Isolation (Joy Division song)

This article is about the song by Joy Division. For the song of the same title by John Lennon, see Isolation (John Lennon song). For other uses, see Isolation (disambiguation).
"Isolation"
Song by Joy Division from the album Closer
Released 1980
Recorded 18–30 March 1980 at Britannia Row Studios, London, United Kingdom
Genre Post-punk, new wave, gothic rock[1]
Length 2:52
Label Factory Records
Writer Bernard Sumner
Peter Hook
Stephen Morris
Ian Curtis [2]
Producer Martin Hannett, Joy Division
Closer track listing

"Atrocity Exhibition"
(1)
"Isolation"
(2)
"Passover"
(3)

"Isolation" is a 1980 song appearing on the post-punk band Joy Division's second album, Closer. The song is based upon an electronic drum beat by Stephen Morris, accompanied by a high-pitched keyboard line by Bernard Sumner. Midway through the song, a rushing drum and hi-hat motif come in, propelling the song toward its dramatic end in what resembles a compact disc skipping (though the song predates the format), followed by a sudden electronic crescendo. In his book "Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division", Peter Hook reveals the ending came as the serendipitous result of Martin Hannett's efforts to rescue the original master tape from a botched edit by a junior sound engineer.

The song also appears on the Heart and Soul box set and on Permanent. A live version from the band's last concert appears on Still. The song is also used in the 2007 Joy Division biopic Control.

Covers

Dessau leader John Elliott had worked with Joy Division producer Martin Hannett in 1982 as a member of Chicago new wave act Stations, and on the 1985 Dessau release Red Languages. Their version also appears on the Dessau LP Exercise in Tension. In 1995 Mausoleum / BMG released a compilation Dessau which also contained "Isolation".

References

  1. McCullough, Dave (26 July 1980). "Closer to the edge (Joy Division Closer album review)". Sounds. Young men in dark silhouettes, some darker than others, looking inwards, looking out, discovering the same horror and describing it with the same dark strokes of gothic rock.
  2. Ascap entry
  3. Discography at diekrupps.de

External links