RockLists.com
Cover of Power, Corruption & Lies by New Order
Cover: Power, Corruption & Lies

Song · New Order

“Age of Consent” by New Order

From the album Power, Corruption & Lies (1983)

“Age of Consent” by New Order appears on 31 radio countdowns from 13 stations between 1983 and 2026. It was first released in 1983 on the album Power, Corruption & Lies. Its best result is #3 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1983. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #42 alternative song of 1983, #1,712 alternative song of all time and #277 of the '80s.

31countdowns
13stations
#3best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1983–2026years charted

Watch

New Order - Age of Consent (2020 Remaster) [Official Music Video]

Video from YouTube (New Order). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Age of Consent" throws open Power, Corruption & Lies, New Order's second album, released in May 1983 on Factory, and it sounds like a band stepping out of the shadows and blinking at the daylight. All four members, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert, share the writing credit, and they produced it themselves with Michael Johnson engineering.

A high, singing bass line carries the tune while the guitars chime and the vocal hangs back, almost bashful. Underneath there's a ghost: Morris revealed in 2020 that his drum pattern was modelled on Martin Hannett's version of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart". The band first played it live in August 1982, dropped it from the set after 1989, and brought it back in 2011 after a 22-year gap.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1983 3 John Peel (BBC Radio 1) John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1983 50

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1988 248 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1989 38 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989) 101
1991 523 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1996 464 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1998 489 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 1493 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1493 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1493 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 769 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2002 1491 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 300 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1470 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 127 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 1470 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1469 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 1761 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1737 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1746 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1786 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1860 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1824 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1792 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2018 313 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs 892
2019 40 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2021 567 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 102 KEXP KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) 491
2023 50 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 387 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2024 21 KEXP The Best Opening Tracks of All Time 738
2026 370 KXT KXT 917 Song Countdown 917

Also listed as: Age Of Consent.

Charting alongside it in 1983

Best songs of 1983 →
  1. 1New Year's DayU2
  2. 2Let's DanceDavid Bowie
  3. 3The LovecatsThe Cure
  4. 4Every Breath You TakeThe Police
  5. 5Rebel YellBilly Idol
  6. 6In a Big CountryBig Country

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Age of Consent" by New Order.

Be kind and stay on topic. Guidelines

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.