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It even looks like something classic, beyond its time or place of origin even as it was a clear product of both -- one of Peter Saville's earliest and best designs, a transcription of a signal showing a star going nova, on a black embossed sleeve. If that were all Unknown Pleasures was, it wouldn't be discussed so much, but the ten songs inside, quite simply, are stone-cold landmarks, the whole album a monument to passion, energy, and cathartic despair. The quantum leap from the earliest thrashy singles to Unknown Pleasures can be heard through every note, with Martin Hannett's deservedly famous production -- emphasizing space in the most revelatory way since the dawn of dub -- as much a hallmark as the music itself. Songs fade in behind furtive noises of motion and activity, glass breaks with the force and clarity of doom, and minimal keyboard lines add to an air of looming disaster -- something, somehow, seems to wait or lurk beyond the edge of hearing. But even though this is Hannett's album as much as anyone's, the songs and performances are the true key. Bernard Sumner redefined heavy metal sludge as chilling feedback fear and explosive energy, Peter Hook's instantly recognizable bass work was at once warm and forbidding, and Stephen Morris' drumming smacked through the speakers above all else. Ian Curtis synthesizes and purifies every last impulse, his voice shot through with the desire first and foremost to connect, only connect -- as "Candidate" plaintively states, "I tried to get to you/You treat me like this." Pick any song: the nervous death dance of "She's Lost Control"; the harrowing call for release "New Dawn Fades," all four members in perfect sync; the romance in hell of "Shadowplay"; "Insight" and its nervous drive toward some sort of apocalypse. All visceral, all emotional, all theatrical, all perfect -- one of the best albums ever.
© Ned Raggett /TiVo
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Jon Davis, MasteringEngineer - MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, Performance, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 1979, 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
Jon Davis, MasteringEngineer - MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, Performance, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 1979, 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer, Production - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 1979, 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
Jon Davis, MasteringEngineer - MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 1979, 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
Jon Davis, MasteringEngineer - MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 1979, 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
Jon Davis, MasteringEngineer - MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Writer - Ian Curtis, Writer - Joy Division, Performance, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 1979, 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
Jon Davis, MasteringEngineer - MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 1979, 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
Jon Davis, MasteringEngineer - MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 1979, 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
Jon Davis, MasteringEngineer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer, Background Vocals - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 1979, 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
Jon Davis, MasteringEngineer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 1979, 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer, Engineer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer, Synthesizer - Ian Curtis, Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer - Michael Johnson, AssistantEngineer - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer - Jon Caffery, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer, Engineer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer, Synthesizer - Ian Curtis, Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer - Michael Johnson, AssistantEngineer - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer - Jon Caffery, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Writer - Ian Curtis, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer, Background Vocals - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Writer, Background Vocals - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer, Engineer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Bass Guitar, Writer - Ian Curtis, Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Guitar, Writer - Michael Johnson, AssistantEngineer - Jon Caffery, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer, Engineer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer, Synthesizer - Ian Curtis, Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer - Michael Johnson, AssistantEngineer - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer - Jon Caffery, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
MARTIN HANNETT, Producer, Engineer - Stephen Morris, Drums, Writer - BERNARD SUMNER, Guitar, Writer, Synthesizer - Ian Curtis, Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer - Joy Division, Performed by, MainArtist - PETER HOOK, Bass Guitar, Writer - Michael Johnson, AssistantEngineer - CHRIS NAGLE, Engineer - Jon Caffery, Engineer
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 Warner Music UK Ltd
Album review
It even looks like something classic, beyond its time or place of origin even as it was a clear product of both -- one of Peter Saville's earliest and best designs, a transcription of a signal showing a star going nova, on a black embossed sleeve. If that were all Unknown Pleasures was, it wouldn't be discussed so much, but the ten songs inside, quite simply, are stone-cold landmarks, the whole album a monument to passion, energy, and cathartic despair. The quantum leap from the earliest thrashy singles to Unknown Pleasures can be heard through every note, with Martin Hannett's deservedly famous production -- emphasizing space in the most revelatory way since the dawn of dub -- as much a hallmark as the music itself. Songs fade in behind furtive noises of motion and activity, glass breaks with the force and clarity of doom, and minimal keyboard lines add to an air of looming disaster -- something, somehow, seems to wait or lurk beyond the edge of hearing. But even though this is Hannett's album as much as anyone's, the songs and performances are the true key. Bernard Sumner redefined heavy metal sludge as chilling feedback fear and explosive energy, Peter Hook's instantly recognizable bass work was at once warm and forbidding, and Stephen Morris' drumming smacked through the speakers above all else. Ian Curtis synthesizes and purifies every last impulse, his voice shot through with the desire first and foremost to connect, only connect -- as "Candidate" plaintively states, "I tried to get to you/You treat me like this." Pick any song: the nervous death dance of "She's Lost Control"; the harrowing call for release "New Dawn Fades," all four members in perfect sync; the romance in hell of "Shadowplay"; "Insight" and its nervous drive toward some sort of apocalypse. All visceral, all emotional, all theatrical, all perfect -- one of the best albums ever.
© Ned Raggett /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 22 track(s)
- Total length: 01:23:50
- Main artists: Joy Division
- Label: London Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Punk / New Wave
© 2007 London Records 90 Ltd ℗ 2007 London Records 90 Ltd
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