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This page is about the album by Joy Division. For the film by Jia Zhangke, see Unknown Pleasures (film).
Unknown Pleasures
Studio album by
Joy Division
Released15 June 1979
Recorded1–17 April 1979 at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, England
GenrePost-punk
Length39:24
LabelFactory
ProducerMartin Hannett
Joy Division chronology
Unknown Pleasures
(1979) 		Closer
(1980)

Unknown Pleasures is the debut album by the English post-punk band Joy Division, released in 1979 by Factory Records. Following an aborted album recorded for RCA Records, Joy Division recorded Unknown Pleasures with producer Martin Hannett at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England. Upon its release, Unknown Pleasures received critical acclaim.

Background

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Joy Division formed in Salford, Greater Manchester in 1976 during the first wave of punk rock. Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook had separately attended a Sex Pistols show at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall on 4 June 1976, and both embraced the simplicity, speed and aggression of the band.[1] Forming a band with their friend Terry Mason on drums, Sumner on guitar and Hook on bass, they advertised for a vocalist. Ian Curtis, who Sumner and Hook already knew, applied and, without having to audition, was taken on.[2] After a number of changes of drummer, Stephen Morris joined the band—at that time called Warsaw—in August 1977. In order to avoid confusion with a London punk band called Warsaw Pakt, they renamed the band Joy Division in late 1977.[3]

After signing with RCA Records in early 1978, Joy Division recorded some demos; however, they were unhappy with the way their music was mixed and asked to be released from their contract.[4][5] The band's first recording was the self-produced extended play (EP), An Ideal for Living, which was released in June 1978. They made their television debut on Tony Wilson's local news show "Granada Reports" in September 1978.[6] According to Hook, the band received a £70,000 offer from Genetic Records in London.[7] However, the band's manager, Rob Gretton, approached Wilson about releasing an album on his label.[8] Wilson explained that Gretton had calculated that with Factory's 50/50 spilt of profits, the group could make as much money with the indie label as it could signed to a major label. Wilson added that one of Gretton's main reasons for approaching Factory about an album release was so "he wouldn't have to get on a train to London every week and 'talk to cunts'. No one could use the word 'cockney' with as much contempt as Rob".[8] Gretton calculated that the album would cost £8,000 to produce; however, Wilson said in 2006 that the final up-front cost was £18,000.[8]

Recording

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The recording of Unknown Pleasures took place at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England between 1 and 17 April 1979, with Martin Hannett producing. Describing Hannett's production techniques, Hook said, "[He] didn’t think straight, he thought sideways. He confused you and made you do something you didn’t expect."[9] Hook went on to say, "Derek Bramwood of Strawberry Studios said that you can take a group that have got on brilliantly for 20 years, put them in a studio with Martin and within five minutes, they’ll be trying to slash each other’s throats." However, Hook went on to say that Hannett was only as good as the material he had to work with, "We gave him great songs, and like a top chef, he added some salt and pepper and some herbs and served up the dish. But he needed our ingredients."[9]

Hannett used a number of unusual sound effects and production techniques on the album; including the sound of a bottle smashing, someone eating crisps, backwards guitar, and the sound of the Strawberry Studios lift with a Leslie speaker "whirring inside".[10] He also used the sound of a basement toilet,[11] as well as an ASM Neve (a prototype digital delay),[11] tape echo and bounce.[12] Hannett recorded Curtis's vocals for "Insight" down a telephone line so he could achieve the "requisite distance". Referring to the recording sessions, Hook remembered, "Sumner started using a kit-built Powertran Transcendent 2000 synthesiser, most notably on 'I Remember Nothing', where it vied with the sound of Rob Gretton smashing bottles with Steve and his Walther replica pistol."[10] He continued, "Morris [...] had invested in a syndrum because he thought he saw one on the cover of Can's Tago Mago: "you triggered it by hitting it. [Hannett] frowned on it because he wasn't the one doing the triggering."[10]

The four members of Joy Division had different opinions on the production of Unknown Pleasures. Sumner said, "The music was loud and heavy, and we felt that Martin had toned it down, especially with the guitars. The production inflicted this dark, doomy mood over the album: we'd drawn this picture in black and white, and Martin had coloured it in for us. We resented it[...]"[13] Hook said, "I couldn't hide my disappointment then, it sounded like Pink Floyd."[10] Morris disagreed, saying, "I was happy with Unknown Pleasures. My theory on things at the time was that the two things—listening to a record and going to a gig—were quite different. You don't want to hear a record when you go to a gig: you want something with a bit of energy."[10] Curtis was also happy with the production of the album and was impressed with Hannett's work.[14] He enthused about the sampling of glass smashing and hand clapping.

