Substance Inside New Order Paperback – June 29, 2017

Extremely engaging and intelligently written, "Substance" manages to be, in equal measures, factually detailed, very funny and surprisingly poignant. As an overview, then, "Substance" might be best described as a hybrid of auto-biography and a sort of sociology of the music business. Peter Hook has the story-teller's gift of engaging you by mixing technical details with fun facts/vignettes that keep you turning the page (I conquered the first third of the book in a morning, because I could not put it down). And the fun to be had includes, as marginalia/side notes, some true "Easter eggs:" Top-ten lists (Top 10, no, Top 11, hotels in the world; Top 10, no, Top 16, slogans written on bass cabinets, etc.); a running list of New Order gig dates (with some interesting summaries of his memories of particular gigs); and, for those like me who love the technical details, quite a few "geek" alerts (explanations of what terms such as "fold backs," gaffer tape" and "producers' points" mean, as well as an equipment summary that details what guitars, compressors, pedals, cabinets, etc. Hook utilized to create his famous over-driven, chorused bass sound (best I can tell from the book, he went through three major set-up changes throughout his career).As a consequence of this two-fold structure (personal/social), there is much for both the fan and the casual reader alike to enjoy. If you are looking for TMZ-style sex, drugs and rock-'n-roll it is there in spades. New Order might have aped the Continent for their artistic sensibilities; but at the height of their popularity (and fully 3/4 of the book focuses on the 1980s), they could hold their own against the Rolling Stones and Van Halen and the like for pure excess. In fact, the staunchly blue-collar Salford sensibilities of Peter Hook (his own characterization of himself) come through in quite a few places. Without spoiling the details, let's just say Peter was no stranger to the fast life, and unlike, say, Van Halen (and this is the blue-collar part), he would have fit right in in a Bakersfield, California bar brawl, giving as good as he gets. No gentle daisy to be found in that garden, ladies and gents. But for all of that, there is definitely a heart in this man (more on that below).For the fan, of course, it is in the end about the music. And the details are also there in spades and worth noting. Hook details the song writing, recording and mixing process, taking careful note of the influences along the way (Kraftwerk, Hammett, Baker, et al), as well as the very different functions the band members played, say, in 1980-1982, as opposed to later (say, 1990s at the time of Republic) where relations (and, as a consequence, functions) had changed quite dramatically. But Hook also branches out into the larger eco-system of the business, discussing the changes in technical means (say, the shift from the use of the DR-5, Moog Source and Sumner's early home-made sequencers in Strawberry (studio), through the ARP Quadra/Pro One phase, the Yamaha phase, to their later use of SSL/DSP mixing desks in such top-notch studios as Real World); the promoters (Ruth Polsky); the clubs (Danceteria, etc) and the rival bands, fans and audiences along the way. In the same vein, he also takes a fairly balanced view (or perhaps it is an ambivalent view) of the effect that this particular career has had on his relationships. His dalliances are depicted in rather blunt fashion. However, age has its effects on rhetoric, and what could come off as juvenile (if not outright sexist) is rather presented by Hook as it likely is: a weird mix of, "I can't believe I get to live this life: parties and beautiful women everywhere," and, "This is not the person I aspire to be."Indeed, if there is a thread that runs through this book it is ambivalence: on the one hand, great pride in creating a whole new style of melodic bass playing; pride in telling the A&R people to pound sand, while creating a whole new genre of music that was played internationally; great pride in grabbing the bull by the horns and riding it as far as one can--the life of no regrets. This is rock-'n-roll Lemmy Kilmister-style, if you will. On the other hand, the later tragic circumstances of many of the people one meets earlier in the book are discussed, as are the horrid financial practices of Factory Records (see his other book for a full description of that); and the toll that living the rock-'n-roll life does have on everyone (roadies included . . . there are some eye popping stories about them as well) involved. Wives, girlfriends, business partners, become, in a very real sense of the word, collateral damage. His discussions (in the latter part of the book) of his relationship to "Caroline" I found especially poignant and are in marked contrast to the bombast that can be found elsewhere.In that vein, if there was one element I found a little off-putting, it was his discussions of his fellow band members. Hook does (and I want to underline this) give great credit to Sumner and Morris (and even, Hammett, who otherwise takes a bit of a beating in this text) for having some truly original ideas and propelling the band forward. That said, Hook often writes as if it is “Peter Hook v. The Other Three.” Gilbert, for example, is a peripheral figure, at best, in the book; and what he does have to say is occasionally dismissive of her contributions to the band. Morris is given quite a bit of technical credit. But as a personality, he too is at the margins of the narrative. However, being placed at the margins is a better position to be in than Sumner finds himself. Hook's style is brutally honest and straightforward; but also, well thought out and not geared toward cheap-'n-easy calculated inclusions/omissions . . . with one exception: When comes to Sumner, this reader could not help but feel that (occasionally) a story was a set up to take a bit of a swipe at Sumner. We get it. A band break up is like a divorce (and H & S are still in litigation as I write). But do you have to remind the reader of that every ten pages or so (in a book with 724 pages of narrative)?!That said, no text is perfect, and I highly recommend this one. And, on a final note, if you are a fan of Hook's other projects (like Revenge and Monaco; or his production work for the Stone Roses), they are also discussed (albeit much more briefly--this is, after all, "Inside NEW ORDER").

