Trivia / Substance (New Order Album)

• Approval of God: According to Peter Hook, Errol Brown of Hot Chocolate responded to the interpolation of "Emma" in "Thieves Like Us" with a simple "Well done, my boy!"
• Bad Export for You: Many cassette releases outside the U.K., including in America, only contained the A-sides portion, with the only advantage being it was on a single double-play cassette; instead, the packaging simply plugged the double-CD release for those looking for the B-sides. Qwest, unlike its parent label, Warner (Bros.) Records, seemed actually keen to really promote the CD format, releasing the full double-CD version in the U.S. The Canadian branch of Factory, distributed by PolyGram, decided to Take a Third Option and release the B-sides portion on cassette as a separate compilation entitled Substance Sides with artwork inspired by the "True Faith" single. They also released the double-CD version in that country.
• Breakthrough Hit: "True Faith", taken from this album, was New Order's first single to make the U.S. Top 40, peaking at number 32. The album itself was also one for the band stateside as it peaked at 36 on the Billboard charts and was their first—and only—platinum album.
• Completely Different Title: "Thieves Like Us" was renamed "夢盗人" (Dream Thief) in Japan.
• Corpsing: The re-recorded "Confusion" ends with the band cracking up over the outro, segueing into a small bit of Studio Chatter.
• Creator Backlash: Philip Decouflé, the director of the video for "True Faith", went on record stating that he hated the song. Tellingly, he only made one more music video (that for "She Drives Me Crazy" by the Fine Young Cannibals) before returning to solely choreographing stage shows.
• Demoted to Extra: The singles "Procession" and "Murder" were included on the B-sides disc of Substance rather than the A-sides disc. It makes sense in that the first disc (which was already at capacity anyway) collects their UK 12"s— "Procession" was only ever released as a 7", and "Murder" was only released in Belgium (as was "Everything's Gone Green", though that became so popular in the UK via import copies that it peaked at No. 3 on the UK Independent Singles Chart)— but this nonetheless has led to the tracks being overlooked.
• Denial of Digital Distribution: The album took until 2020 to appear on streaming services, long after the band's other albums— studio, compilation, and live alike— were put up. Even then, the version used was the CD one, leaving the cassette-exclusive tracks in a literal Keep Circulating the Tapes limbo.
• Follow the Leader: The success of this compilation motivated Factory Records to release a companion compilation for New Order's previous incarnation, Joy Division. The compilation also acted as an influence on Past Masters, a similar collection of non-album material by The Beatles released just months before Joy Division's Substance; the cover art for Past Masters even takes after that of Substance.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes:
  • Despite its success, Substance went out of print in 2005, thanks to London Records and Warner Bros. seeking to supplant it with the Singles compilation released that same year, which instead focuses on New Order's 7" A-sides and radio edits. In September of 2020, the compilation was finally added to streaming services, using the same master as the CD and DAT release (meaning the cassette-exclusive tracks are absent and "The Perfect Kiss" is cut short once again), though it would not return to physical format until 2023, when the band announced a deluxe remastered reissue on CD and vinyl (including the cassette-exclusive tracks).
  • The 2005 music video for "Ceremony" has never been re-released since its inclusion on the A Collection DVD; meanwhile, the video for "Temptation", created for the same DVD, has been available on the band's YouTube channel since 2013.
• Money, Dear Boy: The band put out the compilation because they knew that a compilation featuring their non-album singles and 12-inch mixes would earn them a lot of money with minimal effort. They also quickly recorded a new single for the compilation because having another hit would increase the album's value.
• Multi-Disc Work: Most releases of the album package it across two discs due to the amount of content included. The UK DAT and cassette releases additionally spread it across two tapes, while many international cassette releases truncate it to one.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: One account behind the plain packaging of the "Sub-Culture" single— a generic black sleeve with a cutout for the disc label— claims that Peter Saville openly refused to design a cover for the release, being dissatisfied with John Robie's mixing compared to the album version. However, Saville himself debunked this rumor on April 17, 2020, clarifying that he was never commissioned to design a sleeve in the first place.
• Referenced by...:
  • Philippe Decouflé, who directed the music video for "True Faith", used it as the basis for the 1992 Winter Olympics' opening ceremony.
  • Galaxie 500 covered "Ceremony" on their Blue Thunder EP, which was eventually appended to CD reissues of their On Fire album.
• Shrug of God: Bernard Sumner once said "I haven't a clue what this is about" when tasked with describing "The Perfect Kiss" in an interview with GQ magazine. Later sources would state that it was at least partly inspired by a guy who randomly showed New Order his hidden gun collection before heading out for a night on the town.
• What Could Have Been: "1963" was originally meant to be the lead single for Substance, with "True Faith" as the B-side. However, this configuration was swapped for the final release after the band's US label, Qwest Records, came to the conclusion that "True Faith" had greater commercial potential. While they ended up being right, with "True Faith" serving as the band's American Breakthrough Hit, "1963" quickly became enough of a fan-favorite for it to later be remixed for inclusion in (the best of) NewOrder in 1994, with an additional remix on top of this becoming a single in its own right in January of 1995 (also being included on the US release of (the best of) in place of the 1994 mix).

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