Joy Division
The Peel Sessions

It all begins with a faint screech, an undertone, which broadens and strengthens until the drums enter with force, and that screeching sound becomes a note, taking the form of a guitar. Hypnotizing. The atmosphere is shaken when Ian Curtis's voice suddenly makes its entrance, so distant, so tormented.

It's "Exercise One", the first, brief track of this "The Peel Sessions". A collection, as skimpy as beautiful in its essential nature, of tracks recorded live (and apparently without an audience) by the band in 1979, then officially released in 1990 by Strange Fruits.

The atmosphere you breathe listening to it is icy, dark. Like smoke on a winter's day. "Insight" is restless, disturbed by those electronic tweets. It fills with chiaroscuro flavors. Black and white merge to give life to a dry, beautiful gray. Then, a classic from the English band, "She's Lost Control". Here more forceful than in "Unknown Pleasures", with a strong and decisive vocal timbre from Curtis, accompanied by a subtle and suggestive bass riff.
The drums, with their characteristic sound reminiscent of a drum machine, make this piece a gem.
Curtis unleashes himself in the following "Transmission", dueting with Sumner's sharp guitar. Speedier than the original version, the marvelous "Love Will Tear Us Apart" starts, where the organ gives the song a typically Gothic sound, setting it apart from the characteristic Punk attitude of the other tracks.

"24 Hours" is full of pathos, it's sad. It's like fog. "Colony" sends shivers with its sharp guitar that explodes with the voice in the final euphoria. It ends beautifully with "Sound Of Music", where the muted guitar and such a particular bass riff almost make it seem like a strange and "dark" Funk piece.

Maybe it's because it's raining outside and I'm influenced by the frenetic patter of raindrops on the window, maybe it's because the sky is so leaden today that it feels like being inside a surreal painting. Perhaps, but I want to see this "Peel Sessions" (almost) on par with "Unknown Pleasures" and "Closer".

It's not a full 5, but not even a 4 and a half.