The old in new guises

There are several new releases and new scheduled releases that I am considering.

New Order - Complete
A-Ha - Cast in Steel
Duran Duran - Paper Gods

And an older 2001 release that I have missed for some reason.

OneTwo - Instead

The first New Order album in some years, 'Complete', is without Peter Hook's input which may or may not be a good thing, New Order seems to be a spent entity, a faded musical force in the last decade or so though they do occasionally release the odd good single.

The new album from New Order has 'Restless' as its lead single, it is a decent song, not particularly memorable, I had heard it earlier but I could not remember a thing. I am not excited. I had decided against buying the previous album 'Lost Sirens'. I will want to hear the other songs in the album before deciding on a purchase. I have also not bought the Peter Hook album whereas I had all the Revenge and Monaco releases.

I heard the first single, 'Under the Makeup', from A-Ha's 'Cast in Steel' album. It sounded tired. I think I will wait and see. I will listen to more tracks first.

Duran Duran's 'Paper Gods' marks a new musical direction for them. I heard the first single 'Pressure Off' and I thought it was the worst single that I have heard from them. I have also heard a few other tracks in the album. This may just be the worst album that they have ever released. There is a high chance that I will not be purchasing this album. I had earlier decided against the last Erasure and Depeche Mode albums.

The 'Paper Gods' album cover is one of the worst that I have seen it years.

'Instead' by OneTwo is a collaboration between Propaganda's Claudia Brücken and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's Paul Humphreys. I heard the first single, 'Cloud Nine', and it was pleasant in the AOR (adult-oriented radio) sort of way, I will have to hear the other album tracks to consider, it does not bode well when the lead single is like that.