Classic Album #9: Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division

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Classic Album #9: Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division, A change of speed, a change of style...

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ϑЃεβϘ View member profile	28th February 2015, 09:14 AM Post #1
I Was Born Free Joined: 23 October 2006 Posts: 5,717 User: 1,751	Watched the Joy Division documentary on BBC4 last night and just had to post about this today. From probably one of the most iconic covers of all time, right up there with The Velvet Underground and Sgt. Pepper, to the incredibly dense, majestic music inside, this is class through and through. Incredibly influential (and not just on Interpol!) hosts of bands have used their bass heavy sound as a template. wVvoQIdD80U 01 Disorder 3:36 02 Day Of The Lords 4:43 03 Candidate 3:00 04 Insight 4:00 05 New Dawn Fades 4:47 06 She’s Lost Control 3:40 07 Shadowplay 3:50 08 Wilderness 2:35 09 Interzone 2:10 10 I Remember Nothing 6:00 Have you listened to this album? Do you rate the music? The lyrics? Any other Joy Division material?


Colm View member profile	28th February 2015, 10:04 AM Post #2
Yes, it's me. Joined: 4 November 2009 Posts: 19,813 User: 9,885	I also watched some of the documentary last night - I was interrupted by a friend calling over so I recorded the rest. The center piece of this album represents some of their finest music for me. 05 New Dawn Fades 4:47 06 She’s Lost Control 3:40 07 Shadowplay 3:50 Being a huge New Order fan, Joy Division are a band that I have tried hard to love and slowly I grew to love some of their stuff. When they hit the mark it is as devastating as when Radiohead hit the mark - The Eternal, New Dawn Fades are almost supernaturally dismal. I have the boxset - Heart and Soul. All this being said, I only enjoy about 10 JD tracks - but those ten really affect me. This post has been edited by AntoineTTe: 2nd March 2015, 09:34 AM


ϑЃεβϘ View member profile	28th February 2015, 10:18 AM Post #3
I Was Born Free Joined: 23 October 2006 Posts: 5,717 User: 1,751	Although it's not on the album, this reduced me to tears last night - so beautiful: 1EdUjlawLJM


Colm View member profile	28th February 2015, 10:23 AM Post #4
Yes, it's me. Joined: 4 November 2009 Posts: 19,813 User: 9,885	That is my favourite of their singles.


dhwe View member profile	28th February 2015, 11:18 AM Post #5
BuzzJack Gold Member Joined: 20 November 2014 Posts: 2,589 User: 21,384	I was obsessed with Joy Division when I was 15 and Unknown Pleasures was among my favorite albums. My favorite track on it is "Disorder", probably one of my favorite album openers. I need to revisit the album though, I haven't listened to it (or the band) in ages!


Severin View member profile	28th February 2015, 12:08 PM Post #6
Mansonette Joined: 3 November 2009 Posts: 6,927 User: 9,872	Easily among my all time favourite albums. It retains its power to this day and its legacy cannot be overstated. Joy Division always held a mystery and allure that, for me at least, left them when Curtis did. New Order never quite managed to match those peaks.


Colm View member profile	28th February 2015, 01:54 PM Post #7
Yes, it's me. Joined: 4 November 2009 Posts: 19,813 User: 9,885	They were a different band to New Order. It's almost like comparing the Manics pre- and post-Richie eras. A comparison that got made at the time of Everything Must Go. I suppose the first New Order album was comparable in sound but after Power, Corruption and Lies they had changed their sound so much that it was different switches in the listeners heads that were being flipped when listening to both bands.


