Chapter and Verse - New Order, Joy Division and Me

I would have never expected an autobiography from Bernard Sumner. And I'm sure, if it weren't for Peter Hook's recent venture into literature, that might still be a very faint possibility. In his book Bernard explains that, at last, he wants to share his personal experiences that provided the foundation for his music, in order for us to get a better understanding of it. I'm not so sure about that premise: we enjoy this or that music through our own experiences, which most likely are completely different from those of the musicians, and thus irrelevant. Anyway, it was kinda scary to be invited into a singer's brain, especially when that person has been famously reluctant to share his private life. So let's go over a few things: substance and form.Ever since I read "Raise The Pressure", I knew the lad could write (prose, that is). There's this misconception that talented people of art can sit down and write as well. But poets often turn out to be bad prose writers (and prose writers in most cases are awful poets). I remember being let down by Mark E. Smith's autobiography that felt like it was written with alcohol rather than ink. Bernard, on other hand, delivered. His clear, well-constructed, at times very eloquent--but at times repetitious as well--paragraphs and coherent narration make a pleasant, easy reading. That's important, as there is no co-writer involved (and it'd be safe to assume, no ghost writer either).Content. The book itself is a beautiful journey from the cobbled streets of Victorian Salford to driving a Mercedes, Elvis style. That Bernard could be a jerk, I suspected, but here he explains why he had to be one: who else would program all these computers to make bearable music? Who else would stop touring to recover from Pernod? Who else would take a grip of Rob Gretton--who was about to throw the band's money into the Hacienda pit of hell? Exactly.Be aware that Bernard's book is very introspective, so it's rather selective and a lot of things are either left out or, on the contrary, given a disproportionally great detail. For example, a quarter of the book is about his childhood, where he depicts the difficult relationship with his mother, a lot of illness in his family and hopeless school environment; all that must have had a gripping hold over his formative years and it's no wonder that he went off the hook in the 1980s, to reclaim his adolescence, never minding the price of his newly found hedonism. Although Bernard does describe different methodologies of his music writing in Joy Division and in New Order, there's not much background provided for specific songs; he goes at length about recording "Blue Monday", "Confusion" and "World in Motion", and goes on record to explain why he would never be tired of singing "Temptation" -- but that's it. Such important albums as "Power, Corruption & Lies", "Low-life" and "Brotherhood" are completely ignored. There are people who can always tell you precisely when this or that happened; Bernard is not one of them -- dates are not part of his mental landscape (unlike Peter Hook who kept a good track of time in his books).As far as Peter Hook is concerned, Bernard dedicates numerous pages to his former bandmate, giving us, at last, his side of the story of Hooky's departure. It's also very interesting to learn his vision of the whole Hacienda thing (and compare it with Hooky's memoirs). The most intriguing figure in the book, besides the author, is manager Rob Gretton. Bernard describes him with a lot of respect, yet he finds room to share his eccentric nature (like a story about Rob reading NME from cover to cover to Bernard while the latter was trying to sleep). The most bizarre part in the book is the appendix that includes the complete transcript of the hypnotic session with Ian Curtis held a few weeks before his death.

This was great - and the perfect companion piece to Peter Hook's autobiography. As they were both classmates since kindergarten, then grew up and started Joy Division and then New Order together, until their famous feud - it shouldn't be surprising that their narratives revolve around many of the same events. However, they both have very different personalities and can't really seem to see life from the other's point of view. Barney's book is at once more serious and further away emotionally from the events it narrates while Hooky's book is more conversational and gut-felt. Anyway, if you love Joy Division and New Order - as I do - then these companion books do two great things: a) they show how normal Barney and Hooky were outside the music, and b) they underline how magical the combination of Ian, Steve, Bernard and Hooky then later Gillian were once they picked up instruments, entered the studio or live venues and made their music. Plus, Bernard's book highlight's the sad disappearance of another world he knew while growing up, even though it was often tragic. Highly recommended.

The book provides a brief biographical history of the author and spends a lot of time on Joy Division and the beginnings of New Order. It only glances through the last couple of decades. One thing I appreciated is how much thought is put into his songwriting process and how the Joy Division/New Order sound was developed (ex: a lot of discussion about equipment and their do-it-yourself ethic). That's in stark contrast to Morrisey's autobiography, for example, where he doesn't talk about songwriting at all and instead focuses on the industry. Overall, as a fan, I found it an enjoyable and fascinating read. Not super deep, but enough to teach me a lot more about the author and the band. I'm not sure it would be much fun for non-Joy Division/New Order fans.

i am grateful that i found bernard. he is a fabulously wonderful singer and lyricist and writer of music for guitars and synthesizers. he is beautiful and interesting and articulate. bernard has the luxury of being mostly unknown. he has been fascinating in interviews in numerous music mags, on 'star test' , and my favorite concert footage of new order - montreaux 1993 , and he is fascinating here in his book. he is self deprecating and funny and humble and friendly . for me , this book is a treasure , but i am biased , as i love bernard. i revere and treasure one other supergiant, named danny kirwan. i pray that prayers heal him . david gilmour needs no healing , he is also a favorite stellar lifeform.

