New NO

As I type this, I'm listening to New Order's brand new "Waiting For The Siren's Call." I preordered it a long time ago and it finally arrived today in a cardboard package, two days after the album's American release date. It's such a pleasure to listen to a favorite band's new album for the first time. And while I order new and unfamiliar music all of time, New Order is one of the few bands that requires an immediate purchase as soon as a new product comes out --- no questions asked. I've bought every new album they've issued on the week it was issued dating back to 1989's Technique, which is my one of my favorites. This new album will go straight to my car's CD deck, where I'll listen to it over and over again. Then it will be placed in my CD collection, only to be pulled out again months to a year later and listened to over and over in my car again. Because I've been listening to New Order for so long, they've become a soundtrack to my life. "Technique" came out my last year in college when I was suffering through a horrible breakup with a girlfriend. "Republic" came out when I lived in Arlington and was spending my nights running from crime scene to crime scene as a newspaper reporter. "Get Ready" came out when I was living in my first house in East Dallas. And now comes "Siren's Call" at a time when I'm happily married, accomplished in my career and have a great group of friends. Maybe this album will become my favorite for the place it's fallen in my life.