Album Review #129: Closer (Joy Division)
JOY DIVISION
CLOSER
1980-QWEST
Produced By MARTIN HANNETT
- Atrocity Exhibition
- Isolation
- Passover
- Colony
- A Means To An End
- Heart And Soul
- Twenty Four Hours
- The Eternal
- Decades
"When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you". That line from Nietzsche's "Beyond Good And Evil" is all you need to know about Joy Division. Closer is their second and last album, and it is one dark, powerful piece of work. The star is producer Martin Hannett, who sculpted the sound of the band and created a sound unlike any other. Dark, deadly, ambient, and danceable. This album is the groundbreaker for the post punk goth sound of the 80's. Singer Ian Curtis sounds as depressed as he really was, and the band creates moods behind him that are downright scary. Every track is powerful and stunning. And while it may be somewhat depressing, it's also a magnificent piece of work.
The album's release was delayed by the suicide of Curtis at 22 years of age. The rest of the members called it a day as Joy Division (named from the Nazi concentration camp brothels) and formed the highly successful New Order. But Closer is still a great achievement, a tough listen, but worth it once you get it.
This is album #129 in an ongoing series.
The last one in there threw me off a bit haha.... But then I listened to it and I get it. Pretty interesting stuff. I've never heard of it before, though maybe some elements of it feel somewhat familiar...
Hey, Eon! They probably do seem familiar. After their singer committed suicide, they continued to record as New Order and have had a great career. It doesn't sound like it would be dance music...but it somehow does work that way!