NME - "Dreams Never End" (Claude Flowers book) Review

JOYLESS REVISION

NEW ORDER AND JOY DIVISION: DREAMS NEVER END
Claude Flowers (Omnibus)

BLOODY HELL. Once — just once — can't we read something about Joy Division which doesn't contain po-faced stuff like "Ian's suicide caused them all to grow up very quickly, their innocence died with him"? This story does not need any more hushed reverence or weary myth-making, thanks very much.

As a New Yorker, Flowers displays a limited knowledge of Joy Division, Manchester or the general geography of Britain — physical or cultural. Unable to reach the band themselves, Flowers uses interviews with Tony Wilson, Peter Savile and various suits which were mostly conducted in the late '80s. He makes the most of outdated and second-hand material but his gushing assessments of New Order's music frequently border on the comical, finding in 'The Perfect Kiss' - "a chorus of synthesized frog sounds — hundreds of princes waiting to be kissed, any one of whom might be HIV positive." Of course!

Shock revelations are few. The author frequently drops hints about Barney's lyrics reflecting a troubled personal life but, irritatingly, never fully explains, His tone is often farcically innocent too: "The group later admitted to drinking as a way of coping, and Barney claimed he took various substances to dispel his confusion and pain." Yeah, right.

Dreams Never End hardly gets beneath the coffee-table surface of New Order, which is probably where a pic-heavy fanboy work like this belongs. Too much confusion, not enough pain.

Stephen Dalton