The World Is Ready for New Order 2001

New Order's Get Ready is the best 80s album of 2001. Maintaining the same formula from albums past, New Order continues to write incredible songs reveling in synthesizers and programmed beats. While the songs are not unlike what they've recorded before, Get Ready comes off sounding more accessible?if that's possible?with "Crystal" already charting at #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, and debuting at #41 its first week out. With not many dance albums to satisfy the general rock listener this year, except maybe Daft Punk's Discovery or the danceable Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 by DJ Z-Trip & DJ P, New Order's latest is sure to please. This much-anticipated album will probably be adored by dance, techno and rock connoisseurs alike; appeasing fans of different musical preferences is something New Order has always done.

This 10-song long-player, their first since '93's Republic, proves the band worthy of making music again. Get Ready doesn't completely replace their synthed-out sequences with upbeat rock numbers, but it definitely nods to their rock-oriented years as Joy Division. For fans of the guitar there's "Slow Jam" and "Turn My Way," both of which feature the familiar guitar/chorus/Gillian Gilbert synthesizer breakdown arrangement. And on "Turn My Way" ex-Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan accompanies frontman/guitarist Bernard Sumner. On the song's chorus they sing harmoniously: "I don't want to be like other people are/Don't want to own a key/Don't want to wash my car/Don't want to have to work like other people do/I want it to be free/I want it to be true." This song, with its memorable lyrics, infectious rhythm, high-energy sound and Peter Hook's bassline, exemplifies Sumner's ability to write amazing songs. Like the rest of Get Ready, it's unforgettable and beautiful.

Get Ready may be the band's best album to date. On "Slow Jam" Sumner sings, "I don't want the world to change/I like the way it is/Just give me one more wish/I can't get enough of this." He could be referring to this album, with its catchy choruses lingering in our heads. Rounding out the record are the club/dance numbers "Vicious Streak" and the already popular "Crystal," which will presumably be danced to in years to come like Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead." The world is ready for New Order 2001 and we're embracing you with open arms, Bernard. Just don't wait so long to release another record.