Closer: Remastered & Expanded - Joy Division

Never has there been a more overhyped death cult than that which came to the fore upon the death of the Joy Division singer, Ian Curtis. JD were undoubtedly and extraordinary, unique band who spawned endless copyists, but the reverence which was applied to them in the year or so following the act was a phenomenon and nearly swamped New Order before they were even started. Dig this - "The emotionaI impact of their music was shattering and irreversible, their records an icy collision of romance and alienation. Between 1977 and 1980, they recorded the two most affecting and influential albums of their generation - and on May 18, 1980 the lifetime of both the ...  Read the complete review

A mortal climax. Have you ever thought of doing something? Just doing it and then leaving. So you don't even see the results? What if I write this, and then skewer myself over the desk as a few Miles ooze into my account... If you have ever wondered, out of harmless curiosity and slight amusement of course, what the world would say, if the Earth's axis stopped enough at the foot of your grave, then this album will speak to you. Closer was not the suicide album we know today. This isn't an In Utero, a layer to Kurt's insular death. It was methodical. Almost part of the plan. Obviously a decision was made and this was to be his legacy. His tragic ...  Read the complete review

Note: The version of 'Closer' I'm referring to is basically disc 2 of Joy Division's 'Heart and soul' box set, alternatively known as 'Closer plus' (the plus pertaining to extra material not from the album) and so I can't comment on things like packaging, just solely on the audio content of 'Closer' - which is the most important aspect anyway. I just thought I'd clear that up. I will not mention the 'plus' songs. Joy Division - 2 albums, a handful of EP's, and a number of live shows, but with infinite legendary status; just how does a band reach so high with so little? It's a formula which only ...  Read the complete review

This album is probably the most bleak, depressing 45 minutes you will ever experience. It is also the most amazing, life-enhancing 45 minutes you will ever experience. This is not a contradiction and this is not hyperbole. Kicking off, quite literally, with the brutal 'Atrocity Exhibition', Closer is obviously a different kettle of fish to Joy Division's first LP, the astoundingly graceful Unknown Pleasures. However, before the gloomy tombstone artwork and dark song titles ('Atrocity Exhibition', 'Passover', 'Isolation') cause you to believe that this is another self-indulgent 'goth' album by a tasteless and ...  Read the complete review