I Like Joy Division

I am not a music theorist or even a journalist. Every subjective view in this blog post is my opinion, surprisingly. I just really like Joy Division.

I could say a lot about Joy Division, but the problem is that pretty much everything that could be said about the band, their music, or the influence that they have had on music in general has probably already been said. Still, I find it interesting that, even forty-three years after the release of their final album Closer and Ian Curtis' suicide, the legacy of their music lives on. 

Their first album, Unknown Pleasures, has perhaps one of the most iconic album covers of all time. It's merely a representation of pulsar waves, yet I've seen worn on shirts by a few people across different countries. Maybe this isn't an indication of how popular the music is to those people, but the fact that it is recognisable for so many people is surely a testament to Joy Division and not least Peter Saville, who designed the cover. To use an image that becomes known to so many people that even Disney want to use it on their merchandise must surely be applauded and proves the recognisability of an album released forty-four years ago.

The music on Unknown Pleasures varies from the fast-paced punk opener Disorder, immediately setting the mood for the next thirty-five minutes. For me, Curtis' seemingly cryptic lyrics add to the already chaotic feeling of the song, his singing getting only more frantic towards the end. And then it's all change by the next song, Day of the Lords, with Stephen Morris' slower drumming and Curtis' lyrics, especially as he sings 'When will it end?' in greater yearning towards the end, acts as an abrupt shift. Indeed, Day of the Lords is what most of the songs on this album sound like, especially with the album closer I Remember Nothing, its very spatial, sparse sound clearly looking towards a more post-punk sound than Disorder did. There are some "punkier" songs, such as the 130-second Interzone, but Curtis' lyrics combined with the melancholic sound makes it understandable as to why Joy Division's music has been seen as gothic. 

For me, one notable part of Joy Division's music that became more pronounced with the music of New Order (the band made up of the remaining members of Joy Division following Curtis' suicide) is that of electronic elements. The synths that play a part on Insight is one example of this, and electronic instrumentation plays an even greater part on Closer, especially on songs such as Isolation and Decades. Curtis himself was an admirer of Kraftwerk and made the rest of the band listen to their album Trans Europa Express before performances 'to get [the band] into the zone', according to Stephen Morris. 

For me, Closer is the better of the two albums, and truly shows how good Joy Division were. The spatial sound on songs such as The Eternal and Decades end the album on a haunting note, whilst other songs such as Heart and Soul and Colony sound alike Unknown Pleasures and being even better. Curtis' lyrics become more bleak too, in songs such as Atrocity Exhibition that describes how other's pain has become merely an exhibit for people to watch - 'This is the way, step inside' - without a regard for who they are. Perhaps these lyrics could represent the general bleakness of life; perhaps they are metaphors for Curtis' troubled life. Either way, the lyrics have had a key influence on my own writing, and I'd say that Curtis is probably one of my favourite lyricists.

Nineteen perfect songs, two perfect albums. And that's not even mentioning songs like the excellent Transmission, Love Will Tear Us Apart and Atmosphere, three singles issued separately of their albums. And their compilation album Still. Oh, and New Order are excellent too.