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If there was one good thing to come out of the tough sessions for REPUBLIC (which wound up being the highest charting album of their career), it was the song that would become New Order's second top 40 hit (after "True Faith"): "Regret". Of course, one could never fault the band for being original in their songwriting, but maybe that's because they're specializing in a genre that tends to downplay lyrical importance in favor of a good beat. However, with "Regret", New Order manages to create poetry out of simplicity, and while it is another entry in the "woe-is-me" category of music, Bernard Sumner just might be hinting at some sense of hope in his usual deadpan vocal delivery. The prominent use of electric guitar (not often appreciated in a genre like techno or dance) helps foreshadow the more full-blown use of it on 2001's GET READY.

Speaking of good beats, REPUBLIC certainly has its share of body-slamming rhythms that are placed smack dab in the middle of the song (maybe this was co-producer Stephen Hague's idea), often obscuring the words which sometimes manage to rise above New Order's typical underachiever approach to them. The hip-hop-influenced second single "World [The Price Of Love]", similarly-inspired fourth single "Spooky", "Everyone Everywhere", "Young Offender", "Liar" (can be considered just as much funk as dance), "Chemical" (particularly whiplash-inducing) & "Times Change" have dance floor written all over them & I'm sure all of these managed to get remixed in some form another to create even more energetic rhythms to dance the night away.

To match their sometimes-soul-searching lyrical ideas, New Order can also create much smoother songs with fewer beats per minute, yet still invite the occasional sway. The third single "Ruined In A Day", "Special" (the closest thing to an upbeat love song New Order has ever done) & the closing instrumental "Avalanche" have the band favoring a quieter approach that nearly borders on trip-hop, which was still a few years away from entering the mainstream. Sumner particularly shines on these slower numbers, making the sense of melancholy in his singing even more apparent.

Perhaps New Order would not consider REPUBLIC high up on their list of favorite albums because of the apparent infighting going on at the time of its recording. But to their credit, they managed to create music that belies any sort of trouble in the camp & can be enjoyed when forgetting about that fact. The only negative thing about it is that for the time New Order was gone, they never officially stated if they were on hiatus or disbanding, leaving their fans hanging for 8 long years. But the positive thing is that they left us with a good-enough album like REPUBLIC & would only go up a notch higher once they eventually came back.


New Order swan song? Not yet...   August 9, 1999
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

The most recent (1993) New Order release contains some of the best music of their long and illustrious career. "Regret" is easily the best of the album, featuring a great bass solo by Peter Hook and one of the best melodies since "Perfect Kiss"; "Spooky", "Liar" and "Young Offender" are techno-pop at its best; and "Ruined In A Day" and "Everyone Everywhere" are NO at it's darkest.

"Republic" ranks with "Technique" and "Low-life" as one of New Order's best work to date. For those looking for new releases from the band, "Recycle", a box set, is due out soon on London Records. The band will head back into the studio at the end of summer 1999 to record their seventh album.


(four and half stars) the begining of the "new" New Order   May 14, 2006
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I can tell what type of New Order fan you are by how you answer a single simple question: Do you think "Regret" is one of the band's finest songs? If not, you almost certainly like the band's 1980's albums better (probably much better) than three post-80's releases. As to the other type of fan, which definitely includes yours truly, "Regret" weighs in easily as one of New Order's best, and "Republic," "Get Ready," and "Waiting for the Sirens' Call," are their three best albums.

In my opinion, Bernard Sumner's voice matured after "Technique," as did the sound of the synthesizers, and the layered sounds, that the band often relies upon. "Republic" in particular has a number of terrific songs besides the wistful "Regret," which may be one of Sumner's best lyrical efforts. "Spooky" and "Young Offender," are almost as danceable and catchy as "Blue Monday," or any of their other earlier dance classics. But I strongly think there's something very special about the trilogy of songs "Chemical," "Times Change" and another of my very favorite New Order tracks, the meticulously crafted "Special." I really started to hear the layered complexity of this latter track when a friend of mine, who is a huge N.O. fan, told me this was probably her favorite N.O. song.

I just like "Republic" very much and, for me, it just misses a five star rating. Sometimes change is a good thing.




"Regret"-ably, the end of the line   June 29, 2000
 4 out of 12 found this review helpful

Some bands define a decade (The Beatles in the 1960s), and some bands are defined by a decade, such as New Order was by the 1980s. By the time 1993 rolled around, New Order was like a fish out of water, and "Republic" regretably shows that. The album kicks off with the fine single "Regret" and then spins off to where no other New Order album had ever gone before--mediocrity. Nirvana and the grunge movement had changed the rock scene forever and the once cutting edge New Order no longer seemed relevant. Fortunately, they sensed this fact and made "Republic" their final album. Check out any of their 1980s albums instead, particularly "Low Life" and "Technique."


Deserves a lot more credit than its been getting...   February 10, 2002
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

Republic is an album that expands on all the great electro-dance elements of New Order's preceeding album, Technique. Its true that the guitars, including the trademark bass lines, were given a back seat, and for that reason perhaps the album is not as fulfilling as it could have been. However, the synths are lush as always, percussion is brought out, and despite the downplaying of guitar, Bernard Sumner shines on this album both as a competent singer and a mature lyricist (much better overall than on Get Ready). Every New Order album is unique and distincitve, and Republic simply follows this pattern. "Regret," the opening track , has recieved much deserved praise even from the harshest critics of Republic; it is perhaps the finest overall single the band has ever released. Yet the rest of the album, while it does seem to gradually run out of steam by the end, is not simply full of throwaway songs; tracks like "World," "Spooky" and "Young Offender" represent well the upbeat, dance orientation of the album, while "Ruined in a Day" and "Everyone, Everywhere" show off some of the bands most developed work concerning the theme of love and loss. For fans of New Order's more raw, guitar-pop side, Get Ready will be up you alley (although, as mentioned before, while this album's mix is superior to Republic's, the lyrics on the latter are much better). This is not New Order's greatest album; but their worst? I think that's a question that begs far more serious debate than its recieved.