Revenge

Peter Hook of New Order launched Revenge as a side venture that encountered sharp critical disdain and scant commercial traction. The outfit projected a deliberately sleazy persona, evident on its debut album One True Passion through risqué images of women in minimal clothing, while delivering a louder, more abrasive sonic approach than New Order. Hook intended the project to separate him from his established legacy with both Joy Division and New Order. Lacking the stark emotional weight and conceptual rigor of Joy Division or the seamless fusion of rock and dance elements found in New Order, Revenge instead came across as scattered and overly self-absorbed. Hook’s signature pulsating bass lines, a hallmark of his work with Joy Division and New Order, gave way to flatter, less melodic rhythms. Assembled in the late 1980s with Hook, guitarist Dave Hicks, and keyboardist Chris “CJ” Jones, the band made its first appearance onstage at a London bondage party in January 1990, the same year One True Passion arrived. Aiming to provoke, the video for “Pineapple Face” was prohibited after Hook placed a chastity belt around his neck. Hicks later departed, replaced by touring bassist David Potts, and the group issued the EP Gun World Porn in 1992. Critics dismissed Gun World Porn with the same severity as its predecessor. Revenge disbanded that same year, allowing Hook to rejoin New Order; in 1997 he reunited with Potts for the project Monaco.