For such an iconic band as New Order, making a comeback involves a terrible risk - anything substandard is bound to tarnish the legacy. Sadly, that's more or less what happens with this ill-judged new album, which is so half-hearted you can't help wondering why it was made at all. The old hallmarks are still there - intense electro-pop, Peter Hook's moody basslines, Bernard Sumner's flat vocals - but most of the ten tracks are half-hearted jams rather than songs, and the lyrics are often embarrassingly weak. A couple of moments (notably the single Crystal) show flashes of the old brilliance, but there's not nearly enough of them to rescue the album. A disappointment.
