed bass and electronic percussion
- Stephen Morris – drums, synthesisers and programming
- Gillian Gilbert – synthesisers, guitars and programming
Technical
- New Order – production
- Michael Johnson – engineering
- Barry Sage and Mark Boyne – assistants
Release details
- UK 12" – Factory Records (FACT 75)
- UK cassette – Factory Records (FACT 75C)
- US 12" – Factory Records/Rough Trade Records (FACTUS 12)
- US CD – Factory Records/Qwest Records (9 25308-2)
- UK CD (1993 re-release) – London Records (520,019-2)
- GR 12" – Factory Records (VG50085)
After the release of Music Complete, the album was remastered and re-released for the US iTunes Store.
Charts
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Weekly charts
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 38 |
| UK Independent Albums (MRIB)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 1 |
| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
|---|
Year-end charts
| Chart (1983) | Position |
|---|---|
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 33 |
Certifications
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