For the uninitiated, I would also recommend getting it all. Their "Heart and Soul" box set is about the best thing ever. But it can be very overwhelming. Their music is very severe and never a casual listen. If you want something concise to get an idea if you'd like them, any of their main releases would be fine. Their debut "Unknown Pleasures" is the blueprint of a new sound and what I first think of when I think of Joy Division. Their 2nd and final album "Closer" is extremely difficult to listen to considering the circumstances surrounding it. But it's most fans' and critics' favorite. Their singles collection "Substance" might be the best place of all to start. All of their singles and b-sides were never available on their 2 proper albums and they fit together on this collection nicely. If you're intimidate by the idea of getting a box set, pick up those 3: Unknown Pleasures, Closer and Substance.

RocknRollDave said:

I don't think that's strange at all. Ian and Bernard aren't gifted or beautiful singers. But their voices perfectly suit the type of music they make. Ian has that strangulated, battering ram baritone that sounds like the images and feeling he describes. I've gotta find AMG's old review of Closer cuz they describe it perfectly. Something to the effect that the record sounded haunted like a ghost was singing the songs.

And as I am updating my Windows Media Player, what should I call their musical style?

I have it labelled as INDIE, but some people have it under rock, punk, punk/rock, new wave or electronic...

What do you think?

GooeyTheHamster said:

They're post-punk like The Cure and U2.

GangstaFam said:

Not really. Ian Curtis was very young when he did those records and his voice was quite regular-sounding in fact, somewhat high-pitched even if you ever caught him failing to do his goth-growl. That voice had nothing to do with his natural vocal cords.

GangstaFam said:

Yeah, make it even harder...
I mean, their music is SHIFTING....
Post punk?


PS. I keep editing and someone called their musical style DARKWAVE, hehehe.
[Edited 11/22/04 4:52am]

Novabreaker said:

Right. But how often was he NOT singing that way. "The Drawback"?

GangstaFam said:

Warsaw version of Walked In Line (wow, two songs I can think of!), but point taken; he certainly used the voice you mean often...

Back in the day, before history had come up with a good name for the style, a lot of music journos called it "death disco".

GangstaFam said:

Darkwave sounds like a comic and Death Disco like a John Waters movie waiting to happen.

GooeyTheHamster said:

I can see that. Who would be the lead actors?

GangstaFam said:

Johhny Depp as the evil owner of the old skating palace that hates disco.

I still don't know why they're making another movie about Joy Division. I though 24 Hour Party People explained enough.

NWF said:

Maybe it was because 24 hour Party People was so shoddy?

I think a much more respectful but also more revealing film could be made of JD/ New Order.

I just felt that 24 Hour...had the strong feel of a piss take all the way through it.

The movie is actually based on the book ["Touching From A Distance"] written by Deborah Curtis and I believe that she is also involved with the movie making process.

Anyone read the book?

GooeyTheHamster said:

I have only read bits of it. Seems like a much better basis for a film, though, than the caricatured version in 24 Hour Party People - a bit more balanced. As you can imagine, having lived with Ian, Deborah Curtis can show us both his good AND his bad sides.

Having said that, how f*cking good were the JD impersonators in 24 Hour..? The "Ian Curtis" was amazing

NWF said:

That movie was mostly about Tony Wilson and Factory Records. Joy Division was just a subplot.

I feel that they showed Joy Division but told very little about them. There's no sense of time. They don't explain his epilepsy, mood swings or personality at all. It's just kind of a campy snapshot of the glory days of Manchester. Hardly a biopic.

RocknRollDave said:

That was what I liked best from the entire movie; that guy was indeed amazing.

But I do not think he will be in the new movie...

GooeyTheHamster said:

I hope not. I wish Tobey would play him.

GangstaFam said:

I hope yer not talking about hobbitses!

GooeyTheHamster said:

Maguire

GangstaFam said:

Uhm. Is he Spidie or Frodo. I always forget. Both would be.... not right.

GooeyTheHamster said:

Spidie.

GooeyTheHamster said:

Really? You don't think?

I think at least looks-wise, they couldn't do much better. He's certainly closer than the guy they got for 24 Hour Party People.














[Edited 11/23/04 15:02pm]

GangstaFam said:

I think you're absolutely right - but I'll bet the British indie snobs would have an aneurysm over an American playing the golden boy of UK post-punk.

damosuzuki said:

It might've been different had the movie been made before Spidey, when Tobey was still the darling of the indie film.

damosuzuki said:

I am a bit in the middle. Before Spidie I really liked Toby as an actor.

Nah, I don't think Tobey would fit the part. You'd have to get someone British. Tobey's too dorky anyway.

But then again, I was convinced by his role as Peter Parker.

GooeyTheHamster said:

What are you talking about? Spidey was great!

NWF said:

He's got those sleepy eyes, but other than that, can't you agree that they look pretty similar? And if he did take the role, it'd give him a chance to stretch out as an actor. But perhaps he's too famous at this point to make it convincing. I'd partly like to see him get the role cuz it would draw attention to the film that otherwise wouldn't be there.