Peter Hook on the highs and lows of recording New Order’s 'Brotherhood,' 40 years later
Peter Hook reflects on the 40th anniversary of New Order's album 'Brotherhood,' discussing the band's creative evolution and the divide between their guitar-driven and electronic sounds. The interview also touches on the band's upcoming induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Why it matters
It provides cultural context for a seminal band that bridged the gap between post-punk and electronic dance music.
A year before New Order released its megawatt compilation "Substance," it was already riding a three-year streak, breaking out with “Blue Monday” in 1983, and the success of albums "Power, Corruption & Lies" (1983) and "Low-Life" (1985). By the time "Brotherhood " was released on Sept. 29, 1986, the band had already made its mark in the U.S. and on the soundtrack of John Hughes’ "Pretty in Pink" with “Shellshock” (the band’s instrumentals “Elegia” and “Thieves Like Us” were also featured in the film). "Brotherhood" also marked an evident divide within the band, one that ended up splitting the album in two: The first side was more guitar-driven, derivative of the band’s Joy Division roots, and the second, sequencer-led electronic side, was something the band had begun dipping into by 1982.
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