Album of the Week #80 - Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division

Dudess

Release date: 15th June 1979

JLemmon

We still haven't caught up with the music made on this album.

Timeless

automaticflare

i always preferred new order to be honest..........

The Hustler

Incredible album, although I have a slight preference for 'Closer'

Dudess

automaticflare wrote: »

i always preferred new order to be honest..........

Used to be the same - now I'm finding myself preferring JD.

I'm still trying to think of what to say about this album...

Valmont

I like both Joy Division albums immensely but this one just takes it for me every time. I think it's just the opening few seconds of Disorder honestly.

automaticflare

automaticflare wrote: »

i always preferred new order to be honest..........

I always preferred monaco to be honest .... :eek:

I have never quite 'got' joy division tbh. I always found the songs a bit remorseless, and almost draining to listen to. Have always preferred melancholy laced with a bit of humour, ala Smiths, or even the Cure on a good day.

There's no doubting JD's huge influence though; Interpol, Editors, White Lies, to name just three.

Again, I like all of these bands in small doses, but much like JD, I find a whole record too much.

Each to their own!

cinnamon girl

Definitely one of the all-time greats. I'd put it in the top five.

Lost Boy

NEW ORDER ARE A DISGRACE TO THEIR PREVIOUS BAND

ludwit

Lost Boy wrote: »

NEW ORDER ARE A DISGRACE TO THEIR PREVIOUS BAND

Down with that sort of thing.

Spiritoftheseventies

Love will tear us apart one of the great songs.

Dudess

Love Will Tear Us Apart isn't actually on this album - just in case anyone wants to purchase it for that song.

ND 1978 wrote: »

I always preferred monaco to be honest .... :eek:

I'm a Revenge person myself... :pac:
Nah, I actually really liked a single by The Other Two and a lot of Electronic numbers... nothing else of a side project nature though.

I have never quite 'got' joy division tbh. I always found the songs a bit remorseless, and almost draining to listen to. Have always preferred melancholy laced with a bit of humour, ala Smiths, or even the Cure on a good day.

I know what you're saying definitely. Some Joy Division stuff is intensely dreary and this album, while it has some brilliant moments (Disorder - Valmont, I'm the same whenever I hear that intro. It's just wonderful; She's Lost Control, Shadowplay) is not enjoyable listening in other places. My favourite Joy Division long-player is actually Substance, but that's a compilation. I absolutely love their punkier stuff - and way prefer Curtis's voice before it went all deep.

There's no doubting JD's huge influence though; Interpol, Editors, White Lies, to name just three.

NEVER EVER associate Joy Division with White Lies again... or you'll get such a bannin'! :mad:
:pac:
Nah, White Lies have the wearing dark clothes and being brooding thing going on all right, but they do not sound like Joy Division! Interpol and Editors... yeah a little bit. Interpol sound more Bowie-influenced to me though, and check out Kitchens of Distinction for a band whom Editors sound like - uncanny.

Lost Boy wrote: »

NEW ORDER ARE A DISGRACE TO THEIR PREVIOUS BAND

In my opinion, some New Order stuff (moreso in latter years) has been questionable all right, but not their output in general. The VAST majority of New Order's output between 1981 and 1989 rivals, and sometimes betters, Joy Division.

Influence can encompass more than just the sound!! Anyway, to MY untrained ears they sound alike....;)

Big Vern

Unknown Pleasures was a great album, way ahead of its time. But i much prefer Closer, so dark and so much atmosphere. Decades is still one of favourite JD songs....
New Order had some great songs as well...but nowhere near Joy Division!

Sam Hain

No one will ever know what Joy Division would have gone on to produce after this and Closer.One thing we do know however, is that this album is a definite musical milestone.

11811

One of my all time favorite albums, love every aspect of it, from the music to the artwork. the album is also a milestone in terms of production too with a lot of credit having to go to Martin Hannett.

ND 1978 wrote: »

I have never quite 'got' joy division tbh. I always found the songs a bit remorseless, and almost draining to listen to. Have always preferred melancholy laced with a bit of humour, ala Smiths, or even the Cure on a good day.

granted, it can be heavy listening but this album was made around fairly bleak circumstances - Manchester in the late seventies - capturing that bleakness and getting it on to a record is pretty amazing, you can almost feel the wet grey concrete on some tracks.

Heaven Net

The change from Joy Division to New Order following Ian's death should be enough to convince anybody that he was the soul of the group. Sure, he had help! Hooky, Martin Hannett, those drum patterns that so disturbingly mirrored Ian's own Epiletic fits. He'd dance that way, like he was having a fit. Then he'd have an actual fit, but it'd be a good few minutes before anybody realised. Ian had an interest in all things German. Were Joy Division Nazi's? Or was Ian just plugged into something? By all accounts, off-stage, out of the studio - he was quiet, thoughtful. Liked a beer. Seemed normal enough, even if his eyes burned right through you. But, you know. It was the times. Punk had happened but was on the verge of imploding. Britain suffered from poverty and everything seemed bleak - let's look to Germany. Musical influences? Kraftwerk sounded like aliens. Iggy Pop was debauched yet utterly cool. Fans of the Velvet Underground were still some sort of secret society - the group had yet to pass into being 'classic rock', or anything like that. Joy Division combined a number of influences that added to the playing style of the rhythm section and the production skills of Martin Hannett created something unique. Of course, you also had the lyrics, the artwork. Everything combined together. You had the physicality of Ian Curtis on stage. Arms flailing, nobody facing the audience bar Ian - but then, he had his half closed, half raised to the heavens, as if waiting for some kind of miracle to occur.

Have you ever made a suicide pact with someone? Young love, perhaps? This girl wore an 'Unknown Pleasures' t-shirt. Two people totally together, two people who both wanted to die because they couldn't always be physically together. Poverty, bleakness. All this is cliche, but sometimes it actually happens, and Joy Division aren't the cause of that! The music of Joy Division becomes this wonderful discovery. You end up watching poor quality video's of Joy Division with all the curtains shut even though the sun is shining brightly outside. BECAUSE the sun is shining brightly outside. You cry for three days solid when the girl leaves. You can't be together all of the time. You walk the streets at night with 'Disorder' running through your brain. "feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeeeeling." Raised, a shout, a call, a cry for help. Please let me feel something other than this. And then of course, 'Day Of The Lords' which sounds like the whole world is ending. The thing about Joy Division, 'Disorder' for example is just great, a genuinely great Rock n Roll song. You don't have to have ever made a suicide pact with anybody in order to think it's a wonderfully great song.

JerryHandbag

11811 wrote: »

the album is also a milestone in terms of production too with a lot of credit having to go to Martin Hannett.

Absolutely.....he complimented the JD sound with those eerie broken bottles, elevator sounds, and echo effects on the drumkit....what I would really love to know is how did he get that amazing drum sound on She's Lost Control?! amazing....

11811

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Absolutely.....he complimented the JD sound with those eerie broken bottles, elevator sounds, and echo effects on the drumkit....what I would really love to know is how did he get that amazing drum sound on She's Lost Control?! amazing....

Thats an aerosol can - believe it or not.;)

cinnamon girl

ND 1978 wrote: »

There's no doubting JD's huge influence though; Interpol, Editors, White Lies, to name just three.

They influenced much better bands than those! :eek: Disco Inferno, the Chameleons, the Sound ...

The Hustler

cinnamon girl wrote: »

They influenced much better bands than those! :eek: Disco Inferno, the Chameleons, the Sound ...

Yesss!!! Love em!!!