Low-Life is the third studio album by English rock band New Order, released on 13 May 1985 by Factory Records. It is considered to be among the band's strongest work, displaying the moment they completed their transformation from post-punk hold-overs to dance-rockers. The album shows New Order's increased incorporation of synthesisers and samplers, while still preserving the rock elements of their earlier work. The original Factory CD issues of the album were mastered with pre-emphasis. The songs on this album formed the basis of the band's live concert videoPumped Full of Drugs, filmed in Tokyo shortly before the album's release. The music video for "The Perfect Kiss" was directed by Jonathan Demme.
Artwork
The album's artwork is the only New Order release to feature photographs of the band members on its cover. The CD comes packaged with drummer and keyboardist Stephen Morris on the front cover, while inside the case are four photographs and a semi-transparent piece of paper with the band's name, allowing the owners to choose which band member is seen through the sleeve.
Singles and re-releases
The album was preceded by the release of the full-length version of "The Perfect Kiss" as a single. John Robie's remix of "Sub-culture" was also released as a 12″ single. Both of these extended versions eventually were included on 1987's Substance. In 2008, the album was re-released in a Collector's Edition with a bonus disc, including the 17-minute complete version of "Elegia", which was only previously available on a limited edition disc of the 2002 box setRetro and, for the first time in digital format, the unedited 12″ mix of "The Perfect Kiss".
Reception
In a contemporary review of Low-Life for the Los Angeles Times, Richard Cromelin stated that New Order's "varied menu of soul-pop, techno-rock, delicate instrumental moods, and driving, clattering percussion offers adventure in texture at every turn", and that while the album did not contain anything as "transcendent" as "Love Will Tear Us Apart", "its confidence and imagination suggest that the possibility is still there." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice noted New Order's attempt to insert some "affect" into its music and wrote that the band "has its heart in the right place, so one doesn't want to quibble". Despite panning "Love Vigilantes" as "an appallingly naive self-parody", Steve Sutherland of Melody Maker wrote that the remainder of the album "boasts the most articulate sound since The Cocteaus' Treasure, elevating depression to ecstasy". John Bush of AllMusic wrote that Low-Life was "in every way, the artistic equal" of Power, Corruption & Lies, as well as "the point where the band's fusion of rock and electronics became seamless." The A.V. Clubs Josh Modell similarly noted that the album "completely locked the disco influences into sync with New Order's pop leanings." David Quantick, writing in Uncut, felt that Low-Life was "the first New Order album that sounds like an album", with Bernard Sumner's "most human lyrics" complementing Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris' "pop axis" and Peter Hook's "breath-taking" bass performances. In 2000, Q magazine placed Low-Life at number 97 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. Low-Life, alongside New Order's 1989 album Technique, was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
