Joy Division: Classic Or Dud?

I understand Corbijn - who has invested his lifesavings in the project

Wait - WHAT'S THIS ???

http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Hannetts-Personal-Mixes-Division/dp/B000OVL766

How have I not heard anything about this?

Discovered by friends of Martin Hannett recently and with input from one of his relatives,these recordings give a rare insight into his production ideas for Joy Division and his relationship with the band.,the strange things/ sound effects they recorded in the studio together etc etc ,.The studio chit chat and interplay between Hannett and Joy Division members is all here as Martin left his own tape machine running throughout studio sessions. On this album we have rare alternative mixes of Joy Division that were Martin's personal favourites and he had the fore thought to get the band members to give him control of these recordings. A must for all Joy Division fans. Includes alternative mixes of Autosuggestion, Heart and soul, 24 hours, Passover, The Eternal (2 mixes), From Safety to where & Decades (3 mixes).

Yeah I saw it in the record store last w-e. I'm a bit suspicious I have to say, but then again I've never been a JD completist.

Hmmm. It's weird. Elevator sounds, silences, synth bits, talking, and then a couple of different mixes of those songs - no drastically different versions. I've now heard the three versions of Decades (called "N4" here) and apart from someone shouting "1, 2, 3" before the bass starts in two of those mixes, I can't really tell what's so different between them all. There are differences, but they're too subtle, I guess.

Yeah, I think they're really scrapping the barrel to have some JD release on the shelves this year.

It would appear that there's no shortage of scrapings to be had from the bottom of that particular barrel, as the three original albums are all scheduled to re-released very shortly:
- on CD (each one containing a "bonus disc" featuring a previously unavailable legitimately live recording - so that's a "bonus disc" which in reality will probably the main reason that >90% of them will be sold);
- on vinyl (£18 each for Unknown Pleasures and Closer, and for Still either £33 if you're prepared to have it in a plain old cardboard sleeve or £45 if you want it in hardboard & hessian with ribbons etc. - and no bonus tracks);
- and in a quite phenomenally expensive vinyl-only boxset at £160 a pop, still with none of that bonus material (which according to my calculations means that you'd be forking out a frankly astonishing 79 quid for "a special Peter Saville designed hard cover box").

i picked up a real mint copy of unknown pleasures on vinyl (orig. pressing) this weekend...i have a fancy new record player and everything...honestly, having only heard this song on the crappy old CDs, it's like a completely different record. there's so much more going on in the mix and so much more low end...

The Killers Set For Joy Division Soundtrack

The Killers, New Order and David Bowie are among a host of acts who are set to appear on the soundtrack to movie 'Control' - a biopic about Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis.

Released on October 1st, the soundtrack will feature the Killers cover of Joy Division's, 'Shadowplay,' which they have been road testing at live shows throughout the summer.

The soundtrack for the movie will also feature three instrumental tracks from New Order. 'Get Out,' 'Exit' and 'Hypnosis' have all been recorded for the film.

Other songs on the soundtrack come courtesy of Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Roxy Music.

All the music features in 'Control,' which has just received critical acclaim at the Edinburgh International Film Festival where it won the Michael Powell award for best new British feature.

'Control' will go on general release across the UK on October 5th.

The full tracklisting for the soundtrack is as follows:

New Order - 'Exit'
The Velvet Underground - 'What Goes On'
The Killers - 'Shadowplay'
Buzzcocks - 'Boredom' (live version)
Joy Division - 'Dead Souls'
Supersister - 'She Was Naked'
Iggy Pop - 'Sister Midnight'
Joy Division - 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'
Sex Pistols - 'Problems' (live version)
New Order - 'Hypnosis'
David Bowie - 'Drive-In Saturday'
John Cooper Clarke - 'Evidently Chickentown'
Roxy Music - '2HB'
Joy Division - 'Transmission' (cast cover)
Kraftwerk - 'Autobahn'
Joy Division - 'Atmosphere'
David Bowie - 'Warszawa'
New Order - 'Get Out'

http://www.musicrooms.net/cm/live/templates/?a=5350&z=5

each one containing a "bonus disc" featuring a previously unavailable legitimately live recording

The Unknown Pleasures 'bonus' live recording is in fact the Russell Club gig from July 79 - all but two or three tracks are also on the 'Heart And Soul' box.

Closer comes with the ULU set (which is ace) and Still is with the High Wycombe gig, including soundcheck. They have not added '24 Hours' to the Birmingham gig on Still, so the only place to get that is on the original vinyl (where it is uncredited on the sleeve IIRC)

The Control soundtrack is pretty boring - don't get excited about the New Order tracks, they're instrumental interludes.

and....mornin' Stewart!

I wonder what happens at 2:06 in the Substance version of "No Love Lost."

Or the "An Ideal For Living" version, I guess.

And that version of Shadowplay by the Killers is horrid. It sounds... wrong. I mean, its not exactly a subtle song, but you need some attitude to pull it off. I guess you could approach that attitude in lots of way, self-disgust, arrogant bombast, quiet resignation - I could see somebody managing that, but the Killers have a 'I'm too cool to care much about anything and my smugness is well justified because if I was chocolate I would eat myself' doesn't really do anything with the song.

http://acuterecords.com/blog/?p=28

I like how you started that with "and."

I just realized Dead Souls sounds like Velvet Underground. This has never before occured to me, though I've known that song for 20 years. ???

Also no one ever raves about the brilliance of "Komakino" or "From Safety To Where?" enough just because they weren't proper album tracks! It's a tragedy I say! I'm going to write a book called "Beyond Closer & Unknown Pleasures". Cheers.

"No Love Lost" and "Novelty" are my favorites, but I love at least 15 others. Truly one of those bands that had plenty of room to grow, and I think would have reached even greater heights, if given the time.

Never got real deep into JD, though I own Substance, UP, and Closer. Upon first hearing them I thought I might get obsessed, but it just never took hold. I love it when it's on but I never seek it out. A shame, really.

Yeah, I finally got the "Heart and Soul" 4CD set, been playing CD3 mostly, havent got to CDs 2 and 4 yet.

bimble, in my blog post I posted above, I discuss the possibility of people of a certain age having a very different view of Joy Division because Substance was our introduction instead of the records, so we're biased towards the early punky stuff and the singles instead of the LPs.

Yeah, I am that young person!

(whistles and walks away)

The forthcoming documentary film by Grant Gee is a good one. Very frank interviews with the surviving members. The antidote to Control.

Didn't know about that film at all, or had forgotten news about it. Looking forward to that!

Anyone read this Morley book?