Joy Division - 'The Best of Joy Division' (London) Released 24/03/2008

Do you like Joy Division? Or are you just a bit indifferent to them? Maybe you’re one of those people who really like that ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ song; maybe if you’re honest, you prefer New Order. If you’re one of those people, you probably won’t think much of this.

Let’s get one thing straight. Joy Division were never, nor will ever be, a one track pony. ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ may be their most famous song, but it is not necessarily their best. Yes, it may have been featured in cult film, Donnie Darko and covered by Pop punkers, Fall Out Boy; yes it may also have intense emotional significance since it was released shortly after lead singer, Ian Curtis hung himself. The problem with Joy Division, and moreover, the way we consume Joy Division, these days, is based very much in response to their untimely end. They are a band overshadowed by their romanticised legacy, of which ‘that song’ plays a huge part.

Welcome then to the rest of Joy Division’s back catalogue, which is something far superior to what ‘that song’ credits them. They are a very influential band. Bands such as Interpol, Editors and Teenager can’t move for (not unfair) comparisons. They came out of the same movement that bought you The Clash, The Buzzcocks and Sex Pistols, but they sound nothing like any of these bands. Their sound is slower, more subdued but just as powerful. You could argue they pioneered shoegaze (long before the NME even coined the phrase); you could say so many things about them, most of which aren’t relevant here.

So here we come to ‘their best of’ released in the aftermath of the film ‘Control’ (based upon Debbie Curtis’s biography of Ian). Surprisingly, Joy Division only have two studio albums: ‘Unknown Pleasures’ and ‘Closer’. They were rumoured to be one of those bands who didn’t release singles for the sake of it (specifically just to generate more income); and they put as much energy into their singles output as albums. Therefore many of their best loved songs are not on the original versions of either of those studio albums. After Ian Curtis’s death, the remaining members of the group (reformed as New Order) released a compilation called ‘Substance’ (confusingly with the same name as New Order’s own compilation of singles); this featured a lot of Joy Division’s singles and B-sides. Many of which you will find on ‘The Best Of’.

The great thing about this album is that the songs are presented in a brilliant order; the idea to start with ‘Digital’ and ‘Disorder’ and end with ‘Isolation’ is pure genius. Unlike previous Joy Division ‘Best Of’s (for example, ‘Permanent’) it doesn’t start with ‘that song’. Stand out tracks are of course, ‘Disorder’, ‘Shadowplay’, ‘Transmission’, ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘She’s Lost Control’ but that’s probably my own bias. There is also an addition of the ‘John Peel Live Sessions’ which will probably excite some of you more than others.

This is very good stuff indeed. Also known as, I guess I should give my parents their old Joy Division albums back.