Joy Division | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Formed in the wake of the punk explosion in England, Joy Division became the first band in the post-punk movement by later emphasizing not anger and energy but mood and expression, pointing ahead to the rise of melancholy alternative music in the 80s. Though the groups raw initial sides fit the bill for any punk band, Joy Division later incorporated synthesizers (taboo in the low-tech world of 70s punk) and more haunting melodies, emphasized by the isolated, tortured lyrics of its lead vocalist, Ian Curtis. While the British punk movement shocked the world during the late 70s, Joy Divisions quiet storm of musical restraint and emotive power proved to be just as important to independent music in the 1980s. The band was founded in early 1977, soon after the Sex Pistols had made their first appearance in Manchester. Guitarist Bernard Albrecht (b. Bernard Dicken, January 4, 1956) and bassist Peter Hook (b. February 13, 1956) had met while at the show and later formed a band called the Stiff Kittens; after placing an ad through a Manchester record store, they added vocalist Ian Curtis (b. July 15, 1956) and drummer Steve Brotherdale. Renamed Warsaw (from David Bowies "Warszawa"), the band made its live debut the following May, supporting the Buzzcocks and Penetration at Manchesters Electric Circus. After the recording of several demos, Brotherdale quit the group in August 1977, prompting the hire of Stephen Morris (b. October 28, 1957). A name change to Joy Division in late 1977 -- necessitated by the punk band Warsaw Pakt -- was inspired by Karol Cetinskys World War II novel The House of Dolls. (In the book, the term "joy division" was used as slang for concentration camp units wherein female inmates were forced to prostitute themselves for the enjoyment of Nazi soldiers.) Playing frequently in the north country during early 1978, the quartet gained the respect of several influential figures: Rob Gretton, a Manchester club DJ who became the groups manager; Tony Wilson, a TV/print journalist and owner of the Factory Records label; and Derek Branwood, a record executive with RCA Northwest, who recorded sessions in May 1978, for what was planned to be Joy Divisions self-titled debut LP. Though several songs bounded with punk energy, the rest of the album showed at an early age the bands later trademarks: Curtis themes of post-industrial restlessness and emotional despair, Hooks droning bass lines, and the jagged guitar riffs of Albrecht. The album should have been hailed as a punk classic, but when a studio engineer added synthesizers to several tracks -- believing that the punk movement had to move on and embrace new sounds -- Joy Division scrapped the entire LP. (Titled Warsaw for a 1982 bootleg, the album was finally given wide issue ten years later.) The first actual Joy Division release came in June 1978, when the initial mid-1977 demos were released as the EP An Ideal for Living, on the bands own Enigma label. Early in 1979, the buzz surrounding Joy Division increased with a session recorded for John Peels BBC radio show. The group began recording with producer Martin Hannett and released Unknown Pleasures on old friend Tony Wilsons Factory label in July 1979. The album enjoyed immense critical acclaim and a long stay on the U.K.s independent charts. Encouraged by the punk buzz, the American Warner Bros. label offered a large distribution contract that fall. The band ignored it but did record another radio session for John Peel on November 26th. (Both sessions were later collected on the Peel Sessions album.) During late 1979, Joy Divisions manic live show gained many converts, partly due to rumors of Curtis ill health. An epilepsy sufferer, he was prone to breakdowns and seizures while on stage -- it soon grew difficult to distinguish the fits from his usual on-stage jerkiness and manic behavior. As the live dates continued and the new decade approached, Curtis grew weaker and more prone to seizures. After a short rest over the Christmas holiday, Joy Division embarked on a European tour during January, though several dates were cancelled because of Curtis. The group began recording its second LP after the tour ended (again with Hannett), and released "Love Will Tear Us Apart" in April. The single was again praised but failed to move beyond the independent charts. After one gig in early May, the members of Joy Division were given two weeks of rest before beginning the groups first U.S. tour. Two days before the scheduled flight, however, Curtis was found dead in his home, the victim of a self-inflicted hanging. Before Curtis death, the band had agreed that Joy Division would cease to exist if any member left, for any reason. Ironically though, the summer of 1980 proved to be the blooming of the bands commercial status, when a re-release of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" rose to number 13 on the British singles chart. In August, the release of Closer finally united critics positivity with glowing sales, as the album peaked at number six. Before the end of the summer, Unknown Pleasures was charting as well. By January of the following year, Hook, Morris, and Albrecht (now Bernard Sumner) had formed New Order, with Sumner taking over vocal duties. Also in 1981, the posthumous release of Still -- including two sides of rare tracks and two of live songs -- rose to number five on the British charts. As New Orders star began to shine during the 80s, the group had trouble escaping the long shadow of Curtis and Joy Division. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" charted for the third time in 1983, and 1988 also proved a big year for the defunct band: the reissued single "Atmosphere" hit number 34 and a double-album compilation entitled Substance reached number seven in the album charts. Seven years later, the 15th anniversary of Curtis death was memorialized with a new JD compilation (Permanent: Joy Division 1995), a tribute album (A Means to an End), and a biography of his life (Touching From a Distance) written by his widow, Deborah Curtis. In 1999, the Factory label began a program of concert-performance reissues -- all overseen by the remainder of the original lineup -- with Preston Warehouse 28 February 1980. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 17 Title: Unknown Pleasures Released: 1979-06-15 Tracks: 10 Duration: 38:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Disorder (03:29) 2 Day of the Lords (04:43) 3 Candidate (03:00) 4 Insight (04:00) 5 New Dawn Fades (04:47) 6 She’s Lost Control (03:40) 7 Shadowplay (03:50) 8 Wilderness (02:35) 9 Interzone (02:10) 10 I Remember Nothing (05:55) |