Severin View member profile	1st March 2015, 05:31 PM Post #8
Mansonette Joined: 3 November 2009 Posts: 6,927 User: 9,872	Absolutely they were a different band. That's kind of the point I'm trying to make. Whilst I wouldn't want to say it was all down to Ian, it does seem that when he died they lost that ingredient x, that spark that made them more than just a good band but a truly special one.


richie View member profile	2nd March 2015, 09:25 AM Post #9
Poet and Storyteller Joined: 11 March 2006 Posts: 6,753 User: 166	I don't know if it was Ian that necessarily gave Joy Division that different sound to New Order, it's a combination of things. Joy Division started out at the tail-end of punk (listen to Warsaw's stuff for the punkier influence) and evolved at the same time as PiL, Gang of Four, Wire etc. so it's not surprising that Unknown Pleasures has that same kind of raw sound. When the synths were brought in for Closer, it made everything a bit more dismal and haunting as the band tended to write in a minor key (or is that just me?) Martin Hannett stopped working with New Order after Movement. Like it or not, New Order were part of defining pop music in the early 80s and, by the mid 80s, were pretty mainstream so it's not surprising the songs got 'happier'. Nobody can say for sure how they'd have gone if Ian lived but it's been said enough already that Curtis wasn't the depressed doom-monger everyone thinks. Annoyed that I missed the JD doc on Friday - was it a new one? As for Unknown Pleasures, it's a practically flawless album and, indeed, 'Disorder' is one of the finest ever opening tracks. Also, 'Transmission' which was released just before, is one of the best songs ever, period. Just like 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' which preceded 'Closer'.


Colm View member profile	2nd March 2015, 09:34 AM Post #10
Yes, it's me. Joined: 4 November 2009 Posts: 19,813 User: 9,885	QUOTE(richie @ Mar 2 2015, 09:25 AM) Martin Hannett stopped working with New Order after Movement. In that case, I lay the responsibility with the loss of Martin Hannett for the change in sound.


ϑЃεβϘ View member profile	2nd March 2015, 10:51 AM Post #11
I Was Born Free Joined: 23 October 2006 Posts: 5,717 User: 1,751	QUOTE(richie @ Mar 2 2015, 09:25 AM) Annoyed that I missed the JD doc on Friday - was it a new one? I think it was dated 2007 but I think it was new to TV. I hadn't seen it before.


Severin View member profile	2nd March 2015, 02:12 PM Post #12
Mansonette Joined: 3 November 2009 Posts: 6,927 User: 9,872	QUOTE(richie @ Mar 2 2015, 09:25 AM) I don't know if it was Ian that necessarily gave Joy Division that different sound to New Order, it's a combination of things. Joy Division started out at the tail-end of punk (listen to Warsaw's stuff for the punkier influence) and evolved at the same time as PiL, Gang of Four, Wire etc. so it's not surprising that Unknown Pleasures has that same kind of raw sound. When the synths were brought in for Closer, it made everything a bit more dismal and haunting as the band tended to write in a minor key (or is that just me?) Martin Hannett stopped working with New Order after Movement. Like it or not, New Order were part of defining pop music in the early 80s and, by the mid 80s, were pretty mainstream so it's not surprising the songs got 'happier'. Nobody can say for sure how they'd have gone if Ian lived but it's been said enough already that Curtis wasn't the depressed doom-monger everyone thinks. Annoyed that I missed the JD doc on Friday - was it a new one? As for Unknown Pleasures, it's a practically flawless album and, indeed, 'Disorder' is one of the finest ever opening tracks. Also, 'Transmission' which was released just before, is one of the best songs ever, period. Just like 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' which preceded 'Closer'. I'm not particularly talking about the music alone. Everyone expects a band's sound to change over time anyway. What I'm referring to does include the music but everything else about them too, the whole package. They weren't the only ones. I'll use Siouxsie and the Banshees as a comparison. Their early work also had the Post-punk sound and was equally influential. They too had that aura of being 'special' and standing head and shoulders above their peers. Yet despite frequent line up changes and shifts in musical style they managed to retain that aura about them - of being a cherished and much lauded jewel in the UKs musical scene, right up until around 1992, not long before they split. New Order though, despite some notable moments, became more of a really good band rather than a truly peerless one, and for me that happened pretty quickly after Ian died.


swadders View member profile	9th March 2015, 06:07 PM Post #13
New Entry Joined: 5 March 2015 Posts: 8 User: 21,648	Just watched the film Control recently about Ian Curtis' time in Joy Division. Sam Riley put in a brilliant performance as Curtis.