Product Description

Remastered and expanded version of Mancunian post-punks JoyDivision's debut album. A dark, spacey record that sounds as fresh today as it did when it was released in 1979, this album is a touchstone for bands such as Editors, Interpol andcountless other guitar acts drawn to the bleak sounds and mesmerising lyrics. Includes the tracks 'She's Lost Control','Shadowplay' and 'New Dawn Fades', as well as a bonus disc featuring a live set from the legendary Factory venue.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

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

Disc 2:

1. Dead Souls
2. Only Mistake
3. Insight
4. Candidate
5. Wilderness
6. She's Lost Control
7. Shadowplay
8. Disorder
9. Interzone
10. Atrocity Exhibition
11. Novelty
12. Transmission

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4831 in Music
• Released on: 2007-09-17
• Number of discs: 2

Customer Reviews

Joy Division's Beautiful, Perfect Record Desecrated!
Many things have been said about Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, and yet so many things have been left unsaid or cannot be said. This is an another-worldly record, so of its time and yet transcending it; so shaped by the creaking, decrepit Britain of the late 1970s, new wave, Northern soul and yet pointing to timeless qualities.

I just remember when this album came out - and reading the generally positive review in Record Mirror at the time (hey, I was also reading NME and Sounds at the same time!) - in which they gave a fairly accurate description of the band, its sound and this album, giving it 7 out of 10, saying it was influenced by the Doors, and more '69 than '79.

This album was such a gorgeous thing to hold and behold at the time; it wasnt just the music, or the sleeve design, it was the intricate texture and feel of the sleeve which you could see and feel was no ordinary record sleeve and release.

As to the music inside; to be honest I always found Unknown Pleasures a very uneasy, unnerving listen, and in this, it is a brilliant, superbly executed album. Record Mirror funnily enough had it part right all those years ago: this is the sound of 69, but it is also the sound of a society and existence virtually falling apart, simultaneously breaking apart, while oppressing people, and a music that addresses universal concerns and issues.

This brings me to this issue. Everything about this re-issue descerates the concept behind the original. Lets be clear Unknown Pleasures was as music, as an execution, as aesthethic, a work of art and beauty.

And this re-release has nothing in common with such lofty ideas. This is a horrid, nasty little release, and London Records are really scrapping the bottom of the barrel - re-releasing a concert with nothing in common with the album to make this a 'Collector's Edition'.

Wasnt there once an idea of human progress? Well it aint evident by this release. The 1979 release was flawless in doing what the artists wanted to realise. This 2007 release tells us so much about the state of the music business in '79 and '07.

I await the remastered 2020 Unknown Pleasures release returning the album to its original tracks, look, feel and sleeves.

totally awesome
only bought this on the strength of watching the film "control".

j.d have to be one of the most hypnotic bands that i have heard for years. the live cd that comes with the package is just sublime. a real live performance with little production, just raw sounds and emotions. ian curtis is actually reminiscent of jim morrisson from the doors 9sure plenty will disagree with this view)

buy it now.....

An upbeat Joy Division
It's not very often I can say that I was there at the beginning, but it was certainly the case with Joy Division. I bought Unknown Pleasures shortly after its release, on the advice of a friend and was immediately hooked, and I remember well how devastated I felt when John Peel announced on radio 1 in May 1980 that Curtis was dead.

This is the Joy Division album in my opinion. The second and last album, Closer, is a lot darker, and almost a suicide note. It seems to me that Ian Curtis knew that there would be no third album, and Closer, whilst undeniably a great album and worthy of five stars itself, is weighed down by depression.

Unknown Pleasures is the sound of a band trying to make it, looking to the future, at the start of their careers, and is about as upbeat as Joy Division could be. The album starts with the manic, classic drum beat of "Disorder", and then Curtis's vocals "I've been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand". For nearly 30 years I thought he sang guy NOT guide, until at last the penny dropped when I bought this CD.

"Disorder" comes crashing to a halt, but before you've had time to draw breath, the ominous bass of "Day of the Lords" begins. No longer manic, this is dark and considered "This is the room, the start of it all, no portrait so fine, only sheets on the wall.......Where will it end? Where will it end?". By the time "Day of the Lords" ends, you know you're listening to a special album.

But for all this great start, complimented well by songs 3 & 4, "Candidate" and "Insight", it is the middle part of the album which makes it so great in my opinion. After all that has proceeded it, "New Dawn Fades", the final track on the original "Outside", begins almost like a gentle pop song in comparison, but don't let this deceive you. It's the start of a remarkable group of songs that transform the album from great to classic status. "A change of speed, a change of style, a change of scene with no regrets.", it is indeed, and it builds to mighty climax "We'll give you everything and more, the strain's too much, can't take much more!".

The original "Inside" opens with "She's Lost Control", Curtis sings "Confusion in her eyes says it all, She's Lost Control, And she's clinging to the nearest passer by, She's Lost Control". In contrast, Joy Division are now in complete control, and by now you're wondering why you never see the album in the Top 20 greatest ever albums. And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, it does. The tempting, ominous symbols which open "Shadowplay" are not a false dawn and are not misjudged, as the guitars kick in and one of the greatest and most under estimated rock songs ever is suddenly blasting out of your speakers. "In the Shadowplay acting out your own death, knowing no more". The drums keep thumping and the guitars keep rocking.

If anything the pace now increases, with two more great rockers, "Wilderness" and "Interzone", before "Unknown Pleasures" grinds to a halt with "I Remember Nothing".

There's only really two Joy Division albums to own, "Unknown Pleasures" and "Closer". You need both in your collection, but this is the first to buy.

Disk 2 is a live performance, and is worth listening to, because it's Joy Division as they were "live", a raw, exciting punk rock group. It's not great quality, but then it's just like being at a gig. "Atrocity Exhibition" stands out on this disk, which later appeared on "Closer".