First the good, very well written, very detailed, very engaging. An unashamed, unabashed look into the inner workings of one of my favorite bands of all time. I really enjoyed the precise detail of the creative process, the end to end music creation for each album.The negatives:I get it, it's "rock and roll". Lurid details with groupies, drugs and excess are par for the course. But after awhile I was disgusted, as Benard and Hooky both supposedly had wives and children back home, why even bother getting married when you perpetually cheat on them to such excess. Then the off comment of " well, we grown apart". Ugh, no, you are a disgusting pig and you tortured someone else to wait for you, while you slog through numerous women.I am convinced bands live and then die by the struggle for creative control. Ego's, pride and resentment/bitterness ruin this delicate relationship.The sometimes subtle, but mostly obvious agenda pervasive throughout the book. Benard an evil monster, Hooky a mistreated player on the New Order stage. I get it, Benard did make poor decisions and treated people poorly, but Hooky, so did you? In my view a tit for tat affair, both equally as guilty as the other. At the end of the day, you both were part of something special, that brought enjoyment to millions of people. Let go of the bitterness and hate, and forgive and reconcile. Even if that means there is still no New Order without you?An enthralling tale, but in the end, I can't imagine why anyone would want be in a band at New Order's level of success. Look at the wreckage it produced, the devastation wrought on everyone around you? Just for the selfish desire to be in a band and the supposed riches it entails.It just doesn't seem worth it to me. A good but really sad book.

This is a tough one. I absolutely love this band's records...one of my favorite bands. I saw them live twice, and they were horrible -- worst I've every seen, and I've seen a lot. Now it is clear why. We all knew they didn't like each other, and that they had drug problems, but I don't think I understood the degree of debauchery and hatred. Although Peter seems to think they performed well despite these things, there's no question that the behind the scenes problems adversely affected their performances.The book gets positives for (a) candor, because Peter doesn't pull punches, even about his own behavior, and (b) musician-level detail, with descriptions of gear used and song-by-song analysis, except for Republic (because Peter hated the record so much).To sum up the negatives in a nutshell, there are really no characters to like. Everyone is a disaster from almost every angle. In some rock memoirs the sex, drugs and rock n' roll have some charm, but here it is just the grittiest form of everything. You wouldn't trade places with any of these people, and probably wouldn't even tolerate a friendship with them.The book also is a bit disjointed. It is chronological (looked at holistically), but every "album era" has a timeline, which at first seems like a feature. Every gig is listed. Every song list for every gig is included. But the timeline includes some things previously discussed in the narrative, and yet things not yet discussed. I can't figure out why the timeline didn't come first, and then the narrative.Also, while the setlists provide a nice historical record, I can tell you that after hundreds of pages you are not going to read every...single...setlist...from...every...single...gig. You end up flipping past these pages, looking for some commentary about a gig (maybe once every 10 gigs or so), and sometimes they are personal stories about people you have no info about (random umpteen girlfriends on the road).I don't know how they survived, or really why they even wanted to. If you read this book, plan on having a "happy book" nearby to cleanse your palate.

One for the fans. New Order bass player Peter Hook gives his account of the band's history, triumphs and frequent bust-ups. It's a no-holds-barred account, as in his description of his marriage to the late Caroline Aherne, which prompted loud complaints from others who knew her, and Hook is also unsparing in his criticism of his band-mates. But he also gives a pretty unvarnished account of his own misbehaviours, addictions and mistakes.If, like me, you were a fan of Joy Division/New Order, then you will find this a fascinating read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.I never felt New Order were as good as Joy Division and i guess this book explains why. It seems to me they became fed up of eachother in the late 80s but somehow kept going until 2007!This is an autobiography of Peter Hook during his time in New Order as he deals with divorce, drugs, drink and depression. If this isn't enough, it is accompanied by a comprehensive timeline of gigs, releases, and memorable events plus Hook's anecdotes of memorable gigs and his opinion of most of New Order's tracks. He pulls no punches in his criticism of the person he founded Joy Division with; Bernard Sumner. A great read.

I'm not a massive New Order fan so I read this book mainly for the anecdotes: I especially liked "Ice Cube's not coming back, he's melted". It's still an interesting read but I had to fast-forward through all the discographies.I have read two of Peter Hook's books and not Barney's so I maybe have a skewed impression but it doesn't sound like it was a lot of fun in New Order.In conclusion, if you like New Order, you'll find this interesting, if not, you probably won't.

This book is simply outstanding - one of the best music memoirs I've ever read. I really enjoyed both of Hookey's previous highly entertaining efforts covering the Hacienda and his time in Joy Division but this surpasses both of these in my opinion. Yes, there's loads of sex and drugs and amusing anecdotes of life on the road and around the globe on tour. But Hookey doesn't forget to discuss the music and there's more than a few revealing insights into the creation of New Order songs and albums. But it's not all fun and frankly being in New Order doesn't read as if it was a barrel of laughs most of the time. In summary, a fantastically entertaining book - buy it, you won't be disappointed.

There are some laugh out loud hilarious moments in this book. In my opinion the band were at their creative peak in the early 1980s. Their rebellious non-comprising attitude and sometimes shambolic performances gave them an edgy and completely unique sound, especially as they were also one of the first UK groups to harness the burgeoning digital music technology of the era - although the band found a novel way of fixing a reoccurring glitch with their mega expensive state of the art (but temperamental) "Emulator" sampling keyboard by whacking it with a hammer!Peter Hook writes his memoirs with the dry northern wit and self deprecating humour that he's come to be known for. The tragic account of his ill fated marriage to the troubled Caroline Aherne is very sad. But by the latter part of the book, the endless sniping at fellow band mates and accounts of laddish drunken/drugged up escapades in luxury hotels all over the world tends to get a tad tedious. By the nineties it seemed the band were only making music together under sufferance to try and pay off the huge debts incurred by errors of serious financial misjudgement. All in all, however, it's still an entertainingly shocking and eye-opening read!