“Unknown Pleasures (Collector’s Edition)” is a wonderful album and as a punk and post-punk music fan, it truly is an iconic album from Joy Division. I highly recommend it!
Click here to purchase Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures (Collector’s Edition)” album on Amazon
BAND: Joy Division
ALBUM: Unknown Pleasures
DURATION: 22 Songs (1 Hour, 24 Minutes)
ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1979
COLLECTOR’S EDITION RELEASE: 2007
1 Disorder
2 Day of the Lords
3 Candidate
4 Insight
5 New Dawn Fades
6 She’s Lost Control
7 Shadowplay
8 Wilderness
9 Interzone
10 I Remember Nothing
* Collector’s Edition (The Factory, Manchester Live, April 11, 1980)
11 Dead Souls
12 The Only Mistake
13 Insight
14 Candidate
15 Wilderness
16 She’s Lost Control
17 Shadowplay
18 Disorder
19 Interzone
20 Atrocity Exhibition
21 Novelty
22 Transmission
Before the band New Order, there was Joy Division.
Inspired by watching a Sex Pistols concert, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner and bassist Peter Hook would form the band Joy Division with vocalist Ian Curtis and drummer Stephen Morris.
While influenced by early punk, Joy Division would become one of the pioneers of the post-punk movement in the late ’70s but their popularity ended when Ian Curtis, who suffered from depression and severe epilepsy (heightened by his drinking, smoking and irregular sleep schedule, but also being prescribed high doses of barbiturates for his seizures).
Already having to deal with personal problems of being a married father and also having an affair with another woman but also dealing with epileptic seizures during live performances. Combined with the intense touring schedule (and with performing in the US giving him anxiety of how America would perceive their music and also his fear of flying but also his worries that his worsening seizures would prevent him from performing live), the problems in his personal life and his health, would take a toll on the young singer.
Distancing himself from the band, trying to balance his life with family, his affair and music, it became problematic but the band would continue not knowing the severity of things, as they saw what they saw, but was told by Curtis that things were good.
But in truth, things were not good and with all that was going on with his life. Curtis would take his life on the eve of the band’s first North American tour in 1980 at the age of 23.
It was the end of Joy Division, with a total of five singles, one EP and two albums having been released by 1980.
Needing to move on, the band members of Joy Division would regroup and along with keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, would form New Order that same year.
But Joy Division would be remembered as one of the pioneer’s of post-punk, beloved by many who were passionate for their music or new generations having discovered their music.
And after 1980, a lot of Joy Division content, may it be demos, outtakes, BBC performances, live performances and John Peel sessions would be released.
As it has been over 40 years since the group released their two albums, one will find remastered versions (2020) but I am going to review Joy Division’s first studio album “Unknown Pleasures” (collector’s edition) which features their ten tracks remastered back in 2007 and 12 live tracks performed at The Factory in Manchester on April 11, 1980.
“Unknown Pleasures” was released on June 15, 1979 by Factory Records and was produced by Martin Hannett. It was the only Joy Division album released while Ian Curtis was alive and there were no singles released from this album. Nor did it chart in the UK Charts, but since its release, is considered by many music publications as “One of the Best Albums of All Time”.
Even the artwork on the front cover, featuring the radio waves from pulsar CP 1919 and utilizing a reversed image white on black would become iconic.
As for the band’s music, now if you compare the band’s music from their EP “An Ideal for Living”, there is no doubt that the band’s earlier work was inspired by punk music. The music featured in “Unknown Pleasures” would be more post-punk. Production is much better (considering their last EP was self-financed, after their recorded and aborted RCA session recordings). The sound of the album, Peter Hook would describe as “It definitely didn’t turn out sounding the way I wanted it … But now I can see that Martin did a good job on it … There’s no two ways about it, Martin Hannett created the Joy Division sound”.
You can hear the bass, the percussion and guitars much clearly but there are songs such as “Insight” where the keyboards play such a major part. While the guitars and bass in “New Dawn Fades”, the first thing that came in my mind when I first heard this song was, this sound must have inspired the band The Cure. Especially with the bass, and you can see how it inspired Adam Clayton of U2. Love the guitar, bass and percussion for “Interzone”.
If anything, “Unknown Pleasures” is an album that for me, I enjoy it as a whole. There is not one song that I really love, I enjoy all the songs on this album equally.
Now, the addition of the live track’s to the Collector’s Edition, shows you how different Joy Division is with their live performances and you can definitely hear their Sex Pistol and Velvet Underground influence through their live performance delivery. Energetic and expressive, and a different vibe from their live recordings. But I like that and getting to hear the different side of Joy Division.
You also get the live performance version of their first non-album single “Transmission”.
But if anything, “Unknown Pleasures (Collector’s Edition)” is a wonderful album and as a punk and post-punk music fan, it truly is an iconic album from Joy Division. I highly recommend it!
Click here to purchase Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures (Collector’s Edition)” album on Amazon
