Originally released in 1979 and recently re-released as a deluxe CD edition (worth picking up for the live disc alone) “Unknown Pleasures” was my first Joy Division album. I actually had to special order the disc from the local record shop as it was full of the new romantic pap that was de rigeur for the time (1981). This only added to the expectation of hearing the album in full , my appetite whetted by hearing the likes of  “Shadowplay” and “She's Lost Control” on John Peels legendary radio show. 

Opening with the  insistent combination of  Steven Morris' synthetic and conventional drums and Peter Hooks trademark upfront bass on “Disorder”  it was clear that, despite being borne out of the same Manchester punk scene that brought us The Buzzcocks, Joy Division had a sound that was light years away from anything else that was around at the time.  By the time you added Bernard Sumners minimalist guitar and Ian Curtis' disconnected vocal this was really the sound of the bleak early 80's captured to perfection. 

That might sound pretentious, especially this far removed from the context of the period but, at the time (bearing in mind I was 14) it seemed that there really was little future. These were the early Thatcher years, there was widespread industrial unrest and unemployment, the cold war was still in full sway. In the eerie use of sound effects added to the very sparse arrangements it seemed that Joy Division felt the same way as well and had described the same desolation that many were feeling perfectly in the space of these ten tracks. 

There were moments of brief respite from this over-arching aural despair, “Shadowplay” and “Interzone” are relatively uptempo and the latter has a very straight ahead punk sound to it but in the main there's nothing about “Unknown Pleasures” that's even remotely uplifting. Even today the atmosphere that the record creates is very claustrophobic and extremely powerful, maiing it a very affecting album on a number of levels even 26 years after my first listen.

Let us know your views on Unknown Pleasures

Track Listing

Disorder
Day Of The Lords
Candidate
Insight
New Dawn Fades
She's Lost Control
Shadowplay
Wilderness
Interzone
I Remember Nothing

Line Up

Ian Curtis – Vocals/Guitar
Bernard Sumner – Guitar/Keyboards
Peter Hook – Bass
Steven Morris – Drums