CD: 8573 81952-2
RELEASE DATE: 1986
LABEL: London

1. Paradise
2. Weirdo
3. As It Is When It Was
4. Broken Promise
5. Way of Life
6. Bizarre Love Triangle
7. All Day Long
8. Every Little Counts

While New Order's earlier albums retained some elements of the band's gloomy Joy Division days, later efforts were a schizophrenic blend of quieter, more melodic stuff and upbeat dance numbers. On Brotherhood, both sides of the band are at their strongest, with catchy dance numbers like "Bizarre Love Triangle" and "Weirdo" balanced by some gentler numbers. The guitar/keyboard interplay is particularly impressive, making the band a much more musically intriguing rock and roll act than most of the synth-oriented bands who dominated the Euro-pop dance scene in the mid-eighties. New Order makes a solid aural statement with this album, and creates what amounts to a precursor to their later forays into techno. "Brotherhood" resonates with the same strong bass of Joy Division, only it's turned on its head and thrown into a mostly otherwise electronic track. At this point in time New Order was really polishing up its repertoire and making the most and best of a sound that is uniquely theirs.