The Order
1986

1986 a year when things in life were easier than they were today, a time when we weren’t connected and watched all the time. A time when people met and a time before mass-paranoia and all those other modern improvements of live. “In the 80s the world was still well. No helmets needed on motorbikes, smoking allowed in any pub and phone cells on every corner. No internet, no mobile phones and therefore a lot of time to hang around with friends. And practically you played with them in a rock band – as a lot of guys did back then.” I agree with the band quote, I mean without helmets and seat belts in cars lots more people would die in traffic which would leave fewer facebook drones which would be great. But joking aside The Order is looking to bring that lost time of 1986 back, sure it is only for the duration of the album, but still.

Musically it could have been written back in 1986 as the song styles and in some regards even the sound are quite similar to what went on back then. The overall sound however, could never have been recorded during that time as it sounds way too modern for that. Swiss rock, kind of like swiss cheese, it has a certain style and The Order being Swiss adheres to this style that can be heard from bands like Gotthard and Krokus to name a pair. The singer reminds me of the singing we hear in Gotthard as well, Gotthard would be a good reference in comparing this band. You could also describe this album as a musical tribute to the year of 1986, with a slight modern touch not to scare away the ones browsing the music services on the interweb. But even in the ten tracks playing for 44 minutes it is authentic of the eighties, so in a way it is a way to travel back to 1986.

But is it a good travel in time or not? Well, I would say that it is. The songs are good and the album sounds very good as well, it is definitely an enjoyable album to spend 44 minutes listening to. I think the band shows some high quality musical skills even though none of the tracks really stands out, neither in a positive nor in a negative way. It is an album with no major downsides as it is funny to listen to and all the songs are good but maybe not really that memorable. If there is a problem with this album it is the fact that it doesn’t really offer anything new and that there are better swiss rockers out there, as this band just cannot match up to the quality of fellow Swiss musicians of Gotthard.

Another funny note is the cool retro looking album cover with a girl and a few vinyl records to show off that it is 1986 once again. It would be worth to have this album on vinyl just to have that cover art to show off with, it looks really nice and is probably the best thing with this album. Sure the music is also good and honestly one could never consider an album no matter how good it looks if the music isn’t any good. And the music of The Order is very good, a nod back to 1986. Maybe something we all need in our overly stressed world where everyone seems to believe he or she is so important that he/she has to be reachable at all times. Let me tell you something, in 1986 almost none was reachable at all times and they managed. Just like when I turn off my phone, not that anyone calls anyway as I never give my number to anyone.

Anyway, a funny trip back in time for 44 minutes. 1986 is a good album well worth looking closer at if you are a fan of swiss rock or Gotthard, or if you just want to take a trip back in time for a while.