Electronic – Get the Message: The Best of Electronic (Rhino)

Just consider the pedigree: one is a founding member of Joy Division and the voice of New Order, the other is arguably one of the most influential guitarists of a generation and one half of the songwriting duo that launched the Smiths. When Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr announced their new partnership as Electronic in 1989, expectations were higher than anyone could possibly meet and quickly tempered when Marr proclaimed they’d be recording “dance music you could listen to.” While Morrissey was still on tour in flowery shirts urging mopey teens to “hang the DJ,” his former songwriting partner was donning gold chains and penning “Feel Every Beat.”

Bernard Sumner’s songwriting ability hinges not on adroit lyrics or blissful melodies, but on his knack for conveying so much by saying so little and in what are sometimes laughably sentimental nursery rhymes. Half of his lyrics, removed from the trappings of song, border on inane ramblings and nonsense, but within the framework of the right sonic elements, hit that sweet spot that defines good pop music. When they miss though, the songs stumble out as pap foolishness.

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