Bernard Sumner's Chapter and Verse, or as it's noted here - Divided Joy? - is a fun book to read but one comes away from it with the unsatisfying feeling that Sumner is as much a cypher as ever. His recollections of his youthful adventures seem pallid and at times, unconvincing when compared to his ex-compatriot Peter Hook's own memoir (the much, much more detailed Unknown Pleasures). The best parts of this book revolve around Bernard's childhood in 50s and 60s-era Salford. Unfortunately accounts of his actual time with Joy Division and New Order are almost glossed over and he ends the book basically trying to convince us - or maybe himself - that he's having the time of his life with the current touring line-up of New Order.

Comparing with Hooky's recent book, Barney's book is not as good. Hooky's stories are much more readable and enjoyable,as far as story of Joy Division goes. Barney talks most likely about himself, and his family. A lot of personal information (that's good and interesting), especially given that Barney was always more private person (compared to Hook), but much less info about e.g. his band mates. He doesn't really say much what he thinks about Hook, Curtis or Morris. One can say that his book is more 'politically correct' than Hook's book, but also less fun.All in all, I would recommend Peter Hook's book, as more personal, detailed and fun to read.

With Gillian Morris the only original member yet to pen an autobiography, the written history of New Order 'from those that were there' is a pretty crowded market. Peter Hook's accounts of the Joy Division/New Order story. The Stephen Morris autobiography. And this.The obvious choice might be to go straight to the lead singer story. A word of advice: don't.I'm certainly not a New Order obsessive but their tunes do make up a bigger proportion of my playlists than just about any other band. Not even the disappointment of a briefer than brief live performance circa 1982 which cost several shifts worth of Saturday job and lasted less than a lunch break dented my admiration. Chapter and Verse reminds me of that gig. This briefest of tomes reads as if Sumner sat down at a laptop for a few sessions when he had nothing else better to do and bashed out whatever came into his head until he got bored. There's a checklist of course. Not particularly happy childhood. Check. Manchester as center of universe. Check. Ian Curtis. Check Electronic/Bad Lieutenant... you get the idea.If an editor went anywhere near this they might have a) given the narrative some shape and b) removed the many, many repetitions that pepper every chapter. With all the repeats removed you'd end up with a pamphlet not a book, but sadly the absence of editing leaves a shapeless, lumpen mess. If you enjoyed Peter Hook's countless anecdotes of rock n' roll excess you'll find no more than the thinnest of gruel here, which can be summarised as more or less: I drank too much but drugs? What drugs? Manchester is the center of the world. The Hacienda was a mistake. Peter Hook is a ****.Stick to the music Barney.

I enjoyed reading this book as I have some personal experiences that I share with the author. It was very nostalgic for me reading about being raised in a part of Salford that was not without its challenges. I spent the first 7 years of my life in Caroline Street, around the corner from Barney and his cousin Stephen Grimshaw. Steve and I were good friends at Salford Grammar, where Barney and Hookey were just a few years ahead of us. We were terrorized by the same maths teacher, JB. When I was 15 Barney took me on the back of his trail bike around Drinkwater Park. I got my first moped shortly after. I remember Barney and Steve were into astral projection etc and its was good to see him refer to this. I had no idea Barney was into music in those days with the one exception of seeing him come back from a night at the Electric Circus. It's great to see a Salford lad get to where he has with so many memories along the way.

