“Guilt Is a Useless Emotion” by New Order
The word “guilt” is never mentioned in the song, and oddly enough the main sentiment being expounded on is actually love.
The vocalist seems to have a pretty good understanding of what “real love” is and is not. Also he evidently feels this way about the addressee, a romantic interest.
However, he appears stumped on trying to figure out the right angle upon which to convince her to be his own. Therefore, the thesis sentiment being put forth is a simple “I need your love”, which ultimately serves as a pickup line if you will, even if the vocalist genuinely feels that way.
So conclusively, we can say that this is one of those types of songs being relayed by one individual he wants to date towards another towards who is apparently reluctant to agree.
Release of “Guilt Is a Useless Emotion”
On March the 28th of 2005, New Order officially released this. It was single No.3 from the group’s “Waiting for the Sirens’ Call” album.
Writing and Production
The song was written by:
- Stephen Morris
- Phil Cunningham
- Peter Hook
- Bernard Sumner
It was produced by the group with assistance from Stuart Price.
Genre(s) of “Guilt is a Useless Emotion”
This New Order song can be categorized into a number of music genres, including the following:
- EDM
- Alternative/Indie
- Pop
Nomination at the Grammys
At the Annual Grammy Awards in 2006, “Guilt Is a Useless Emotion” was nominated for the award, “Best Dance Recording” alongside the following:
- “Say Hello” by Deep Dish
- “Wonderful Night” by Fatboy Slim and Lateef
- “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” by LCD Soundsystem
- “I Believe in You” by Kylie Minogue
- “Galvanize” by The Chemical Brothers and Q-Tip (Winner)
The “Waiting for the Sirens’ Call” Project
Guilt Is a Useless Emotion was recorded by British rock band New Order in 2005. The song was released as the ninth single on their eighth studio album, Waiting for the Sirens’ Call.
London Recordings released the album on March 28, 2005. The band recorded the album at Real Word studios from 2003 to 2002.
English guitarist Phil Cunningham made his debut as a band member of New Order with this album. However, the album is also the first album of New Order that was recorded without their keyboardist, Gillian Gilbert. It is also marked the first time the band’s lead singer, Bernard Sumner, sung in Japanese on the band’s record. The album’s songs were entirely written by New Order, except for Jetstream, which was co-written with Stuart Prince and Ana Kirby.
In 2005, Waiting for the Sirens’ Call was included in Amazon’s Top 100 Editor album picks. In addition, AllMusic, Blender, and The Guardian scored it as a 3-star album.
Upon its release, the album flew to the summit of the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. On the Billboard’s 200 charts, it ranked within the top-50. It also peaked at number 5 on both the UK and Scottish Albums charts.