| Unknown Pleasures : Allmusic album Review : It even looks like something classic, beyond its time or place of origin even as it was a clear product of both -- one of Peter Savilles earliest and best designs, a transcription of a signal showing a star going nova, on a black embossed sleeve. If that were all Unknown Pleasures was, it wouldnt be discussed so much, but the ten songs inside, quite simply, are stone-cold landmarks, the whole album a monument to passion, energy, and cathartic despair. The quantum leap from the earliest thrashy singles to Unknown Pleasures can be heard through every note, with Martin Hannetts deservedly famous production -- emphasizing space in the most revelatory way since the dawn of dub -- as much a hallmark as the music itself. Songs fade in behind furtive noises of motion and activity, glass breaks with the force and clarity of doom, and minimal keyboard lines add to an air of looming disaster -- something, somehow, seems to wait or lurk beyond the edge of hearing. But even though this is Hannetts album as much as anyones, the songs and performances are the true key. Bernard Sumner redefined heavy metal sludge as chilling feedback fear and explosive energy, Peter Hooks instantly recognizable bass work was at once warm and forbidding, and Stephen Morris drumming smacked through the speakers above all else. Ian Curtis synthesizes and purifies every last impulse, his voice shot through with the desire first and foremost to connect, only connect -- as "Candidate" plaintively states, "I tried to get to you/You treat me like this." Pick any song: the nervous death dance of "Shes Lost Control"; the harrowing call for release "New Dawn Fades," all four members in perfect sync; the romance in hell of "Shadowplay"; "Insight" and its nervous drive toward some sort of apocalypse. All visceral, all emotional, all theatrical, all perfect -- one of the best albums ever. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 17 Title: Closer Released: 1980-07-18 Tracks: 9 Duration: 44:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Atrocity Exhibition (06:04) 2 Isolation (02:53) 3 Passover (04:46) 4 Colony (03:55) 5 A Means to an End (04:05) 6 Heart and Soul (05:50) 7 Twenty Four Hours (04:26) 8 The Eternal (06:06) 9 Decades (06:09) |
| Closer : Allmusic album Review : If Unknown Pleasures was Joy Division at their most obsessively, carefully focused, ten songs yet of a piece, Closer was the sprawl, the chaotic explosion that went every direction at once. Who knows what the next path would have been had Ian Curtis not chosen his end? But steer away from the rereading of his every lyric after that date; treat Closer as what everyone else thought it was at first -- simply the next album -- and Joy Divisions power just seems to have grown. Martin Hannett was still producing, but seems to have taken as many chances as the band itself throughout -- differing mixes, differing atmospheres, new twists and turns define the entirety of Closer, songs suddenly returned in chopped-up, crumpled form, ending on hiss and random notes. Opener "Atrocity Exhibition" was arguably the most fractured thing the band had yet recorded, Bernard Sumners teeth-grinding guitar and Stephen Morris Can-on-speed drumming making for one heck of a strange start. Keyboards also took the fore more so than ever -- the drowned pianos underpinning Curtis shadowy moan on "The Eternal," the squirrelly lead synth on the energetic but scared-out-of-its-wits "Isolation," and above all else "Decades," the album ender of album enders. A long slow crawl down and out, Curtis portrait of lost youth inevitably applied to himself soon after, its sepulchral string-synths are practically a requiem. Songs like "Heart and Soul" and especially the jaw-dropping, wrenching "Twenty Four Hours," as perfect a demonstration of the tension/release or soft/loud approach as will ever be heard, simply intensify the experience. Joy Division were at the height of their powers on Closer, equaling and arguably bettering the astonishing Unknown Pleasures, thats how accomplished the four members were. Rock, however defined, rarely seems and sounds so important, so vital, and so impossible to resist or ignore as here. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 17 Title: Still Released: 1981-10-08 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:18:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Exercise One (03:06) 2 Ice Age (02:24) 3 The Sound of Music (03:55) 4 Glass (03:56) 5 The Only Mistake (04:17) 6 Walked in Line (02:47) 7 The Kill (02:15) 8 Something Must Break (02:48) 9 Dead Souls (04:55) 10 Sister Ray (live) (07:36) 11 Ceremony (live) (03:50) 12 Shadowplay (live) (03:57) 13 A Means to an End (live) (04:01) 14 Passover (live) (05:10) 15 New Dawn Fades (live) (04:01) 16 Transmission (live) (03:40) 17 Disorder (live) (03:24) 18 Isolation (live) (03:05) 19 Decades (live) (05:47) 20 Digital (live) (03:52) |
