Unknown Pleasures: Remastered & Expanded - Joy Division

Steel and glass, austere and brutal, punctuating the doomy, booming silence of the empty warehouse at the end of the world, symbols of the industrial depression of England in the 70's and 80's, the soundtrack for the Great Unforgotten Hordes and their introverted, careworn lives. Cometh the hour, cometh the men, and into this laden, desolate landscape came four grim faced youths in raincoats with a beat and a voice and a harsh, addictive melody, right for the time, right for the place. Joy Division were everything to some people, wilfully obscure to many, and unknown to most, fashionably hip and cool in their desolation and separateness, taking ...  Read the complete review

Note: The version of 'Unknown Pleasures' I'm reviewing is part of disc 1 of Joy Division's 'Heart and soul' box set, therefore my reviewing is limited to audio content only. 'Unknown Pleasures', a record released at the end of the 70's (when I was born), and at the brink of the 80's. A magnificent record swaying between the end of a decade and the start of another one. It was a record that erected a pole for many good bands to follow. Out of all the late 70's punk bands, Joy Division were one of the few different ones, and good ones. Their concern didn't reside in being politically agressive, rather ...  Read the complete review

The music history of 1980 is dominated by the death of a great musical genius. If you didn't know that this review was of a Joy Division album you might be thinking Mr John Lennon, however I refer to a lesser known but in my opinion greater musical talent, one Ian Kevin Curtis. For on the 18th of May 1980, he took his own life by hanging. Born out of the post punk era, the band originally known as Warsaw first became known on the Manchester scene in 1976. They were signed to Tony Wilson's new record label Factory in 1977, and started to write their first album. The line up consisted of : Ian Curtis : Vocals Bernard Sumner : ...  Read the complete review

Given that Joy Division only released two official albums there is not much room for debate over the relative merits of their catalogue. The only real argument is which of their two albums is better, this debut album or Closer. I think Closer, by critical opinion, just about edges the contest and, in my opinion, rightly so. Not that this isn't a classic, because it is, but Closer is just about the superior product. Although some of the individual efforts on here are more memorable in their own right and the sound is more revolutionary (obviously, given this album came first) you cannot get much more perfect than Closer. A few of the songs on here are a little ...  Read the complete review

This album, for me, acts as the bridge between what The Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols and countless others brought in the forefront of popular punk rock, with, what paved the way for the new romantic era of the 80's. It is an intresting mix of the two genre's with no fixed direction musically, but with destrubing and deep lyric by the late, great Ian Curtis who eventually hung himself through depression. It does tend to become samey towards the end, with, what seem to be endless drum beats, but, if each track is taken on an individual basis, it acts as a fantastic mirror into the tormented soul of Curtis. A stand out track on this LP are ...  Read the complete review