Music

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The band initially disliked the "spacious, atmospheric sound" of the album, which did not reflect their more aggressive live sound. Hook said in 2006, "It definitely didn't turn out sounding the way I wanted it.... But now I can see that Martin did a good job on it.... There's no two ways about it, Martin Hannett created the Joy Division sound."[8]

Hook noted that he was able hear Curtis's lyrics and Sumner's guitar parts for the first time on the record, because during gigs the band played too loudly.[8]

Jon Savage described the music as "a definitive Northern Gothic statement: guilt-ridden, romantic, claustrophobic"[13]

Packaging

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Peter Saville, who had previously designed posters for Manchester's Factory club in 1978, designed the cover of the album.[15] Morris chose the image used on the cover, which is based on an image of radio waves from pulsar CP 1919, from The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy. Saville reversed the image from black-on-white to white-on-black and printed it on textured card for the original version of the album.[10] The inner sleeve features a black-and-white photograph of a door with a hand near door handle. It was some years later before Saville discovered that the photograph was Hand Though a Doorway, a well-known picture by Ralph Gibson.[15]

The image on the front cover of the album became well-known, featuring on t-shirts and in the control room sequence of Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien.[15] When reviewing the 2007 remastered version of Unknown Pleasures, Pitchfork Media reviewer Joshua Klein described the cover art as "iconic".[16] Susie Goldring, reviewing the album for bbc.co.uk said, "The duochrome Peter Saville cover of this first Joy Division album speaks volumes. Its white on black lines reflect a pulse of power, a surge of bass, and raw angst. If the cover doesn’t draw you in, the music will."[17]

Releases

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Factory Records originally released the album on 15 June 1979 in the United Kingdom.

In 2007, a remastered version of Unknown Pleasures along with Closer and the posthumous compilation album Still (1981) was re-released. The remastered album included a bonus disc of a live recording of the band playing at The Factory in Manchester on 13 July 1979. The album was also re-released on 180-gram vinyl with the original track listing in 2007, with this version also being available in a limited edition box set with Closer and Still.[18]

Reception

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Reviewing the album for Melody Maker, writer Jon Savage called Unknown Pleasures an "opaque manifesto" and declared "[leaving] the twentieth century is difficult; most people prefer to go back and nostalgize, Oh boy. Joy Division at least set a course in the present with contrails for the future—perhaps you can’t ask for much more. Indeed, Unknown Pleasures may very well be one of the best, white, English, debut LPs of the year."[19] Writing about Factory Records for Melody Maker in September 1979, writer Mary Harron was less impressed with the album when she said, "I found at least half of [Unknown Pleasures] to be turgid and monotonous, and the vocals heavy and melodramatic—Jim Morrison without flair."[20] She went on to say the lyrics and the atmosphere of the album "seemed to hearken back to the late Sixties" and the songs were "a series of disconnected images".

Awarding the album four stars out of five in his 1981 review for Rolling Stone, music journalist Mikal Gilmore described the album as having " a doleful, deep-toned sound that often suggested an elaborate version of the Velvet Underground or an orderly Public Image Ltd."[21] Awarding the album A− in his "Consumer Guide Review" for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau said that it was Curtis's "passionate gravity that makes the clumsy, disquieting music so convincing".[22] Ned Raggett reviewing the album for Allmusic years later described the album as "All visceral, all emotional, all theatrical, all perfect—one of the best albums ever."[23] In relation to the remastered re-released album in 2007, the writer for British music magazine NME described the album as "simply one of the best records ever made, and is still powerful enough to floor you 28 years on". The reviewer went on to say, "The album’s raw power is still gripping, most notably on the haunting 'Day of the Lords' and 'She's Lost Control'."[24]

Initially printed in a run of 10,000 copies,[14] the album failed to chart on the UK Albums Chart. However, following Curtis's suicide in May 1980 and the release of their second album, Closer, in July, it was reissued and reached number seventy-one that August.[25] It fared better on the UK Indie Chart, placing at number two on the first chart to be published in January 1980 and going on to top the chart following its reissue, spending 136 weeks on the chart in total.[26]

Since its release, Unknown Pleasures has received a number of accolades from the music press. Describing the album as "punk on the edge of goth, with echoes of disco and the Doors", Rolling Stone ranked the album at number twenty-four in its list of the "50 Coolest Records".[27] Spin has ranked the album at number eleven in its list of the "50 Most Essential Punk Records",[28] as well as including it in its lists of the "Fifteen Most Influential Albums" and the "Top Ten College Cult Classics".[29][30] In the March 2003 issues of Mojo, the album was listed at number twenty-six in its list of the "Top 50 Punk Albums".[31] Q listed the album at number nineteen in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums".[32] NME ranked the album at number four in its list of "The Greatest Albums of the '70s" and at number forty-three in its list of the "Greatest Albums of All Time".[33][34]

Track listing

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All songs written by Joy Division.