| Still : Allmusic album Review : Ian Curtis death prompted a flood of bootlegs and similar "tributes," likely motivated more by profit than anything else. Seeking to trump this problem -- though arguably coming from much the same standpoint -- Factory issued Still in 1981, a haphazard if still useful collection of odds, ends, and more. Considering that the bands many singles werent properly compiled until much later on Substance, Still makes only partial sense -- the studio cuts were mostly outtakes, while the live songs had their own problems. Of the studio takes, only two tracks had seen formal release beforehand -- the mesmerizing post-punk meets R&B; groove of "Glass" and the searing "Dead Souls," certainly both worthy of even more listens. Beyond that, things were more hit and miss, with strong instrumental performances given to slightly indifferent songs and vice versa. The anthemic "Something Must Break" is one of the best, while the nervous "Ice Age" is an agreeable enough thrash and "The Only Mistake" a melodramatic but still effective effort. Other numbers like "The Sound of Music" and the heavily compressed pound of "Walked in Line" sound more like sketches on the way to becoming truly great songs. A live ringer concludes the studio half, a fair enough take on the Velvet Undergrounds "Sister Ray" (at under half the length) which concludes with Curtis wry joke, "You should hear our version of Louie, Louie!" The remainder of Still is a rather morbid gift for fans -- a middling recording of the final Joy Division show, mere days before Curtis death. A fierce, invigorating rip through "Ceremony," formally recorded later as New Orders first single, suffers from Curtis vocal going missing at the start, while the remainder of the show finds the singer either too detached or too harsh, the other musicians doing an OK but not great job themselves. The takes on "New Dawn Fades" and "Decades" in particular tarnish rather than enhance Joy Divisions memory. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 17 Title: Substance Released: 1988-06 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:02:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Warsaw (02:26) 2 Leaders of Men (02:35) 3 Digital (02:50) 4 Autosuggestion (06:08) 5 Transmission (03:36) 6 She’s Lost Control (04:45) 7 Incubation (02:52) 8 Dead Souls (04:55) 9 Atmosphere (04:10) 10 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:26) 11 No Love Lost (03:43) 12 Failures (03:44) 13 Glass (03:53) 14 From Safety to Where…? (02:27) 15 Novelty (03:59) 16 Komakino (03:52) 17 These Days (03:26) |
| Substance : Allmusic album Review : After New Order released their own Substance compilation in 1987, it was perhaps inevitable that a similar and long-overdue collection would apply to Joy Division, especially given the out-of-print status of many of the bands singles. The end result turned up in 1988, and as a listen easily demonstrated that the same sheer sweep and energy that applied to the band over a full-length album similarly worked, even more so, with the focus of a 7" or 12" release. Though the earliest tracks like "Warsaw" and "Leaders of Men" were a strange sort of art punk, there was already something distinct about the group, and by the time of "Digital" and "Autosuggestion," it was perfectly apparent. The former centered around Curtis circular declarations of repetition and angst, while "Autosuggestion" builds up slowly, carefully, before an invigorating final rush. After that, "Transmission," a cold blue laser light of power, sneaking on an echo of synth and Hooks commanding bass before Morris, recorded brilliantly by Hannett, simply takes control. And from there, up and up, the whole band reaching a peak with Curtis anguished scream "And we could dance!" As gripping as that is, by the time of its final singles, Joy Division outstripped even that -- "Atmosphere" and "Dead Souls" arguably make some of the best singles ever, the former a haunting, minimal call, the latter an ever more wired and explosive portrait of demand on a soul, from some inescapable outside force. Then, of course, "Love Will Tear Us Apart," Joy Divisions eternal calling card, the inadvertent final bow, the blueprint for endless cover versions, a portrait of love and connection endlessly turning in on itself to destruction, set to a beautiful melody and one of the bands warmest performances ever. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 17 Title: The Peel Sessions Released: 1990-09 Tracks: 8 Duration: 30:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Exercise One (02:32) 2 Insight (03:55) 3 Shes Lost Control (04:11) 4 Transmission (03:56) 5 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:24) 6 Twenty Four Hours (04:10) 7 Colony (04:04) 8 Sound of Music (04:21) |
| The Peel Sessions : Allmusic album Review : Joy Division recorded its first John Peel Session in January and second in November of 1979. The groups first full-length release, Unknown Pleasures, would hit the streets between the two -- around the same time Manchesters sewage system collapsed (at least the city had something to celebrate in its hometown bands brilliant debut). The sessions were originally available as separate EPs; the first included the initial four tracks, the second the remaining four. They were rendered somewhat redundant once combined into this recording. Then it too became redundant upon the appearance of the Heart & Soul box set in 1998 and The Complete BBC Recordings two years later. The latter includes all eight tracks plus two others (additional live versions of "Transmission" and "Shes Lost Control") recorded for BBC2 in September of the same year, plus a short interview with vocalist Ian Curtis and drummer Stephen Morris from BBC Radio 1. "Exercise One" opens the set with a squeal of feedback and a deep, primal drumbeat. It ends abruptly (and bears a slight resemblance to the short sharp shocks of early Gang of Four). A repeating, high-pitched keyboard pattern distinguishes "Insight," whereas "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is considerably faster than the stately, elegiac single that would be released the following year. The rest of the tracks are fairly straightforward, just a little more raw than the studio versions. Throughout, Curtis sounds as committed to the material as ever, particularly "Transmission" ("Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance/To the radio"), where he sounds as if he could go on forever, singing the same lyrics over and over. Its a hypnotic performance. