Originally released on 1983's Power, Corruption and Lies, this live version of Your Silent Face (from NOMC15) captures the enduring sound of New Order at Brixton Academy in 2015. On their third album, the band embraced synthesizers and romanticism wholeheartedly. They were emerging from the ashes of Joy Division and the more guitar-driven sound of their first two albums. This song is exemplary of my favorite period of New Order's music -- the threshold of synth pop and post-punk. It's amazing to hear them, nearly 35 years later, performing the song with such vitality.
I would contend that "Love, Reign O'er Me" is one of the most climactic and rewarding endings to an album in the history of rock & roll. It comes at the conclusion of a four-sided rock opera, begins with the sound of rain and ultimately ends with Keith Moon beating the shit out of his drums right after Roger Daltrey bellows "Looooooooooooove!" as if he is literally in the process of casting his life into the storming Atlantic Ocean while simultaneously absorbing every hardship, letdown and impossibility that he has ever faced. This is The Who at the peak of their powers. "Love, Reign O'er Me" was released in1973 as the second single from the band's sixth album and second rock opera, Quadrophenia . However, the deeper context of the song can only be truly experienced through listening to the entirety of Side 4 (Dr. Jimmy > The Rock > Love, Reign O'er Me). "The Rock," and six-minute instrumental, has a proggy, Celtic ...

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