Product Description

Hailing from Manchester, England, Joy Division profoundly affected the alternative music scene. Arriving as punk music was waning, UNKNOWN Joy Division's music inhabits an eerie, twilight world. Decay and alienation envelop singer Ian Curtis, whose cavernous, but dispassionate, voice belied the intensity he brought to bear. Rolling drum patterns, thudding bass lines and uncluttered synthesizer combine to create a dank, brooding atmosphere, chillingly supporting the songs' bleak lyrics. Yet listening to Unknown Pleasures is not a depressing experience. The group generate a terse excitement, emphasising individual strengths and avoiding unnecessary embellishment. Their sense of commitment is utterly convincing and few debut albums can boast such unremitting power.

Track Listing

1. Disorder
2. Day Of The Lords
3. Candidate
4. Insight
5. New Dawn Fades
6. She's Lost Control
7. Shadow Play
8. Wilderness
9. Interzone

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1731 in Music
• Released on: 2000-01-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks

Customer Reviews

Remarkable debut
This remarkable debut on Factory has simply grown in stature in the years since its release. At odds with the general Madchester scene, and indeed with everything else around at the time, it was impossible to tell who the members of this band had been listening to. Though our listening perceptions are inevitably coloured by the tragic future of Ian Curtis, there is an undeniably awesome stature in these impeccably produced sides

Lives up to expectations
For years I resisted Joy Division despite (or maybe because of) the seemingly overwhelming critical plaudits. This was based on the fact I had only really heard Love Will Tear Us Apart which in my book doesn't merit that adulation. Having bought this album (and Closer) I can say now I understand what people have been on about. Well worth buying, especially for a fiver.

Sounding dated now.
I got this on vinyl when it came out and listened to it pretty much non-stop for a year. After reading Touching From A Distance I was inspired to get the CD.

I know it's heresy, but it sounds a little dated to me. At the turn of the decade, the sight of young men in long coats and severe haircuts pulling on cigarettes and looking angst-ridden was a common one. These serious young men made bleak, sparse music that at the time seemed to hold all the answers. But the trend passed and soon the young men were wearing frilly shirts and make-up.

Whilst there are some great songs on Unknown Pleasures, the production and performances are very much of their time - that clanking "industrial" sound was fresh and vibrant then, but a quarter of a century on it just sounds po-faced.

Certain music, like The Band, is outside of time and fashion. The serious young men of the late Seventies tethered themselves to what turned out to be just another passing trend.