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 17 Title: 1977–1980 Released: 1991-11-21 Tracks: 58 Duration: 3:54:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Disorder (03:32) 2 Day of the Lords (04:49) 3 Candidate (03:05) 4 Insight (04:29) 5 New Dawn Fades (04:47) 6 She’s Lost Control (03:57) 7 Shadowplay (03:55) 8 Wilderness (02:38) 9 Interzone (02:16) 10 I Remember Nothing (05:52) 1 Atrocity Exhibition (06:04) 2 Isolation (02:53) 3 Passover (04:46) 4 Colony (03:55) 5 A Means to an End (04:05) 6 Heart and Soul (05:50) 7 Twenty Four Hours (04:26) 8 The Eternal (06:06) 9 Decades (06:09) 1 Exercise One (03:06) 2 Ice Age (02:24) 3 The Sound of Music (03:55) 4 Glass (03:56) 5 The Only Mistake (04:17) 6 Walked in Line (02:47) 7 The Kill (02:15) 8 Something Must Break (02:48) 9 Dead Souls (04:55) 10 Sister Ray (live) (07:36) 11 Ceremony (live) (03:50) 12 Shadowplay (live) (03:57) 13 A Means to an End (live) (04:01) 14 Passover (live) (05:10) 15 New Dawn Fades (live) (04:01) 16 Transmission (live) (03:40) 17 Disorder (live) (03:24) 18 Isolation (live) (03:05) 19 Decades (live) (05:47) 20 Digital (live) (03:52) 1 Warsaw (02:26) 2 Leaders of Men (02:35) 3 Digital (02:50) 4 Autosuggestion (06:08) 5 Transmission (03:36) 6 She’s Lost Control (04:45) 7 Incubation (02:52) 8 Dead Souls (04:55) 9 Atmosphere (04:10) 10 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:26) 11 No Love Lost (03:43) 12 Failures (03:44) 13 Glass (03:53) 14 From Safety to Where…? (02:27) 15 Novelty (03:59) 16 Komakino (03:52) 17 These Days (03:26) 1 Atmosphere (04:10) 2 She’s Lost Control (04:45) |
 | Album: 7 of 17 Title: Permanent Released: 1995-06 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:04:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:11) 2 Transmission (03:34) 3 She’s Lost Control (03:57) 4 Shadow Play (03:53) 5 Day of the Lords (04:45) 6 Isolation (02:53) 7 Passover (04:46) 8 Heart and Soul (05:48) 9 Twenty Four Hours (04:26) 10 These Days (03:27) 11 Novelty (04:00) 12 Dead Souls (04:53) 13 The Only Mistake (04:13) 14 Something Must Break (02:52) 15 Atmosphere (04:10) 16 Love Will Tear Us Apart (Permanent mix) (03:37) |
| Permanent : Allmusic album Review : Not many rock bands have touched Joy Divisions ability to drag listeners to the very edge of the psyches dark precipice, leaving them dangling there, uncertain of finding a safe ledge. Commanding lead vocalist Ian Curtis kept pushing his personal journey through the heart of darkness until no return was possible -- his May 1980 suicide left behind one of the most moving epitaphs of all time in "Love Will Tear Us Apart." Perhaps of greater interest to newcomers than to veterans, Permanent: Joy Division 1995 bestows a more expansive, less claustrophobic remix on 16 key tracks. If your music library is Joy Division-free, Permanent is an essential addition. "This is the room, the start of it all..." | ||
 | Album: 8 of 17 Title: Heart and Soul Released: 1997-12-08 Tracks: 81 Duration: 5:08:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Digital (02:50) 2 Glass (03:56) 3 Disorder (03:32) 4 Day of the Lords (04:49) 5 Candidate (03:05) 6 Insight (04:29) 7 New Dawn Fades (04:47) 8 She’s Lost Control (03:57) 9 Shadowplay (03:55) 10 Wilderness (02:38) 11 Interzone (02:16) 12 I Remember Nothing (05:56) 13 Ice Age (02:24) 14 Exercise One (03:06) 15 Transmission (03:36) 16 Novelty (03:59) 17 The Kill (02:15) 18 The Only Mistake (04:17) 19 Something Must Break (02:53) 20 Autosuggestion (06:08) 21 From Safety to Where…? (02:27) 1 She’s Lost Control (12″ version) (04:56) 2 Sound of Music (03:56) 3 Atmosphere (04:10) 4 Dead Souls (04:55) 5 Komakino (03:52) 6 Incubation (02:52) 7 Atrocity Exhibition (06:04) 8 Isolation (02:53) 9 Passover (04:46) 10 Colony (03:55) 11 A Means to an End (04:05) 12 Heart and Soul (05:50) 13 Twenty Four Hours (04:26) 14 The Eternal (06:06) 15 Decades (06:09) 16 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:26) 17 These Days (03:26) 1 Warsaw (02:26) 2 No Love Lost (03:43) 3 Leaders of Men (02:35) 4 Failures (03:44) 5 The Drawback (RCA demo) (01:46) 6 Interzone (RCA demo) (02:11) 7 Shadowplay (RCA demo) (04:10) 8 Exercise One (John Peel session) (02:28) 9 Insight (Genetic Records session) (04:05) 10 Glass (Genetic Records session) (03:28) 11 Transmission (Genetic Records session) (03:51) 12 Dead Souls (Transmission session 1) (04:55) 13 Something Must Break (Transmission session 1) (02:54) 14 Ice Age (Genetic Records session) (02:36) 15 Walked in Line (02:47) 16 These Days (Piccadilly Radio session) (03:27) 17 Candidate (Piccadilly Radio session) (01:57) 18 The Only Mistake (Piccadilly Radio session) (03:43) 19 Chance (Atmosphere) (Piccadilly Radio session) (04:54) 20 Love Will Tear Us Apart (John Peel session) (03:22) 21 Colony (John Peel session) (04:03) 22 As You Said (01:56) 23 Ceremony (rehearsal) (04:21) 24 In a Lonely Place (detail) (rehearsal) (02:26) 1 Dead Souls (04:15) 2 The Only Mistake (04:05) 3 Insight (03:46) 4 Candidate (02:03) 5 Wilderness (02:27) 6 She’s Lost Control (03:40) 7 Disorder (03:12) 8 Interzone (02:04) 9 Atrocity Exhibition (05:57) 10 Novelty (04:21) 11 Autosuggestion (04:05) 12 I Remember Nothing (05:32) 13 Colony (03:53) 14 These Days (03:50) 15 Incubation (03:38) 16 The Eternal (06:32) 17 Heart and Soul (04:43) 18 Isolation (03:14) 19 She’s Lost Control (05:26) |
