Joy Division- Closer FULL ALBUM REACTION AND REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- *MUSIC REMOVED FOR COPYRIGHT, WATCH FULL REACTION HERE: / 119709277
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*MUSIC REMOVED FOR COPYRIGHT, WATCH FULL REACTION HERE (its free, just make an account:) www.patreon.com/posts/119709277
Thanks for the free uncut patreon video. I love this album, so am watching there now.. I'll have to check out some more of your album review archives there, as the heavily edited videos aren't my cup of tea. This is the way, step inside.
A monumentally brilliant album. Superb reaction and analysis. 'Decades', especially the final two minutes, absolutely breaks my heart. One of the most moving, beautiful and sad endings to an album ever.
If you're interested in checking out more Martin Hannett, then listen to 'Flight' and 'Shack Up' by A Certain Ratio to begin with, the whole of the album The Correct Use of Soap by Magazine, Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls' self-titled album, 'Space Music' by The Invisible Girls, 'Night Shift by The Names (also their album Swimming) and 'Madeleine', 'Conduct', 'The Missing Boy' (which is about Ian Curtis) and 'Requiem for a Father' to get you started on The Durutti Column....
Closer always seemed like a concept album to me. Also, the scene in “24 Hour Party People” of Hannett recording Joy Division is hilarious. It’s on UA-cam.
Heart and Soul is my hand down favorite, followed by Isolation. It’s been awhile since I’ve listened to the album in its entirety, very much enjoyed listening along.
An album suggestion is Echo and the Bunnymens , Heaven Up Here. It’s in the same vein , but has more of a rock edge.
I would recommend you watch the movie "Control". It's a biographical film about the life of Ian Curtis. Sam Riley does a great job as Ian. These songs will make more sense.
They didn't make more sense after I watched Closer, it felt more voyeuristic to me - i.e. I could already tell what he was going through.
JP, we've never met but we go aways back here on The World Wide Web. It makes me inordinately happy to see you discover, for example, The Chameleons, Propaganda, Joy Division and New Order - artists that were the mood of my youth. You've broadened your palette without abandoning your roots.
PS. You really should go back to Thomas Dolby's first album. It's a wonderland of melody and filmy atmosphere.
PPS. How about giving Pet Shop Boys a proper chance? The elegiacally funky (yes) Behaviour album might well be to your liking. Give it the old "first two tracks" try. (Obviously I know they're both glorious .)
Much appreciated thisworld , ty so much 😊 ill try to keep some of those in mind for the future as well
Isolation, Love will tear us apart and Ice age will always be my favorite Joy Division songs
I suggest Ice age if you didn't heard it
re Martin Hannett's credits. A Certain Ratio's first album was essential listening, the second is pretty good in parts though totally different. Durutti Column were based around the guitars of Vini Reilly, echo infused ambient. John Cooper Clark was/is poet who spoke poetry over musical backing, Magazine were seminal post punk. OMD were an early bedroom electronic band and the Happy Mondays were part of the Madchester 80's scene. All these artists had in common (bar OMD) that they were from Manchester, the home of Factory Records
Very pleased you chose to play and listen to this great album that l and others recommended. Cheers! Have a listen to the manc band James lp "Laid" brilliant too.
Ty rob- I enjoyed it+
Incredible album, if Unknown Pleassures is amazing in everything that it represented at the time, and in everything that it influenced, Closer goes further, showing more in the flesh everything that they were expressing, a monument that tragically became a real tombstone for the band, but opened a door that is still open today... You can hear in the lyrics and in Ian's voice that he was already dead inside, the total sincerity with which he sang these lyrics is amazing and painful at the same time, many times I have wondered why many of us love this album so much and it is something so sad, perhaps because it is the real reflection of a person's feelings, reflected in a devastating and open way... It is a shame that nothing and no one has been able to stop what happened, nor has anything been enough... I hope that later you can make another full album reaction of Substance, with all the songs that were singles or left out of the albums, it is wonderful listen to those songs in chronological order... Excellent video, as always, thanks Justin!!!
