Joy Division

Lineup: Ian Curtis: vocals. Bernard Albrecht: guitars. Peter Hook: bass. Stephen Morris: drums.

UNKNOWN PLEASURES

1979; Rating: 2.37/pi

Composition: ~ / Lyrics: + / Production: −− / Innovation: +

• 01 Disorder [A−]
• 02 Day of the Lords [A]
• 03 Candidate [B]
• 04 Insight [A−]
• 05 New Dawn Fades [A−]
• 06 She’s Lost Control [A−]
• 07 Shadowplay [B+]
• 08 Wilderness [B+]
• 09 Interzone [B]
• 10 I Remember Nothing [A−]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We will soon be touching down at Joy Division’s Angst International Airport. Local time is midnight. Temperature is tepid. “So distorted and thin/distorted and thin/where will it end?/where will it END??” …these were my exact thoughts upon first hearing this album.

Repeated listenings have softened up my position somewhat. The fine lyrics of that loveable Nazi Jew whore Ian Curtis are certain to appeal to boys and girls of all shapes and sizes. If you don’t mind being a shoulder for him to cry on (or maybe stare blankly at) for 40 minutes, you should sort of enjoy yourself.

What we have here is a matching set of post-punk ditties with repetitive thump-thump rhythms, some nifty touches such as odd synthesizer noises and breaking glass…oh, and bombastic Jim Morrison-meets-David Byrne singing. But the band is content to stay in some indefinite state between melodic poppiness and raw rockin’ energy, never fully achieving either. The whole thing’s got quite a nice atmosphere, but style alone can’t carry the music, not when it’s hobbled by flaky proto-80’s production. In fact, this album has one of the mankiest drum sounds I’ve ever heard, which is a real shame on such a minimalistic, beat-driven set.

Do I have to talk about the individual songs? This isn’t exactly a diverse bunch. “She’s Lost Control” is catchy, I guess. “Insight” has a fun bloopy synth breakdown. “Day of the Lords” and “Disorder” both manage to rock out pretty convincingly. And the slow gothic crawl of “I Remember Nothing” makes for an effective mood piece. This is a good album, don’t get me wrong. But I can’t say it excites me to the very depths of my soul. IUt’s just there.

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