| Heart and Soul : Allmusic album Review : With the exception of Joy Divisions last single, Love Will Tear Us Apart, which faded out gradually into the anguished silence of singer Ian Curtis suicide, none of the bands songs ever really ended; they either fell apart or collapsed, as if to bring about a proper end to something beyond their grasp. Joy Division couldnt stand still. After introducing the listener to a world of shadow, unspeakable beauty, hopeless vulnerability, terror, and love so pure it contains loss and death, not only in Curtis lyrics but in the musics totality and power, the band needed to move on to the next signpost, the next weighstation of the unknowable. In the late 70s, in the aftermath of punks self-consuming, self-absorbed disintegration, Joy Division changed everything. This quartet from Manchester, England, went, in a very brief time, from just another three-chord-wielding bunch of louts called Warsaw, who took themselves too seriously, to become an entity that challenged you to believe that music could take you to places you never really dreamed you could go, and perhaps never wanted to. This four-CD box set, comprising 80 tracks (about five hours), includes virtually everything the band ever recorded. It was originally issued in the U.K. in 1997, and available only sporadically as a ridiculously expensive import. The Warner Bros. edition is identical with the exception of the quality of the paper stock used on the boxs cover; its a bit thinner, but also a bit glossier, so its a tradeoff (this writer prefers the American issue). It contains all of the Warsaw material, both studio albums (Unknown Pleasures and Closer), all of the singles, live material, both John Peel sessions, and a number of studio demos and alternate takes. Among the singles, there are the tracks from the very-limited-edition Sordide Sentimental single "Atmosphere" b/w "Dead Souls" and the Earcom 2 compilation tracks "Autosuggestion" and "From Safety to Where...?" There are even early, rough studio versions of "Ceremony" and "In a Lonely Place" with Curtis on vocals; these songs comprised New Orders first single when the remaining band members continued after Curtis death. As Paul Morley states so accurately in his liner notes: "Joy Division showed me with a dizzying dip of the mind, the dark." The package is handsome beyond belief, a long box that presents itself like a landscape designed in typical Factory Records fashion by Peter Saville, Jon Wozencroft, and Howard Wakefield. There are plenty of gorgeous photographs and plenty to read, not only by Morley and John Savage but also reflections by the remaining bandmembers themselves. The lyrics are all here, courtesy of Deborah Curtis, Ians widow. But package and legend aside, its the music that is most mysterious. Nearly 20 years after the bands dissolution, it still sounds so forward, so out of time and place as to be not only current but also perhaps even timeless. In four minutes of any Joy Division song, one could enter worlds of pain, loss, rage, and rebirth (or, alternately, travel those worlds in the reverse order). Influenced by the Velvet Underground and punk rock, Joy Division went far beyond those entities in search of something that was unobtainable in rock & roll. Rock was only the place where these artists looked together to make the world of appearances disappear. This disappearance happened somewhere inside the music, in a split between rhythm and lyric, where guitars and drums forced each other to take comfort in something that was too large, open, and unwieldy to be contained within a song. Joy Division took on the pop world and did everything wrong, but it did so only to take the music one step further out of the pop context and one step deeper into the world of human beings. The band was hidden, never flashy, issuing singles that never appeared on albums and playing manic sets that never quite ended. Joy Division took upon itself the kind of discovery that pop music is never supposed to acquaint itself with. These musicians were foolish, young enough to think that not only could they make money at playing their own torridly alienated and lonely brand of pop music, but that they actually could effect permanent change -- if only in their own lives. They left just a small bit of music and an echo that still rings as the guitars and drums clatter on into the future. Joy Division, as these recordings bear witness to, is still out there on some wasted frontier looking for something uncontained or possessed by lyrical considerations, notes churning in the void, or a murky, echoplexed mix. Its music falls apart endlessly as it takes listeners through the moments in their own lives that require a soundtrack. The records in this set are not for reflection or merely documentation; they still point a way toward what might be, not only in the future of pop but in the darkened hallways of the human heart. The music heeds Ian Curtis own dictum from the song "Atmosphere": "Dont walk away in silence." As a pop band, Joy Division failed, because its music hasnt become disposable or dismissible. It has become art by virtue not only of its influence and longevity, but by its willingness to shroud itself in mystery, challenging not just rock & roll and its now predictable stasis of convention, but the nature of aesthetic life (i.e., art) itself. As a result, this collection is among the most essential relics from the post-punk era. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 17 Title: Preston 28 February 1980 Released: 1999-05-24 Tracks: 12 Duration: 49:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Incubation (03:06) 2 Wilderness (03:02) 3 Twenty Four Hours (04:39) 4 The Eternal (08:39) 5 Heart and Soul (04:46) 6 Shadowplay (03:50) 7 Transmission (03:23) 8 Disorder (03:23) 9 Warsaw (02:48) 10 Colony (04:16) 11 Interzone (02:28) 12 She’s Lost Control (05:02) |
