Joy Division - Best Of
[Warners]

Through their two albums, rarities collections, box-set and documentaries, the Joy Division story is a tale told more than once before, meaning the prospect of a "best of" collection is a little underwhelming to say the least: especially as both studio albums can be found at budget price these days. Like those recent reissues of Unknown Pleasures and Closer, along with Still (to coincide with the Ian Curtis film Control), this fourteen-track collection couples some of the band's best-known songs with live recordings.

As cynical as a JD-lover may be, the compilation does a fair (albeit far too brief) job of showing the natural (and very speedy) progression of the Mancunian four-piece (let's pretend Sumner didn't hail from Salford for a minute). Beginning with Digital; the very song that started the Joy Division / Factory bond and also the first time the band would work with genius Hannett, we hear the group's early primitive punk-sound. Catchy and whatnot, but as far as imagination and future-thinking would go, it leaves a little to be desired and says more about the band's obsession for forming a band after seeing the Sex Pistols live; but I digress.

Just three tracks from debut album Unknown Pleasures feature, showing the quick transgression from those early self-released raw songs to post-punk experimentation, particularly in their use of bass and drums, both of which were unusually forced high up in the mix as inspired by Hannett's love of dub and reggae. There is no surprise to see their two most popular songs and standalone singles, Transmission and Love Will Tear Us Apart, make an appearance as a means to sell a few extra copies of the CD. That aside, Transmission still sounds as important, vital and futuristic as ever, with its Kraut-infused bassline, frantic vocals and space-pop Neu-ism's.

Elsewhere, the inclusion of She's Lost Control - a re-recording that differs from Unknown Pleasure's version - hints at a direction that would later be followed by JD's offspring, New Order. Influenced by Kraftwerk and powered by mechanical machine beats and synth-work, it is one of their most electronic-sounding track to appear from the four-piece. Athough electronics are something that made an appearance at various other times - the kitsch-keyboards of Closer favourite Isolation, the timeless melodic synth-line of Love Will Tear Us Apart and the mournful Atmosphere (the first single to be released post-Curtis' death).

The other side to Joy Division - the live side - is often not known by the casual listener who only own the studio recordings. Here the band were a different encarnation altogether; shifting from the spacious experimental studio recordings of Martin Harnett to a rawer, edgier, manic Joy Division. But, going off the many live recordings available, even the Peel Sessions included on the second disc show a watered-down, softer portrayal of the band's seriously mind-blowing and intense live shows (watch this YouTube video for instance).

If you are new to the world of Joy Division, the Best Of is an ok place to start - but as mentioned earlier, both of the band's studio albums are available at next-to-nothing these days, and these are where you will really unearth their future-thinking post-punk magic.

CD1 Track Listing:

1. Digital
2. Disorder
3. Shadowplay
4. New Dawn Fades
5. Transmission
6. Atmosphere
7. Dead Souls
8. She's Lost Control
9. Love Will Tear Us Apart
10. These Days
11. Hours
12. Heart And Soul
13. Incubation
14. Isolation

CD2 Track Listing:

1. Exercice One (John Peel Show 31 Jan 79)
2. Insight (John Peel Show 31 Jan 79)
3. She's Lost Control (John Peel Show 31 Jan 79)
4. Transmission (John Peel Show 31 Jan 79)
5. Love Will Tear Us Apart (John Peel Show 26 Nov 79)
6. Twenty Four Hours (John Peel Show 26 Nov 79)
7. Colony (John Peel Show 26 Nov 79)
8. Sound of Music (John Peel Show 26 Nov 79)
9. Transmission (Recorded live for Something Else 4 Sept 79)
10. She's Lost Control (Recorded live for Something Else 4 Sept 79)
11. Ian Curtis And Stephen Morris Interviewed By Richard Skinner