Closer (Joy Division album)

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Closer
Closer cover
Studio album by Joy Division
Released July 18, 1980 (1980-07-18)
Recorded March 18, 1980 (1980-03-18)–March 30, 1980 (1980-03-30) at Britannia Row Studios, Islington, London
Genre Post-punk
Length 44:16
Label Factory - FAC 25
Producer Martin Hannett, Joy Division
Professional reviews
Joy Division chronology
Unknown Pleasures
(1979)		 Closer
(1980)

Closer is the second and final album by post-punk band Joy Division, released July 18, 1980 (1980-07-18), two months following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. The album was originally scheduled to be released on May 8, 1980 (1980-05-08). The record was originally released on the Factory Records label as a 12" LP and reached #6 on the UK Albums Chart. It also peaked at #3 in New Zealand in September 1981.

Closer, produced by Martin Hannett, has a sound which is both lusher and more sombre than Unknown Pleasures, with more use of synthesizers and studio effects. Many of its songs have a despairing, funeral feel, and its cover art appears to reflect this, although it was chosen by Peter Saville before he had heard any of the music; both the photo and the bleakness of the music and lyrics amplified the already strong mystique surrounding the album after Curtis's suicide.

The opening track, "Atrocity Exhibition", shares its name with The Atrocity Exhibition by J.G. Ballard, a book that Curtis read and loved, but only after writing the bulk of the song. It was ranked 10th on Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of the 1980s, 72nd on NME's 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

This album, along with Unknown Pleasures and Still has been remastered and was released in 2007. As with Unknown Pleasures and Still, the remaster comes packaged with a bonus live disc, recorded at the University of London.

The album cover was designed by Martyn Atkins and Peter Saville, with photography from Bernard Pierre Wolff. The photograph on the cover is of the Appiani family tomb in the Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno in Genoa, Italy, by Demetrio Paernio.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner. [1]

  1. "Atrocity Exhibition" – 6:06
  2. "Isolation" – 2:53
  3. "Passover" – 4:46
  4. "Colony" – 3:55
  5. "A Means to an End" – 4:07
  6. "Heart and Soul" – 5:51
  7. "Twenty Four Hours" – 4:26
  8. "The Eternal" – 6:07
  9. "Decades" – 6:10

Track listing note: On the original LP album release, side one was comprised of tracks 1-5; side two of tracks 6-9. [1]

[edit] 2007 remaster: Warner / 2564697791 (UK)

[edit] CD One: Closer

  1. "Atrocity Exhibition" – 6:06
  2. "Isolation" – 2:53
  3. "Passover" – 4:46
  4. "Colony" – 3:55
  5. "A Means to an End" – 4:07
  6. "Heart and Soul" – 5:51
  7. "Twenty Four Hours" – 4:26
  8. "The Eternal" – 6:07
  9. "Decades" – 6:10

[edit] CD Two: Live at ULU 8 February 1980

  1. "Dead Souls" - 4:58
  2. "Glass" - 3:42
  3. "A Means To An End" - 4:00
  4. "Twenty Four Hours" - 4:05
  5. "Passover" - 4:53
  6. "Insight" - 4:01
  7. "Colony" - 4:04
  8. "These Days" - 4:17
  9. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - 3:13
  10. "Isolation" - 4:41
  11. "The Eternal" - 6:30
  12. "Digital" - 3:14

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Technical personnel

  • Martin Hannett - producer, engineer
  • Michael Johnson - assistant engineer
  • John Caffery - engineer

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Joy Division. Closer (Factory Records, 1980).

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Joy Division
Ian Curtis • Bernard Sumner • Peter Hook • Stephen Morris
Terry Mason • Tony Tabac • Steve Brotherdale
Albums
Unknown Pleasures • Closer
Compilations
Live albums
Singles and EPs
Related