Bernard Sumner is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He is a founding member of both Joy Division and New Order. Sumner is credited with the latter band's move towards electronica and synthpop. He was a founding member of Joy Division, a Salford band formed in 1976. He and childhood (but not later) friend Peter Hook both attended the fabled Sex Pistols concert at Manchester's Free Trade Hall on July 20, 1976 and were inspired to form a band. The band is considered one of the most influential bands of the era. He is known as the band's lead guitarist. But he also plays keyboards for synthesizer parts and made his first vocal appearance on record singing the chorus of "Walked In Line" on the Warsaw album. In May 1980, the band's singer, Ian Curtis, committed suicide, resulting in Joy Division's end.Sumner and remaining band members Peter Hook and Stephen Morris started a new band named New Order. They were later joined by keyboardist Gillian Gilbert in October 1980. Though Hook, Morris and Gilbert also contributed vocals on some early tracks, Sumner emerged as the band's permanent singer and lyricist, alongside playing guitar and keyboards.In 1989, Sumner joined up with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr to form Electronic. He later went on to form Bad Lieutenant which as a result of the 2011 reformation of New Order, went on hiatus.I started reading this book not long after having read both Peter Hook's books: Unknown Pleasures and Substance. While Hook's book’s are VERY detailed descriptions of the Joy Division and New Order, Sumner's book takes a different approach. The early years in Salford and early days of Joy Division are fascinating. But then the chronology goes out of the window. After having discussed Blue Monday, for instance, he skips a whole era and talks about Touched by the Hand of God and Confusion. In fact, he mostly discusses individual songs rather than albums. Movement is discussed in length, but the next album he talks about is Technique. He doesn't mention Power, Corruption and Lies and Low-Life. Brotherhood is talked about in one sentence, specifically Saville's cover. Also, many other things are not or only minimally discussed. He skates over things a competent editor would have insisted he elaborate on.Another aspect missing is the highs and lows of key relationships. Especially the conflict with Hooky. Apart from some token self-deprecation, he genuinely doesn't seem to think he's done anything wrong. He is keen to tell the world about it (I suggest he reads Substance by Hooky). Bizarrely, he chooses not to focus on this yet there are lengthy passages about getting wrecked in Ibiza. You’re left wondering if any of this is going anywhere? If you read Hooky’s books, you’ll find Hooky had a larger creative role to play than Sumner acknowledges here. What would Blue Monday sound like without Hookys bass lines for example?The book will be of interest to any Joy Division or New Order fan. It gives another perspective on both these bands. But its best read in conjunction with Hooky’s literary output.

I started reading this book not long after having read Peter Hook's Unknown Pleasures. While Hook's book is a quite detailed description of the Joy Division time, discussing many of the gigs and the recording process from their early demos to Closer, Sumner's book has a totally different approach. For starters, it is more personal, not only focusing on the band, but also on his life. Also, the chronology is not what you would expect. After having discussed Blue Monday, for instance, he suddenly skips a whole era and talks about Touched by the Hand of God and Confusion. In fact, he mainly discusses individual songs rather than albums. Movement is discussed quite lengthy, but the next album he talks about is Technique. Power, Corruption and Lies and Low-Life are not even mentioned (!), and Brotherhood is only talked about very early in one sentence about Saville's cover. Also, many other things are not or only minimally discussed; Gillian's sabbatical is not mentioned until the last pages of the book. His side on Hook's departure is explained in detail though. It is not the definitive New Order biography, but still it is an interesting read if you're a New Order fan.

there's a lot of conflicting reviews on here over whether this book was good and how large chunks of new order's history were missed out. although it's easy to understand the frustration behind this, this is a personal memoir by bernard, it's not an in-depth analysis of the band - and from that perspective, this makes for a very good read.it's fascinating hearing bernard's personal account of things, from way back in the joy division days, to the early new order days through to electronic. there are plenty of funny stories that had me laughing aloud and his writing style is so naturally flowing and engaging that it makes it such an easy story to consume. it was additionally nice hearing him talk about small things in his life that would've otherwise been kept private - the story about his sailing endeavors was particularity sweet and it's always especially nice hearing small facts/side-stories about various aspects of his life/new order.obviously there is mention of hooky in here, and i think the polarization of fans between the remaining members of new order and hooky is what divides an audience in reading this book. however, the mention of him is kept to a minimum, which although could be disappointing for those after the juicy gossip, i think just makes the book nicer to read as it doesn't end up feeling like you're reading one side of an argument. but bernard is complimentary towards hooky in the times he does mention him, and when it does get to the point where mentioning the bad stuff is inevitable, it's spoken of in quite a calm way. although he's clearly angry, he wishes hooky well and the chapter feels more like an insight into the issue rather than bernard getting back at hooky in one way or another.bernard is a genius songwriter and "chapter and verse" gives a wonderfully interesting look into the world and life of new order's lead singer in a light-hearted and well-told story. this book is a good reflection of bernard as a person and tells his personal story as well as how he developed his musicianship over the decades he worked as a part of joy division and new order (and electronic). the electronic part especially i found interesting - learning about his relationship with johnny marr and how their sound/albums came about wasn't something i was expecting to get to read about.all in all, a good read and i'd recommend for any new order/joy division/bernard fan.