Maybe it may come across as a bit cliché, but it seems very old hat, very straight forward and basically psych 101 when you look at the break up. In many ways it kind of seems like this is the third New Order break up since 1989. I don't know any of these people in the slightest, but like many of you I imagine, I have read innumerable things they've said over the decades, and what always came across to me was just the classic psychological contrasts between the individuals in the band: Bernard coming across like a solitary, insular guy, introverted, perfectionist, Hooky, the sort of pirate, outsized figured, loved touring, loved attention, loved being a part of a "gang", Stephen, the academic with the crystal clear long term recall, and detail orientation, and Gillian, and how the two of them might have seemed like the other two as they called themselves, but when you compared their work as solo artists, with that of Bernard or Hooky, it was patently obvious that they were the heart and soul of what made New Order's electronic oriented material so bottomless in it's depth and breadth. Electronic, Revenge, Monaco etc were never able to really capture what made New Order's electronic masterpieces so powerful-thieves, 5 8 6, Blue Monday, Your Silent Face, Sooner than you think, this time of night, BLT, Mr. Disco, Vanishing Point, Special etc, I can hear bits and pieces of those amazing songs in The Other Two. I never heard it in the solo work of Hooky, and Bernard, even in masterpieces like Some Distant Memory or What do you want from me.
However, back to the topic, when it comes to Hooky, it seems plain as day to me and it's a bit odd that Bernard and others don't seem to get it. Hooky was always so immensely proud of the music they built together, the band they created, the mark they've left on the history of music, like some of their hero's, like Velvet Underground when it comes to the sixties or seventies, New Order rarely makes it stateside in "I love the 80's" or 90's type retrospectives or greatest hits bits. But those that really know, those that really dig in, and paid attention know that New Order was every bit as inspirational in the decade as R.E.M. or U2 or Michael Jackson, or Metallica, or Madonna, or Public Enemy, NWA, or the Sugar Hill Gang etc. All of that means a ton to him obviously, and it seems clear to me that he comes across almost like an eager puppy, he needs attention, appreciation and a sense of his opinion being valued, he's demonstrative, vocal, overtly so, he's passion, in the cliché of fire and ice, obviously he's the fire, while Bernard's the cliche'd ice.
I don't know if his accusations are spot on, and it is interesting to see Gillian/Stephen basically staying on Bernard's side of the argument, whether that's pragmatism (he's the major song writer, or he's the one that's still creative) or if it's over Hooky being out of line I have no idea, though it seemed clear to me that they had big problems with both of them in the nineties and not just Hooky. It just seems like Hooky wanted more voice, Bernard wanted more control and less drama, and Gillian, and Stephen probably less drama too. It's clear who throws the dishes, and screams invective in this band/relationship, but it's not so clear to me whose to blame. I definitely feel that when Hooky did what he did, he wanted to be asked back, he wanted to be appreciated, he wanted some bended knee, some devotion from Bernard, maybe the band, in as much as he was devoted to it, or at least it's history. He didn't receive it, and now he's lashing out.
Maybe I'm just writing fiction in imagining this, but after 8 years of reading about these issues, it seems like the same problem, perpetually being recycled over and over, with Hooky being constantly in need of coddling, attention, and support, and Bernard just wanting peace, and some measure of control for stability (and considering the familial background, it makes sense, since there was so little stability and control in his formative years which tend to be the years that frame our personalties/temperament).
Anyway, that's why I can't get angry at any of them, particularly Hooky. He just seems like an immature guy crying out for the support he expected from the guy he thought had his back, and he didn't get it-the classic scenario of someone storming off saying "I'm leaving" not because they want to, but because they desperately want affirmations of support from their bandmates, and instead he got a cool response.
Regardless of what's behind it, it's nice to see that Music Complete is their best album since Republic and possibly Technique (since Republic had some god awful songs on it, and plenty of middling material to boot), over the past fifteen years I have moved on a nd found/discovered plenty of other bands I've loved from Saint Etienne, to Passion Pit, Koop, the knife, the Orange Peels, white stripes when they were around etc there is always interesting music out there, far more than when I first discovered New Order ('89), but I can honestly say I haven't heard work from New Order that's this impressive in more than twenty years, so props to them, it is incomprehensibly rare for any band, particularly a sort of pop band, to actually make music in their late fifties that would have any relevance to speak of to college students hitting the clubs, but they actually kind of have done just that. Outstanding.