| Preston 28 February 1980 : Allmusic album Review : The Heart and Soul set rectified the errors of Still by including some far better live performances on its fourth and final disc, but Joy Division aficionados spoke of even better recordings still never formally released. This complaint was settled with Preston, the first of two archival concert recordings, both of which finally do justice to the bands stage work. Its an important point, since Joy Division were a band able to work on three different levels with equal brilliance -- on singles, album, and in concert -- and Preston is the first real document able to demonstrate the latter point beyond question. Though the performance was beset with technical woes, as the members audibly mention at points between songs, there was still definite magic in the air. If the recording levels arent as perfect as they could be, with Curtis himself sometimes a touch too muffled, theyre certainly a cut above simple bootleg sound, while the quartet itself generally exchange the subtler shadows for a more direct but no less gripping approach. Nearly half of Closer appears some months before its release. The arrangements were already well worked out, "Twenty Four Hours" shifting effortlessly between lower-key brooding and explosion; "The Eternal" given a quietly majestic, unsettling extended opening, Morris crisp, weirdly thin drums and Sumners wheezing, distanced keyboards leading the way. Curtis projects his expected air of desperation mixed with intense fire, but even when the levels reduce him to a slur hes nothing less than commanding, his lyrics cutting through the music with intensity. In direct contrast to the Closer version, his singing on "Heart and Soul" is much more upfront, though heavily drenched with reverb. Sumner in particular kicks up a storm on guitar, familiar riffs from the studio takes bursting with energy, slashing across the songs (theres no other way to describe the performances on "Wilderness," "Shadowplay," and "Transmission"). | ||
 | Album: 10 of 17 Title: The Complete BBC Recordings Released: 2000-08-07 Tracks: 11 Duration: 41:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Exercise One (02:32) 2 Insight (03:52) 3 Shes Lost Control (04:11) 4 Transmission (03:58) 5 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:25) 6 Twenty Four Hours (04:08) 7 Colony (04:05) 8 Sound of Music (04:27) 9 Transmission (03:18) 10 Shes Lost Control (03:44) 11 Ian Curtis & Stephen Morris Interviewed by Richard Skinner (03:32) |
| The Complete BBC Recordings : Allmusic album Review : When Ian Curtis committed suicide by hanging himself in the kitchen of his ex-wifes home in 1980, he left behind a masterfully talented band and only two legitimate studio albums (if one ignores the aborted first attempt "ruined" by an overzealous engineer and some synthesizers). As with other influential acts, the subsequent years have been filled with releases of miscellaneous records, bootlegs, posthumous videos, and other collections. Two recorded performances of note were Joy Divisions appearances on the John Peel show in January and November 1979. These sessions were issued later as two four-song EPs on the Strange Fruit label. In 2000, the BBC released several of its recordings to the Fuel 2000 label, including everything on tape by Joy Division; hence the name of this collection -- The Complete BBC Recordings. Both Peel Sessions EPs are here, as well as two songs performed live on the Something Else television show on September 1, 1979. The Something Else recording is significant -- it is some of the bands most heavily bootlegged material, featuring Curtis performing in full glory. A three-minute interview of Curtis and Stephen Morris with Richard Skinner on BBC Radio 1 is also included, providing a valuable look at the human side of one-half of the band. Surprisingly enough, Curtis and Morris come across as quite cheerful fellows despite the dark songs they produced. Jokes are even cracked about Gary Numans then-recent comments about "machine rock" being the wave of the future, and Joy Divisions shrugging off of that title. Of course, after Curtis death, the remaining band members formed New Order, a group known for its synthesizer-laden dance-pop sound. Funny how that turned out. The recorded performances themselves are of exceptional quality, and the two extra songs help dispel the myth that Joy Division wasnt particularly good in a live setting. The second versions of "Transmission" and "Shes Lost Control" even take on a much more aggressive quality than what was originally put to tape. The production of the drums alone reveals a difference from Martin Hannetts methods; instead of the cold beating of the studio albums, a thicker, slightly more distorted impact exists. Curtis vocals alternate between the "very bored Brit" style that Stephin Merritt would later perfect and a style much more feisty and energetic than Curtis had been known for. The Complete BBC Recordings is a fine collection of Joy Divisions broadcast performances, especially for the bands fans who do not want to hunt down the Strange Fruit releases. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 17 Title: Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979 Released: 2001 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:05:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Disorder (03:21) 2 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:17) 3 Insight (03:25) 4 Shadowplay (03:46) 5 Transmission (03:19) 6 Day of the Lords (04:39) 7 Twenty Four Hours (04:12) 8 These Days (03:42) 9 A Means to an End (04:17) 10 Passover (02:18) 11 New Dawn Fades (04:40) 12 Atrocity Exhibition (06:56) 13 Digital (03:39) 14 Dead Souls (04:46) 15 Autosuggestion (04:13) 16 Atmosphere (04:48) |
| Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979 : Allmusic album Review : If Preston finally provided a live Joy Division experience that was worth the purchase price, Les Bains Douches trumped it and then some. Actually compiled from two differing dates -- the title performance itself, in Paris, and a further show in Amsterdam two months later that had been heavily bootlegged -- Les Bains Douches, with the benefit of clearer sound than Preston, finally presents the experience of live Joy Division as the explosive event it was. There arent any noticeable technical problems with the performances either, unlike some of the problems noticed on Preston, and with everything running smoothly the foursome simply and totally let go. The band often complained that Martin Hannetts groundbreaking production inevitably quashed the direct force of the group in a live setting, which Les Bains Douches demonstrates in spades, with the space in the songs toned down in favor of commanding an audience. The musicians in particular are who really stand out this time around -- while Curtis singing is much more audible here than on Preston, its the direct smack of Morris drums, the fierce growl of Hooks bass, and especially Sumners sheer volume mixed with almost-frightening control that dominates both shows. The performances on both "Shadowplay" and "Transmission" in particular are practically definitive, as enthralling as the studio takes are. Both "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "These Days" crop up as well, and if the keyboards by Sumner on the former sound a bit primitive to later ears, the beautiful flow of the song stays perfectly intact. The Amsterdam cuts are equally thrilling, ranging from an extended, fascinating take on "Atrocity Exhibition" to a haunting rendition of "Atmosphere." Other performances worthy of note include strong takes on "New Dawn Fades" and "Dead Souls." | ||
 | Album: 12 of 17 Title: Martin Hannett’s Personal Mixes Released: 2007-05 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:06:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Synth tone (00:16) 2 Hannett’s Lift Recording 1 (01:47) 3 Joy Division Keyboard Doodles (04:20) 4 Hannett’s Lift Recording 2 (02:36) 5 Joy Division Number False Start 1 (00:48) 6 Curtis, Hannett, Gretton Interplay, Chit Chat and Cup Smashing (01:13) 7 Hannett Speaks (00:34) 8 Joy Division Number False Start 2 (00:06) 9 From Safety to Where…? (02:27) 10 Autosuggestion (06:08) 11 Heart and Soul (05:50) 12 N4 Europop (06:10) 13 24 Hours (04:28) 14 Passover (04:46) 15 N4 (06:08) 16 N4 (06:07) 17 The Eternal (06:20) 18 The Eternal (06:13) |
| Martin Hannett’s Personal Mixes : Allmusic album Review : So, youve worn out the three essential Joy Division discs, Closer, Unknown Pleasures, and Substance. You even own the Complete BBC Recordings, a few live discs, and the hefty Heart and Soul box set. What next? Well, if you are an absolute diehard, you might want to dig into Martin Hannetts Personal Mixes, but buyer beware; this is probably a last resort even for the utmost fan. Unless you have a craving to hear the original elevator lift recordings that were used on the beginning of Unknown Pleasures "Insight" or song outtakes that sound nearly identical to the originals, theres not much material here that will interest the casual listener. The first eight tracks of the disc are clips of studio white noise, a few false starts, a couple minutes of keyboard tuning, and some occasional chit-chat in the talk-back mike. None of this is very informative and theres barely any insight provided about Hannetts brilliance as a producer. Instead, you get clips of him saying "lets try one" or casually telling Ian Curtis to "fuck off" after a flubbed take. Essentially, the discs most interesting moments are during the six songs included here; dry versions of "Autosuggestion" and "From Safety to Where...?," slightly alternate versions of "Passover," "Heart and Soul," "24 Hours," and multiple takes of "Decades" (titled "N4"). It is interesting to hear a little more reverb, a darker bass tone in the mix, or exactly what an unmastered version sounds like, but the changes are so minor, it will take a devout fan to notice the variations, or even care about the differences enough to wade through the unremarkable muck. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 17 Title: In Memory Released: 2007-09-17 Tracks: 40 Duration: 2:45:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Disorder (03:32) 2 Day of the Lords (04:49) 3 Candidate (03:05) 4 Insight (04:29) 5 New Dawn Fades (04:47) 6 She’s Lost Control (03:57) 7 Shadowplay (03:55) 8 Wilderness (02:38) 9 Interzone (02:16) 10 I Remember Nothing (05:52) 1 Atrocity Exhibition (06:04) 2 Isolation (02:53) 3 Passover (04:46) 4 Colony (03:55) 5 A Means to an End (04:05) 6 Heart and Soul (05:50) 7 Twenty Four Hours (04:26) 8 The Eternal (06:06) 9 Decades (06:09) 1 Exercise One (03:06) 2 Ice Age (02:27) 3 The Sound of Music (03:55) 4 Glass (03:56) 5 The Only Mistake (04:17) 6 Walked in Line (02:47) 7 The Kill (02:15) 8 Something Must Break (02:48) 9 Dead Souls (04:55) 10 Sister Ray (live) (07:36) 1 Ceremony (03:50) 2 Shadowplay (03:54) 3 Means to an End (04:01) 4 Passover (05:05) 5 New Dawn Fades (04:01) 6 Twenty Four Hours (04:00) 7 Transmission (03:33) 8 Disorder (03:20) 9 Isolation (03:05) 10 Decades (05:22) 11 Digital (03:53) |
