Audioxide

New Order's significance is admirable, no question, but in the present day the core of their music feels regrettably lifeless. With this release, the catchy riffs and toe-tapping beats are there, but that’s precisely the problem - stubborn in nature, with very little desire to change, they are just there. While there are some highlights (the resigned closer “Leave Me Alone” is New Order at their most interesting), Power, Corruption & Lies ultimately leaves me feeling cold.

It comes bizarrely close to being immensely listenable. There are good tunes, some lovely mixing, all the makings of a great album, but it just winds up being a bit drab. It’s so drawn-out. Power, Corruption & Lies takes its sweet time not accomplishing very much. It’s like pop music’s answer to padding an essay so that it hits a word count. You can see why people were so irritated that “Blue Monday” wasn’t on the album; most of what’s there instead is so boring. It’s a shame, because when it’s good it’s very good indeed.

Having been so popular at the time, and having come out around the same time as the very successful “Blue Monday,” I want to hear what others hear when they describe Power, Corruption & Lies as 'headrushing, joyful and flawless', but I can’t. At least listening now, without any sentimental emotions attached, even I, with my high tolerance for repitition get tired of a lot of the tracks. The instrumentation is relatively standard, I don’t get on with the vocals on many of the tracks as I don’t feel there’s any heart behind them, and I mainly feel that they fail as pop tracks because they are all too long. Unfortunately, this album was a disappointment.