Closer (Joy Division album)

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

Closer is the second and final studio album by the English post-punk band Joy Division, released 18 July 1980 (1980-07-18), two months following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. The album was originally scheduled to be released on 8 May 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. It claimed the number one slot on NME Album of the Year, and was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

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.

Sound

Closer, produced by Martin Hannett, features a sound which is both lusher and more sombre than the band's previous album, Unknown Pleasures, with more use of synthesizers and studio effects. Many of its songs have a despairing, funereal feel, and its cover art appears to reflect this, although it was chosen by Peter Saville before he had heard any of the music.^{[citation needed]} Both the cover art and the bleakness of the music and lyrics amplified the already strong mystique surrounding the album after Curtis' suicide.

The opening track, "Atrocity Exhibition", shares its name with The Atrocity Exhibition by J.G. Ballard,^[1] a book that Curtis read and loved, but only after writing the bulk of the song. Several of the songs on Closer feature a down tempo vibe and droning synthesisers, such as the final two tracks "The Eternal" and "Decades". Keyboards (including Mellotron) are featured predominantly on four of the album's nine tracks, a trend the surviving members would extend in their subsequent incarnation, New Order.

Reissue

Closer, along with Unknown Pleasures and Still was remastered and re-released in 2007. As with Unknown Pleasures and Still, the remaster comes packaged with a bonus live disc, recorded at the University of London.^[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating

The album has been highly acclaimed, and is often cited as being Joy Division's finest work.^{[citation needed]} It has made a number of best-of lists; for example, it was ranked 10th on Pitchfork Media's "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s"^[3] and 72nd on NME's "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". A reviewer from Pitchfork Media remarked "Closer is even more austere, more claustrophobic, more inventive, more beautiful, and more haunting than its predecessor. It's also Joy Division's start-to-finish masterpiece, a flawless encapsulation of everything the group sought to achieve", and gave the album a perfect 10.0. In 2003 the album was ranked at number 157 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #8 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".^[4]

Track listing

All songs written by Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner.^[5]

LP (Factory FACT 25)

Side one

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

Side two

1. "Heart and Soul" – 5:51
2. "Twenty Four Hours" – 4:26
3. "The Eternal" – 6:07
4. "Decades" – 6:10

CD 2007 remaster (Warner 2564697791)

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

CD Two - Live at ULU 8 February 1980

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

Personnel

• Ian Curtis – vocals, guitar on "Heart and Soul", melodica on "Decades"
• Bernard Sumner – guitar, synthesizers, bass on "Atrocity Exhibition"
• Peter Hook – bass, guitar on "Atrocity Exhibition"
• Stephen Morris – drums, electronic drums, percussion

Technical personnel

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

Sources

• Curtis, Deborah. Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division. London: Faber, 1995 (2nd ed. 2001, 3rd ed. 2005). ISBN 0-571-17445-0
• Weisbard, Eric; Craig Marks (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8. 

Notes

1. ^ "J. G. Ballard". Times Online, January 5, 2008. Retrieved on June 28, 2008.
2. ^ "Unknown Pleasures". Factory Records. Retrieved on June 28, 2008.
3. ^ Pitchfork Staff (2002-11-20). "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5882-top-100-albums-of-the-1980s/. Retrieved 2009-09-29. 
4. ^ Q August 2006, Issue 241
5. ^ Joy Division. Closer (Factory Records, 1980).

External links

• for detailed release info