Fear, paranoia, intensity, anxiety, epilepsy – inventive, provoking, inspiring, new, amazing. Joy Division brought these ten pillars together and built what is one of the best post-punk indie albums to come out of Britain or anywhere. Unknown Pleasures was born in the dull, mundane streets of Manchester in the very year that saw the demise of the British Punk Movement. Opening track ‘Disorder’ broods and scathes with a chugging, dirty bass-line while the one-minute something intro of ‘New Dawn Fades’ sets the mood for Curtis brilliantly dark lyrics. A significant highlight also is the tale of awful romance set to a sombre middle-eastern sounding bass line on ‘She’s Lost Control.’
The controversially named group – anybody interested should explore the origin of the name, used merely as a shock tactic like many punk groups fascinated with Nazi imagery – released only two albums before the suicide of singer Ian Curtis.