Some New Order fans refer to Movement as the third Joy Division record. The band was transitioning to a new sound, even before it disbanded, as evidenced by Ceremony. They hadn't worked out who the lead singer would be. Ceremony, after all, was a Joy Division song and it sounds much like what emerged on Movement. Oddly, I once heard an interview with Peter Hook, and he referred to a Joy Division trilogy (which included Still), but I think that is revisionism, because Still is a compilation. There were only two proper Joy Division LPs.
If all you know of New Order is Blue Monday era New Order, this record might sound like a disappointment. To me, however, this is the greatest thing that New Order ever did. It sounds a bit like the band is searching for a direction (which is not necessarily a bad thing), and there is a certain tension and darkness in the music that I really like. In any event, New Order went on to become one of the seminal bands of the 80s. You simply cannot have lived through that decade and not been aware of them. I suppose if you were a classic rock person, you might have missed it, but no one living on a university campus could have missed this band.
Most people are likely familiar with the blue record cover. The white jacket was used on US pressings. Here is something else you may not know. According to Discogs (which is sometimes wrong):
"The vinyl comes in different colour variations, only visible when held up against a strong light source: Translucent purple or translucent red or just translucent (and maybe also brown and green). These colors are the result of different vinyl formulations used accidentally by the pressing plant, with purple apparently being the very first pressing"
I happen to have the purple version, which is the first US pressing. If I were to sell this one, I'd take no less that $50, but I am not selling it.
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