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Unknown Pleasures

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures Audio CD

A fair review of the Joy Division "Unknown Pleasures" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Joy Division reviews here, or go back to the Joy Division tabs.

Band: Joy Division
Title: Unknown Pleasures
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 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

Evokes the truth; evokes the darkness of the night. A masterpiece.
It will tap into your darkness and POSSIBLY clarify it; Joy Division before this had made one superb album which was never released, the "Warsaw" LP; after this they would do the highly overrated Closer album; this is their pinnacle. I don't know where to start on here, with such an album, which will take you places no other album I know of can possibly do, the way it sounds.

It's a shame that no lyrics come with this CD: "I've been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand" "there's no room for the weak. . . where will it end?" "I remember, when we were young" "I try to get to you, you treat me like this"

None of these lyrics, as great as they are, do justice on paper; they need to be heard when matched up with the incredible, atmospheric music and its absolutely superb production.

Ian Curtis' voice never sounded better to me than on Day Of The Lords, although his yearning forlorn voice on Insight is wonderful (not afraid anymore? he sounds very afraid)

This album is a trip into the darkness, of depression, of rejection, despair, and other feelings which may make more straight-forward rock-oriented fans of music dismiss it without even listening, but I am one of those mostly-rock fans primarily, and absolutely love this album; overall I do prefer side A to side B (which I think was labeled Inside and Outside on my old vinyl, hard to remember).

I recommend this highly as I can, and then would say get the MP3s of Warsaw, that's more straight-ahead "punk", sort of. (Some great songs on there are All Of This For You, They Walked In Line, and Ice Age; the version of Ice Age on Still cannnot even come close or compare)
Atmosphere and Dead Souls are two songs I need to get again, and probably will very soon!

Everything everybody is saying about the greatness of this album is true;
it's incredible.

It helps you get in touch with your repressed sad feelings, and for this sole reason I am not too sure how I would recommend it for anyone dangerously depressed already; they'd be better off with some early Stiff Little Fingers or something else to give them hope, which may not necessarily be found on here.

Nevertheless, a totally SUPERB album; a masterpiece.

Oh yeah --and I HATE Goth. This album is not "goth", it in fact really defies classification, I feel. Except as an enduring, timeless masterpiece.

Unknown Pleasures
Songs that standout on this release are "New Dawn Fades", "She's Lost Control" and "Shadowplay". Unknown Pleasures being Joy Division's debut album and their 1979 release and one can say that this album sounds alot like Sisters of Mercy and The Cure. The front of the booklet is really nice but the booklet itself is quite sparse and contains no lyrics. 4/5.

Skip "Closer", get this one
Of the 10 songs on the album, the first 9 are great. Of the two official (noncompilation) Joy Division albums - "Unknown Pleasures" and "Closer" - this one is the far better one. Only the last song - "I Remember Nothing" - is average, in my opinion. Ian Curtis was in top form on this album, and it shows (in contrast to the Closer album, where supposedly he had lost some interest - there's only one great song ("Isolation"), one decent song ("Heart and Soul"), and the rest is forgettable).

About the songs on this album, I think "Disorder", "Insight", "New Dawn Fades" and "Shadowplay" are the best. Though the version of Disorder here is great, the live version on the "Les Bains Douches" live album is even better. Also, the version of Insight on the "Complete BBC Recordings" compilation is far superior to the version here; it's a bit louder and "spacier" sounding, while on this album it's just a little too quiet and subdued (though still great - it's just a fantastic song). New Dawn Fades is one of those songs that everyone should hear at least once in their life (and preferably more:). It's a little different than their usual songs, in that there's more of a noticeable 70's standard rock influence in some of the guitar work. I like the version of Shadowplay here better than on all the compilation and live CDs (though the bass-heavy version on the "Warsaw" CD is different in a good way).

A lot of people complain about She's Lost Control, saying it doesn't fit in with the rest of the album. I agree a little bit, but it's still an excellent song. I'm torn as to whether I prefer the version here over the version on the "Substance" compilation. They're both very good. By the way, for people new to Joy Division, I think the first album they should get is Substance, then Unknown Pleasures. Joy Division's best songs were released only as singles, and luckily the best of them are on the Substance CD.

It's a shame that nowadays no one makes the kind of intense, serious and intelligent music that Joy Division made. They were definitely a product and reflection of their time (and it was a grim and gloomy time, the late 70's were simply awful). Some recent groups have had pretensions of doing so (and failed miserably), and there have even been some imitators of Joy Division, which is just pathetic. There need to be new groups forging something new and exciting, like Joy Division did, not rehashing the old (and poorly, at that). I'm still hopeful, but I'll also be enjoying listening to Joy Division anyhow.

It's better than almost everything but...
I'd give it 11/10 but Closer gets 111/10. Short and sweet, Unknown Pleasures is not their finest album, IMO. It's perfect in every way. Listen to both back to back and tell me I'm wrong.

But hey, if you're into this band, it's all fanboy/girl argument anyway. We can all agree they're both masterpieces. It's personal preference.

Not for me.
The lyrics, as usual, are drowned out and very difficult to understand and the music and lyrics feel like. Joy Division may be considered one of the founding bands of Goth, but I honestly don't see what people found in this. . 'varsity garage band does Goth'. Sort of. Granted, I appreciate the blend of dismal pop, but this album just doesn't spark my interest.

You can see a complete list of all Joy Division discography, or go back to the Joy Division tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.