 | Album: 14 of 17 Title: The Best of Joy Division Released: 2008-03-24 Tracks: 14 Duration: 55:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Digital (02:50) 2 Disorder (03:32) 3 Shadowplay (03:55) 4 New Dawn Fades (04:47) 5 Transmission (03:36) 6 Atmosphere (04:10) 7 Dead Souls (04:55) 8 She’s Lost Control (12″ version) (04:56) 9 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:26) 10 These Days (03:26) 11 Twenty Four Hours (04:26) 12 Heart and Soul (05:50) 13 Incubation (02:52) 14 Isolation (02:53) |
| The Best of Joy Division : Allmusic album Review : Now that Unknown Pleasures, Closer, and Still have been given the deluxe two-disc reissue treatment -- which coincided with a movie, Control, and followed, throughout the previous 20 years, the Substance and Permanent compilations, the Heart and Soul box set, a couple live discs, a BBC disc, tribute sneakers, a tribute Zune, and tribute bands (few of which performed actual covers) -- there might as well be an official point of introduction with a straightforward title. Just happening to coincide with the release of Grant Gees eponymous documentary, The Best of Joy Division is a 14-track, 55-minute grab bag of scattered tracks from the bands discography. It is impossible to call these the best, or even the highlights, when the band recorded no obvious lowlights and (only in a relative sense) a handful of midlights. Not including alternate mixes or demos that have floated out in various forms, Joy Division recorded short of 50 songs, none of which would be completely unjustifiable on a single-disc summary. Beyond the no-brainers "Love Will Tear Us Apart," "Shes Lost Control," "Transmission," and "Atmosphere," the program doesnt lean in any one direction, pulling fairly evenly from the two proper albums while offering seven tracks that were compiled originally for Substance. It is kind of strange, however, that the somewhat slight instrumental "Incubation" was chosen over "Atrocity Exhibition" and "A Means to an End," and that there is nothing from An Ideal for Living (the bands first release, a four-track EP), especially when there were 25 minutes of available space on the disc. While this is one of many ways to become acquainted with a body of work that adds up to some of the most tense, precise, and powerful rock music made, the best solution is to get as much as possible at once and submit. [The two-disc version adds the entire contents of The Complete BBC Recordings: the bands sessions for John Peel, the two songs from their Something Else performance, and an interview.] | ||
 | Album: 15 of 17 Title: In the Studio with Martin Hannett Released: 2008-06-16 Tracks: 25 Duration: 1:38:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Digital Ambience Warmth, Rooms Warm-Up, Shakin Speaker Dust Off (01:00) 2 Digital Full Track (02:35) 3 Noise Drums Sine Warm-Up (02:13) 4 Square Heat Ambience Workout (01:42) 5 Glass - Breakout Full Track (03:13) 6 Synth Ambience Warm-Up (05:18) 7 Ambience Atmosphere Warm-Up (16:16) 8 Atmosphere Setting Up (05:21) 9 Drums and Bass Full Atmosphere Warm-Up Silence (01:10) 10 Atmosphere Full Track Metronome Intro Hannett Intro Question Etc (03:56) 11 Metronome Initial Adjustments #1 (00:53) 12 Metronome Initial Adjustments, No. 2 Industrial Build Up Etc... (00:42) 13 Dead Souls Sound Check Drums Recognition Check... (00:06) 14 Dead Souls + Metronome Intro Adjustment Full Track Etc... (05:40) 15 Cups Smash "Synth Filters Sweeps" Take #1 (10:20) 16 Hannett Interview Something Fishy (00:39) 17 Ice Age Bass Ambience Warm-Up (00:56) 1 Full Track Ice Age (02:21) 2 Bass Intro Noise Ambience (08:38) 3 Clapping Drums Clapping Prog *.* N4 Complete Full Track + Noise (05:55) 4 Full Track N4 Programming Bass Guitar (05:18) 5 Full Eternal Track (06:00) 6 More N4 Drum Programming Bass Guitar (03:58) 7 N4 Industrial (02:50) 8 N4 More Warm-Up (01:06) |
 | Album: 16 of 17 Title: +− Released: 2010-12-06 Tracks: 21 Duration: 1:16:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Warsaw (02:26) 2 Leaders of Men (02:35) 1 No Love Lost (03:44) 2 Failures (03:44) 1 Digital (02:51) 2 Glass (03:57) 1 Autosuggestion (06:08) 2 From Safety to Where (02:29) 1 Transmission (03:36) 2 Novelty (04:00) 1 Atmosphere (04:10) 2 Dead Souls (04:54) 1 Komakino (03:54) 2 Incubation (02:52) 3 As You Said (01:56) 1 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:26) 2 These Days (03:26) 1 Shes Lost Control (04:45) 2 Love Will Tear Us Apart 2 (Pennine version) (03:13) 1 Isolation (02:52) 2 Heart and Soul (05:50) |
 | Album: 17 of 17 Title: Total: From Joy Division to New Order Released: 2011-06-06 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:16:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Transmission (03:36) 2 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:26) 3 Isolation (02:53) 4 Shes Lost Control (04:45) 5 Atmosphere (04:10) 6 Ceremony (04:37) 7 Temptation (05:16) 8 Blue Monday (07:28) 9 Thieves Like Us (03:54) 10 The Perfect Kiss (04:27) 11 Bizarre Love Triangle (03:40) 12 True Faith (album edit) (04:13) 13 Fine Time (03:08) 14 World in Motion (04:30) 15 Regret (7" version) (04:09) 16 Crystal (04:20) 17 Krafty (single edit) (03:47) 18 Hellbent (04:29) |
| Total: From Joy Division to New Order : Allmusic album Review : Total: From Joy Division to New Order, issued by Rhino U.K. in 2011, is an unavoidably awkward attempt at distilling the output of two connected bands to a single disc. Should you happen to want the biggest hits and an assortment of highlights, this might do the trick: “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” “Blue Monday,” and “Bizarre Love Triangle” are all included. Both Joy Division and New Order released crucial studio albums and were the subjects of landmark singles compilations. This release drastically shortchanges their legacies. There is no point to the discs existence, unless you factor the one previously unreleased outtake -- a weak one at that -- recorded by New Order in 2005. | ||