Newly remastered edition available July 17th
Joy Division will release a 40th Anniversary Edition of their sophomore album Closer on limited edition crystal clear vinyl on July 17th via Rhino Records. The release follows last year’s reissue of the groundbreaking debut album Unknown Pleasures and will be pressed on crystal clear vinyl.
On June 27th, the iconic hit “Love Will Tear Us Apart” will also celebrate 40 years. In addition to the LP release, non-album singles “Transmission,” “Atmosphere” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart” will be reissued on July 17th, with remastered audio. Since the demise of Factory Records, these singles have never been repressed or reissued before. They are cut on 180-gram vinyl and feature the original artwork on heavyweight board. “Transmission” will feature an embossed sleeve.
Joy Division recorded only two albums, Closer and Unknown Pleasures, before singer Ian Curtis tragically took his own life on May 18, 1980. But what the Manchester quartet lacked in longevity, they more than made up for in quality. The two albums were pioneering and helped shape the sound and mood of the alternative music that followed in the band’s wake.
Ian Curtis (guitar/vocals), Bernard Sumner (keyboard), Peter Hook (bass), and Stephen Morris (drums) released their debut, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979. By the end of the year, the album’s atmospheric sound had won over fans and critics with tracks like “She’s Lost Control,” and “Day Of The Lords.”
Closer, the group’s second album, arrived the following year on July 18, 1980 and its dark and melancholy tones continued to earn rave reviews for songs like “Isolation” and “Heart and Soul.”
The compilations Still and Substance fill in the missing pieces of the band’s history with non-album singles “Transmission” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” unreleased studio tracks “Something Must Break” and “Ice Age,” and choice live recordings “Disorder” and the only performance of “Ceremony.”
