Always Now by Section 25 (2015-03-24)

I bought this album out of curiosity because it roots with the Factory label. It's a darkish new wave music. I like it but it is only music for fans of this genre (Joy division mourners, etc). I will check out their other albums as well

Good.

Section 25 were never really on my radar through the post punk years. LTM always do a good job with their reissues so I thought I'd give them another listen 34 years later and.......Hannet's post Joy Division production of Closer really shines through. What disappoints is the vocal performance. It's out of tune and dirge like, this drags the album down. Which is a shame as the Section 25 of today sound fantastic.For fans of the band, it's a must have as it collects all the relevant period recordings. I'll probably keep it for the great packaging - typical Factory; art over substance!

I always liked this gloomy sounding record. 'Friendly Fires ' , and 'New Horizon' were highlights for me.It does sound a lot like P.I.L. in places, and perhaps was influenced by Krautrock. Neu! comes to mind. Obviously influenced by Joy Division with prominent bass-lines, i would recommend it to Joy Division fans.

If you've ever spent a sleepless night wondering what PiL would've sounded like if they'd been fronted by two blokes from Blackpool and produced by Martin Hannett then "Always Now" is the answer! Section 25 were one of the more experimental bands on Factory and the result of their work with Martin Hannett is a strange, hypnotic mix of repetitive beats and angst ridden lyrics.Overall the album is quite good, though you will need to be in the right frame of mind to listen to it. The inclusion of the bonus tracks doesn't really bring much to the album, apart from a completist sense as most are far weaker than the actual album tracks.