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THE REVIEW
JOY DIVISION - "UNKNOWN PLEASURES"
OUTSIDE (BLACK): that's how a Rock record begins. From Outside. In Manchester, it's 1979.
It’s Black. Four boys record a black vinyl album in a white sleeve inside a black cover. On the sleeve, there's a hand on a door; on the cover, the graph of the pulses of a dying star.
"Disorder" (Black) - bass/drums pulse madly inside a room immersed in a strange liquid; Ian walks on the ice of his voice, all the instruments are sucked into a cosmic hole - "Feeling, feeling, feelings...." - and it's already "Day of the Lords" (white): The electric litany of a group of rationalists emerges from the crystal waters, barely touched by synth waves - the Ritual invokes the End for the "Candidate" (Black): still in the dark room, the liquid has spilled - oh God, I'll try to reach you - the rats on the damp walls do not exit the maze, Outside (White) it’s a melody without tones and "Insight" (white) is rain inside a new wave boogie - the punk rhythm is caged in an area where layers of cardio-electric mist prevent seeing the horizon, but "New Dawn Fades" (black and white): the Bass weaves the web destroyed by the night, the guitar embroiders a morning dream of harmonies stretched on vibrating metal sheets and dreams shattered at dawn - the scream is cautionary, the hope is INSIDE (WHITE) - "She's lost control" (white): Ian is Inner Pilot, voice on autopilot driving an utterly inhuman rhythm - everything is perfectly under control with the guitar locked on the bouncing bass loop that pounds the room, the walls amplify, pounds again and throws "Shadowplay" into despair: we emerge within ourselves, with a sudden move, the air is icy but the road is lit. "Wilderness - "INTERZONE" - it's the white punk of Warsaw leading to - "I Remember Nothing" - here the room closes forever with all the mist, the rats on the wall - the pendulum on the ground.
Time has a rhythm that exists only in the minds of Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Bernard Albrecht. The question on the album's inner cover: who will help us Open the Door to Understand?
Joy Division answered us by imploding a star in a room. Ours. The Door has opened and a Rock music album is inside Us. INSIDE. It’s White.
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Summary by Bot
The review vividly captures the dark, immersive atmosphere of Joy Division's debut album, Unknown Pleasures. It highlights the fusion of punk rhythms and haunting soundscapes, anchored by Ian Curtis's haunting vocals. The album is described as a cosmic and emotional exploration of despair and hope within a post-punk context. The reviewer emphasizes the album's lasting impact and mystery, portrayed through rich metaphorical language.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English post-punk band formed in the late 1970s (Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris). They released two studio albums, Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980). After the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis in May 1980 the remaining members later formed New Order.43 Reviews
Other reviews
By emily
Ian Curtis almost doesn’t sing, he 'is', he screams, he declares himself and his clear torment in a desperate and raw way.
A masterpiece album, the first effort of a band that became legend, and that pervades inside and digs like few others.
By Sgt Pepper
"Unknown Pleasures talks about this, and it introduces us to what can be considered the true testament of Ian Curtis."
"You remain surrounded by darkness, by the ghosts that cloud Curtis' depressed mind. Ghosts that could not have been described more candidly."
By darkfall
I lost myself in a whirlwind of dark thoughts, playing a Shadowplay...
I can hear the Disorder... I can hear the Lords; I’m waiting for the Day Of The Lords...
By iusedme
Curtis' voice is Curtis' voice. Period. No one had his tone. Period.
'Unknown Pleasures changes the place where it is played, and in many cases, it has also changed the people who have listened to it.'
By Daedal
"Unknown Pleasures is the transformation of the four from a rough and dirty group to a magnificent conjurer of atmospheres."
"A seminal manifesto of the gothic season that was to come, unifying spectral and black music with the disturbing and magnificent poetry of that sad genius, Ian Curtis."
