Post by Shireblogger on May 3, 2015 15:45:45 GMT 1
Joy Division – Closer
Context
I hadn’t heard of Joy Division until “Blue Monday” charted. And, to my shame, I thought I’d heard their best stuff as a result of owning the “Substance” CD, only to discover when preparing this review, that “Substance” isn’t a Best Of, but actually a singles and B-sides collection. So, I heard “Closer” for the very first time last month.
1/10
General Overview
I’ve missed out. On first listen, I concluded that this is an album I should own. It is more accessible than I had expected, and offers many clues regarding the future direction New Order were to take.
7/10
Intro & Outro
Industrial. Random percussion. And that unmistakeable vocal delivery. “Atrocity Exhibition” could only ever be Joy Division. And I mean that in a good way. It draws the listener into the album. And “Decades” completes the full cycle, totally in keeping with everything else on the album, but actually one of the stronger tracks with many of the distinctive Joy Division features firing together in fine style.
7/10
Music
I’ve just looked up what else was in the album chart the week “Closer” peaked at #6. There really was nothing like it. Nothing so remotely experimental, discordant or exciting. “Peter Gabriel 3”, “Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark” and “Searching For The Young Soul Rebels” are probably the LPs which come closest. But nothing has the staccato guitars, the drumming that you want to listen to on its own, or the propulsive chest thumping bass. I had never really appreciated how far ahead of their time Joy Division had been. Nor how many of the elements of early New Order that I so loved (and still love) were there in the earlier music.
8/10
Lyrics
Ian Curtis’ delivery remains unique 35 years on. Squeezing too many words into not enough space, and then stretching them out because he doesn’t have long enough lines to last until the end of the bar. I once thought it was the sound of a singer who’d never met the musicians. I now recognise it as genius. But the lyrics themselves should come with a health warning. They are dark, so very dark. And they are so profound, they could be have been issued in a poetry anthology, and they might have won awards. If only he had realised how talented he was, and how many people he would inspire. “Try to cry out in the heat of the moment; possessed by a fury that burns from inside.” “Can I go on with this train of defence; disturbing and purging my mind.”
9/10
Production & Sound
Martin Hannett pulled off a masterstroke in making this groundbreaking piece of work sound like a harmonious piece. In this review, I’ve used words such as discordant and industrial. But that doesn’t mean there’s no melody, or it requires endurance to get through. “Closer” is a perfectly balanced piece of art, and I suspect it is the producer who turned something quite raw and unpolished into the atmospheric gem it became.
8/10
High Points
“Isolation”. Released after Heaven 17 or Blancmange, and it would have been a sizeable hit. But it was too far ahead of its time, and so tainted by tragedy, and is therefore one of 1980’s best album tracks. “Heart And Soul” would have slotted seamlessly into New Order’s “Power Corruption And Lies” LP.
8/10
Low Points
Ian Curtis’ suicide 2 months ahead of the release of “Closer” means the lyrics of despair, guilt and confusion take on a much more vivid hue, plunging the entire album into a place which music doesn’t normally occupy. I usually listen to records for pleasure, but the enjoyment I derive from this comes with a cold sense of unease, given what was happening in real life to its creators.
0/10
Packaging
Selected long before Curtis died, the monochrome cover with its gothic script and photograph of a mausoleum would have been a classic anyway. The fact that it marked the devastating end of the band makes it so much more poignant.
10/10
On balance
How could I have gone so long, as a fan of electronic music, and not investigated this album ? I’ve paid to see New Order live twice, for Pete’s sake ! And so I wonder, how many more classic albums are there out there for me to discover ?
8/10
TOTAL SCORE
This is the way, step inside.
66/100.
For Haven:
6.5/10
Context
I hadn’t heard of Joy Division until “Blue Monday” charted. And, to my shame, I thought I’d heard their best stuff as a result of owning the “Substance” CD, only to discover when preparing this review, that “Substance” isn’t a Best Of, but actually a singles and B-sides collection. So, I heard “Closer” for the very first time last month.
1/10
General Overview
I’ve missed out. On first listen, I concluded that this is an album I should own. It is more accessible than I had expected, and offers many clues regarding the future direction New Order were to take.
7/10
Intro & Outro
Industrial. Random percussion. And that unmistakeable vocal delivery. “Atrocity Exhibition” could only ever be Joy Division. And I mean that in a good way. It draws the listener into the album. And “Decades” completes the full cycle, totally in keeping with everything else on the album, but actually one of the stronger tracks with many of the distinctive Joy Division features firing together in fine style.
7/10
Music
I’ve just looked up what else was in the album chart the week “Closer” peaked at #6. There really was nothing like it. Nothing so remotely experimental, discordant or exciting. “Peter Gabriel 3”, “Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark” and “Searching For The Young Soul Rebels” are probably the LPs which come closest. But nothing has the staccato guitars, the drumming that you want to listen to on its own, or the propulsive chest thumping bass. I had never really appreciated how far ahead of their time Joy Division had been. Nor how many of the elements of early New Order that I so loved (and still love) were there in the earlier music.
8/10
Lyrics
Ian Curtis’ delivery remains unique 35 years on. Squeezing too many words into not enough space, and then stretching them out because he doesn’t have long enough lines to last until the end of the bar. I once thought it was the sound of a singer who’d never met the musicians. I now recognise it as genius. But the lyrics themselves should come with a health warning. They are dark, so very dark. And they are so profound, they could be have been issued in a poetry anthology, and they might have won awards. If only he had realised how talented he was, and how many people he would inspire. “Try to cry out in the heat of the moment; possessed by a fury that burns from inside.” “Can I go on with this train of defence; disturbing and purging my mind.”
9/10
Production & Sound
Martin Hannett pulled off a masterstroke in making this groundbreaking piece of work sound like a harmonious piece. In this review, I’ve used words such as discordant and industrial. But that doesn’t mean there’s no melody, or it requires endurance to get through. “Closer” is a perfectly balanced piece of art, and I suspect it is the producer who turned something quite raw and unpolished into the atmospheric gem it became.
8/10
High Points
“Isolation”. Released after Heaven 17 or Blancmange, and it would have been a sizeable hit. But it was too far ahead of its time, and so tainted by tragedy, and is therefore one of 1980’s best album tracks. “Heart And Soul” would have slotted seamlessly into New Order’s “Power Corruption And Lies” LP.
8/10
Low Points
Ian Curtis’ suicide 2 months ahead of the release of “Closer” means the lyrics of despair, guilt and confusion take on a much more vivid hue, plunging the entire album into a place which music doesn’t normally occupy. I usually listen to records for pleasure, but the enjoyment I derive from this comes with a cold sense of unease, given what was happening in real life to its creators.
0/10
Packaging
Selected long before Curtis died, the monochrome cover with its gothic script and photograph of a mausoleum would have been a classic anyway. The fact that it marked the devastating end of the band makes it so much more poignant.
10/10
On balance
How could I have gone so long, as a fan of electronic music, and not investigated this album ? I’ve paid to see New Order live twice, for Pete’s sake ! And so I wonder, how many more classic albums are there out there for me to discover ?
8/10
TOTAL SCORE
This is the way, step inside.
66/100.
For Haven:
6.5/10