  1. "Disorder" – 3:32
  2. "Day of the Lords" – 4:49
  3. "Candidate" – 3:05
  4. "Insight" – 4:29
  5. "New Dawn Fades" – 4:47
  6. "She's Lost Control" – 3:57
  7. "Shadowplay" – 3:55
  8. "Wilderness" – 2:38
  9. "Interzone" – 2:16
  10. "I Remember Nothing" – 5:53

2007 bonus disc

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  1. "Dead Souls" – 4:25
  2. "The Only Mistake" – 4:12
  3. "Insight" – 3:52
  4. "Candidate" – 2:08
  5. "Wilderness" – 2:32
  6. "She's Lost Control" – 3:47
  7. "Shadowplay" – 3:35
  8. "Disorder" – 3:29
  9. "Interzone" – 2:05
  10. "Atrocity Exhibition" – 6:14
  11. "Novelty" – 4:29
  12. "Transmission" – 3:50

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Ott, 6.
  2. ^ Savage, Jon. "Joy Division: Someone Take These Dreams Away". Mojo. July 1994.
  3. ^ Reynolds, 111
  4. ^ Ott, 42
  5. ^ Gimarc, 135
  6. ^ Curtis, 202
  7. ^ "30 Years of Joy 1979–2009". NME. London: IPC Media. 20 June 2009. pp. 24–27
  8. ^ a b c d e Wilkinson, Roy. "Ode to Joy". Mojo Classic: Morrissey and the Story of Manchester. 2006.
  9. ^ a b "In a lonely place". BBC Manchester, 13 April 2006. Retrieved on 3 July 2008.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Savage, Jon (2007). In Unknown Pleasures [CD booklet]. London Records 90 (2564 69778 9).
  11. ^ a b Ott, 62.
  12. ^ Ott, 63.
  13. ^ a b Savage, Jon (July 1994). "Joy Division: Someone Take These Dreams Away". Mojo. Rock's Backpages (subscription required). Retrieved on 21 February 2009.
  14. ^ a b Curtis (2007), 77
  15. ^ a b c Wozencroft, Jon (Summer 2007). "Out of the Blue". Tate Etc. (10). Retrieved on 4 November 2008.
  16. ^ Klein, Joshua (29 October 2007). "Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures / Closer / Still. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 4 November 2008.
  17. ^ Goldring, Susie (10 September 2007). "Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  18. ^ "Unknown Pleasures (Collector's Edition)". Rhino. Retrieved on 3 November 2008.
  19. ^ Savage, Jon. Unknown Pleasures review. Melody Maker. 21 July 1979.
  20. ^ Harron, Mary. "Factory Records: Food For Thought". Melody Maker. 29 September 1979.
  21. ^ Gilmore, Mikal (1981). "Album Reviews: Unknown Pleasures". Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 3 November 2008.
  22. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Reviews". The Village Voice. Retrieved on 3 November 2008.
  23. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Unknown Pleasures > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved on 3 November 2008.
  24. ^ "NME Reviews: Unknown Pleasures". NME (19 September 2007). Retrieved on 3 November 2008.
  25. ^ Roberts, David (ed.) (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. 19th edition. London: HiT Entertainment. 291. ISBN 1-90499-410-5.
  26. ^ Lazell, Barry (compiled by) (1997). Indie Hits 1980–1989. London: Cherry Red Books. 124. ISBN 0-95172-069-4.
  27. ^ "50 Coolest Records" (archive). Rolling Stone. 4 November 2002. 107. Retrieved on 12 February 2009.
  28. ^ "50 Most Essential Punk Records" (archive). Spin. May 2001. 109. Retrieved on 12 February 2009.
  29. ^ Klosterman, Chuck; Milner, Greg; Pappademas, Alex. 9 July 2003. "Fifteen Most Influential Albums". Spin. Retrieved on 12 February 2009.
  30. ^ "Press Quotes". HMV. Retrieved on 12 February 2009.
  31. ^ "Top 50 Punk Albums" (archive). Mojo. March 2003. 76. Retrieved on 12 February 2009.
  32. ^ "100 Greatest British Albums" (archive). Q. June 2000. 78. Retrieved on 12 February 2009.
  33. ^ "The Greatest Albums of the '70s" (archive). NME. 18. 9 November 1993. Retrieved on 12 February 2009
  34. ^ "Greatest Albums of All Time" (archive). NME. 10 February 1993. 29. Retrieved on 12 February 2009

Sources

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  • Curtis, Deborah (1995). Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-17445-0
  • Curtis, Deborah [1995] (2007). Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-23956-6.
  • Gimarc, George. Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock 1970-1982. Backbeat Books, 2005. ISBN 0-87930-848-6
  • Ott, Chris. Unknown Pleasures. (33⅓ series) New York: Continuum, 2004. ISBN 0-8264-1549-0
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