I have not seen this channel for some time, but it's still alive. It was rather strange to me in my childhood days to hear that the best JD album was ''Unknown pleasure'' which I never really liked. As for 'Closer' I used to play it o'r n o'r again. Today I would rather choose stuff like ''LVL Up - Return to Love'' JD is just a history( highly recommend it to everyone
)
The best music reactor right here!
Hoping for a ❤?
@@Owlstretchingtime78 Why?
There is a lot of reactors that just don't actually add anything at all, JP does effectively give you a fine and detailed review, what he likes, what he doesn't from a music fans perspective. In an era where reviews and the print media they were part of are sharing a cage with Monty Pythons parrot, this is where you get good reviews. Other Reactors I follow have technical skills that they use as a lens to review a piece through and I follow a few of those as well.
Incredible album always love it. Every song just has a sort of emptiness which brings so much emotion. Darker than Unknown Pleasures and I will agree with you the second side is the definitive highlight of the whole record.
You need to hit New Order - Movement next as its got a simular sound to Closer but also shows the band moving to the synthy aspects of Power, Corruption And lies.
Great reaction as always Justin.
I feel like that second side “sound” starts to echo the direction that became New Order. That famous guitar sound that penetrates NO sound from then on in…
Absolutely, it's obvious! The last four tracks on Closer sound like most of the tracks on New Order's Movement! I'm convinced that if Ian Curtis were still alive, Joy Division's musical direction would have been similar to that of New Order.
@@a.k.1740 Except nothing on Movement is as good as anything on Closer
Awesome album. Definitely a contender for my favourite ever (but I can't really choose between the top 5 candidates for that position).
A complete listen, with no breaks, no distractions from outside (so headphones are a must, phone switched off), and I will always find myself emotionally exhausted as it comes to an end. This is probably what keeps it up there in my top 5, that ability to move me in directions not many other albums do.
EDIT TO ADD MORE: My favourite track from the album is "Twenty Four Hours". It's a great observation on accepting one's fate and what is inevitable. I consider it the climax of the album, with the following two tracks as the aftermath of the realization revealed in "Twenty Four Hours".
Hard to believe that you could conceivably place this forbidding darkness above the fragile beauty of you know who!
Appreciate the suggestion Ariadne- it was a great listen
Love will Tear Us Apart' was released in June 1980, just after Ian's death, and was recorded during the 'Closer' sessions. 'Closer' was released a month later. 'Ceremony' and 'In a A Lonely Place' were written with Ian, but recorded by New Order. These two singles were written weeks before Ian left us and are essential songs. The first New Order album retained much of the Joy Division sound and was produced by Martin Hannett.
Love Will Tear Us Apart was recorded prior to the Closer sessions as well. You can hear the January 1980 Pennine sessions version out there on the internet, and they also worked on it at Strawberry Studios in March while recording the She's Lost Control 12" version. It is interesting to hear the previous versions to put it all into context.
This isn't my the album i enjoy the most, but it is perhaps the album i admire the most.
Here are my thoughts on the Unknown Pleasures / Closer argument:
UP was a bunch of songs that Joy Division wrote and then Martin Hannett found a unique sound for. Closer is the band then writing a new bunch of songs to fit that sound, so it does exactly what it says on the tin - it gets Closer.
The track listing of the second side is often cited as being the darkest journey you can take in music.
My own favourite track is Heart And Soul, where i think Curtis is weighing up the pros and cons of suicide: either live on in hell, or end your life and risk your soul going to a different hell.
Apparently the band members bever discussed the lyrics, but after the tragedy of Curtis's death they all listened to them properly for the first time and realised that all the clues were there.
An album I might not have listened to in the last forty years, but not one I'd want to be without either. A landmark album for me during a period of my life I don't really want to think about.
A superb album, dark, melancholic, atmospheric. And though it could be said to be very much of it's time, I'd also say timeless. Great tracks all, but FWIW, The Eternal, my top track this disc. Classic stuff.
MY GOD.... You've at last done it.... THANK YOU, THANK YOU... Wow, arguably the greatest "swan song" album of all time that still leaves me speechless, breathless, and numb till this day. This album and band means the world to me and has immensely helped throughout the years as I've gotten older... I have immense respect for you Justin. You never fail to light me up every time you react to a post-punk/gothic rock album or song.
Away from his main source, the greatest 'Swan Song' would be Talk Talk's 'Laughing Stock'.
@@Owlstretchingtime78 GOD YES!! Thank you for reminding me! I stand corrected, "Laughing Stock" absolutely deserves that top spot
@@samstevenson5328 So glad you feel that way. :)
@ Talk Talk is my all-time favorite band...
@samstevenson5328 You, my friend are one special guy! 🦜
I think you might like a not so well known Band, Cowboys International.A British New Wave group from in 79 wi folk like Ken Lockie (Public Image), Keith Levene (Public Image, New Age Steppers & Pigface) and Marco Pirroni (Adam & The Ants, Spear Of Destiny). They only had the One LP, The Original Sin and a couple o 7"s. If you want to Try before you Buy, there is "Future Noise", one of the 7"s fi the LP.
Yaay, full album!
"Atrocity Exhibition" - it's that Vincent Price wax figures movie (sorry, not a movie guy), various goth bands address it after this song. Also, like many other JD songs, it translates totally different mood being played live: more aggressive with edgy vocal performance, all the atmosphere on this album is Martin Hannett's thing. Which I do not like, but still I kinda miss the effects in live versions though.
"Isolation" - shiiiet, this piece was a party killer to me (-__-') I mean, when you enter the genre from Ikon, The House of Usher, Clan of Xymox side, search what do they call such music, read some reviews with "it's like Joy Division" lines popping out here and there... and you think: god, if these mega-cool bands only "sound like" Joy Division, how cool Joy Division should be itself! And then you hear... well, THIS. Someone may ask what's wrong exactly? Apart from the song being grounded by postprocessing, sounding totally dull and raw, like some dude sings in his bathtub, and apart from this joke of the drums (the tragedy of this whole album)? Well, the synths aren't even synchronized, and if it's an intentional thing to make song falling apart like some uncoordinated performance, don't you think it's really out of place for an upbeat rhythm-based track?.. Ok, I've got used to this postpunk-ish part when there's more punk, over ages, but I still don't like this song regrettably X)
"Passover" - postpunk Billy Jean... Dude, if only I could donate XD XD XD The bass is terrific. Hookie was all about his bass contribution on this album, this is the rare case when he's got Hannett 's permission.
"Colony" - it took years for me to admire this song, sneaking behind the flanger (or phaser?) and echoes emphasizing the lack of coordination in rhythm section. The exceptional song. Don't know what Curtis meant exactly, I've just found some my personal thing in it. Like - you know - representation of the family like a colony) Just a personal interpretation, nevamind.
"A Means to an End" - ehm... not so interesting track, but anyway, it's time toclear it once and for all. What does "a means" mean? X)) I'm not an English-native so I can't process it in the right way naturally, sorry. It's like has an "a" which makes "means" a singular noun, but it has the plural "-s" ending and why it's followed with "to"? What a strange construction...
The rest of the album makes it a masterpiece, nuff said. Every track is outstanding, the sound engineering is finally... relevant. Also, the Curtis' performance in "24 Hours" literally breaks the wall and reaches directly you through all the distance between the man in the studio in '80 and you listening it in your apartment in 'xx. Spine chilling. A culminative Curtis' song to me, thanks to its delivery.
Just seeing that dumb Wikipedia page for Isolation makes me want to go correct the bits about the drums. No drum machine at that time had the capability to play what is fully played on that song. There are toms throughout the whole beat, the reason it sounds the way it does is because of Hannett's production methods. The snare through most of the song is indeed Steven's syndrum that he uses for stuff like the clapping sound on She's Lost Control live. But then it goes into real snare at 1.43, and is real drums the rest of the time.
On Passover, the sounds you think are tablas are bass with the strings muted on the neck, if you listen there will be a bass note or two, then he plays all 4 strings with them muted, not as harmonics, just muted. Notice the sounds are entirely gone at the end when he is playing more notes, and they are not there at the beginning when he is also playing more notes.
re: The Eternal: he is talking about his own child, he wishes he could spend time with his girlfriend, Annik, rather than his wife, Deborah, and his child, Deborah. Sometimes I wish you would make your guesses and then click open the meanings on Genius, didn't you used to do that? I saw you addressed it, but I sure wish you would go back to it again, it leaves me screaming here when I know the meaning of something and you could know with just a click!
There are songs that you're missing by not having done singles by them, like Transmission, Atmosphere, Dead Souls, obv Love Will Tear Us Apart - you could hit most of the stuff that matters by reacting to their "Substance" album - the She's Lost Control version on there is a re-recorded 12" version that has an added verse, it is actually the one I heard first since Substance was my introduction to them back in like 89.
It's not immediately clear why this should work - the vocals are all over the place, the rhythms basic, the synths rudimentary and Goth was only just starting - but it certainly does. There's some legacy from punk in the imprecise vocal delivery and simple instrumentation but it follows a different path from the new wave and post-punk that was around at the time. I think I can hear Morris's ambition to try something different though he maybe doesn't quite have the skills to achieve it fully on this record but that adds to both charm and atmosphere. Hook however has found a different sound and mines it deliciously. Sumner (wasn't he still Albrecht then?) isn't the greatest guitarist but again his work complements the sound beautifully. This is a great album.
THE DAY HAS COME, AND SO HAVE I.
😅
All these years later, every time I listen to this album, somehow I keep gravitating to "A Means To An End". And I wonder am I allowing myself to give in to compulsion again? Or am I excused from blame because experiencing "A Means To An End" is compulsory? Regardless, I can't say exactly as to why but there is connection to it I can only half-explain to myself. Maybe someone with a Jungian or Nietzschean background could perhaps help with answers for me? Always questions.
An album worthy of long song Saturday by a hugely influential band. I always wonder what Curtis would have produced had he lived.
💙💙💙 Closer 💙💙💙 Joy Division
If you like details and enormous story, please go and read the pink book about Factory Records... Hannett, Wilson, from Joy Division (and durutti column) to Happy Monday (and disaster of a happy amateur band)
Definitely a classic album in the Gothic rock Canon
To quickly touch on a Atrocity Exhibition and Passover.
Atrocity Exhibition: ''For entertainment they watch his body twist, behind the eyes he says I still exist''. Is also speculated to be about Ian Curtis's frequent seizures whilst performing.
Passover: ''Turning around the next set of lives, wondering what will come next''. This line is also speculated to be about Ian Curtis knowing what he is going to do, and did, and wonder what will come after his death.
I think Passover and many other lyrics could be - at least partly - about his failing marriage.
@@jespercervin9618 Passover especially, there are so many references to his duty and what he must do and the choices he has made. 100% about his marriage and family with baby Natalie, vs his relationship with Annik which made him happy. He felt duty bound to Deborah and Natalie but enjoyed Annik. Young marriage can do that to some people. I feel like if he had been able to split with Debbie in an easier fashion and not feel so wracked over it, he might still be here today.
I almost look at this album as a divorce settlement from Ian Curtis to his late wife Deborah Curtis also in some respects of suicide note
I much prefer Closer to Unknown Pleasures, but I've never liked the austere and unpleasant “Atrocity Exhibition” (which lives up to its title), with Ian Curtis's wobbly, unsure vocals and chaotic music (stretched out over six minutes!), or the rigid “Passover”, which goes completely over my head. It just doesn't grab me.
Despite these two tracks, I like everything else on the album. ‘Isolation’ is robotic, both in its rhythm and its minimalist synth part, a bit in the spirit of Kraftwerk. "Colony", with its sharp riffs, is monolithic but convincing, as is the following track "A Means To An End", but what I've always preferred from Closer is its B side, which pushes the envelope a little further, both in its production and its more original songs.
"Heart And Soul", whose synth-bass lends an atmosphere of claustrophobic reclusion, is close to the sounds of some tracks on Movement, New Order's debut album. The great “Twenty Four Hours” is somewhere between lull and turmoil. The gloomy “The Eternal” has a sepulchral, contemplative feel, and the result is brilliant!
Finally, the album closes with the magnificent melancholy of "Decades". All this leads us inevitably to New Order's Movement, which I hope you'll give a full album reaction to in the future....😉
Are/were you a music critic? 🤔
@@ijustneedmyself No, not at all, it's just how I feel when I listen to these tracks. Does that sound like a music review?🤨
@@a.k.1740 In a way it does! You're very expressive which makes it interesting to read.
@ Thank you, that's very nice to hear!🙏
@@a.k.1740 You're welcome!
I've always struggled with this album. I find Unknown Pleasures to be the accessible one - this is the difficult one...I love it's textures; it's atmosphere, but UP had the hooks.
Bro. This is the REVIEW. Do.not fuck it up. I haven’t seen your video. This an elite album.
Hope you enjoyed the video kc :)
World's first sculpture reaction video!!! (soundtrack by Joy Division)
Edit: Do all Americans use the pronunciation baynal or is that just JP being Freudian?
Haha, tbh thats the only pronunciation I know😅
@@JustJP Always bah-nahl (emphasis on 2nd syllable) in the UK!
Phenomenal album. 10
Told ya Closer is the masterpiece truly beautiful but one of the saddest when you realise it's an extended suicide letter makes it a hard listen
❤❤❤❤
I have to confess I didn't really like this LP at all when I first heard it. I felt it didn't get going until the end of side 1, but it did finish strongly. Even today when I want to listen to Joy Division I'll reach for Unknown Pleasures or the Substance compilation. I just find the sound of their earlier material, where the band were finding their feet and exploring what they could do (and making the occasional mistake) more interesting and exciting.
The actual story of The Eternal is sadder than your interpretation, and you should read it. I won't spoil it here.
I tend to go against the prevailing trend and view New Order's Power Corruption and Lies, not Movement, as the more natural follow-up to Closer. I think PCL is also what the third JD album would have sounded like had Ian lived, they were definitely moving in that direction. Movement, while excellent in it's own right (it's a top 3 NO LP for me), is however the sound of a band being stuck and doing what they think they should do, rather than progressing in the direction they were going in. PCL is the real thing.
I always liked this one better than Unknown Pleasures.
I've always preferred Closer to Unknown Pleasures.
Have you watched 24 Hour Party People, Justin?
It was George Michael,s favourite album. Hard to believe but true.
I like Atrocity Exhibition, A Means to and end, Twenty four hours and Decades. Not a fan of the rest.
@@jtenaz I've noticed many similarities between our musical direction just lately. Unfortunately, i have very little time for this lot! 🙁
@@Owlstretchingtime78 It,s okay. They can be boring for many People.
@@jtenaz Very true.
@@Owlstretchingtime78 Its quite tedious after a few plays. Way better postpunk out there.
@@paulcollins5586 yawn
Straddling the line between professional and amateur, i tried my best with this bunch, but the dearth of melody and occasional light did for me after many failed attempts!
This album represents nothing good for me.
You're not alone in that regard.
adios
@@thesoundlikechameleons2082 am I going somewhere?
There's nothing here for me. 🙃
Tried over the years, but just can't find anything! 😐
adios