Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

New Music Monday: Joy Division

new music monday joy division
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Joy Division - Unknown PleasuresBefore we dig into this week’s column, a point of order: Joy Division is not strictly new music. The band formed in 1976 and dissolved in 1980 in the wake of lead singer Ian Curtis’ suicide. The three remaining members would go on to form New Order, one of the most critically-acclaimed bands of the 80s. Having said that, today we focus on Joy Division because Rhino recently reissued the band’s two albums, Unknown Pleasures and Closer, on 180-gram vinyl.  In the coming weeks Rhino will reissue the compilations Still and Substance, as well.

Unknown Pleasures came out originally came out in June of 1979. Though tracks like “Disorder,” “Insight,” and “She’s Lost Control” are classics today, the album did not sell well initially. It took the release of “Transmission,” a song not on the record, to spark sales. After the single’s release, Unknown Pleasure‘s sales increased, and the first pressing sold out.

Joy Division - Transmission [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

Rhino chose this year to release the records in order to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the release of “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” Joy Division’s biggest hit. It’s an unfortunate twist of fate that the song, whose lyrics appear to document Ian Curtis’ failing marriage, was released a month before his death. “Love Will Tear Us Apart” comes the closest to a pop song that Joy Division ever recorded. Though its context is heartbreaking, the song is one of Joy Division’s best and has been included on a variety of lists of the Greatest Songs of All Time.

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

Like “Transmission,” “Love Will Tear Us Apart” does not actually appear on either Unknown Pleasures or Closer. The track was released as a single separately. Like it’s predecessor, Unknown PleasuresCloser had no singles associated with. The record, however, reached #6 on the UK Albums Chart and held the #1 spot in Australia for four weeks.

Joy Division were among the first bands to take the anger and dissatisfaction of punk music and reforge those emotions into a new sound. The band’s live performances were loud and aggressive, but the sound they became known for is the uncanny echoing that runs through Unknown Pleasures and Closer. Given Ian Curtis’ untimely death it is not possible to know what direction Joy Division would have moved in the 1980s, but luckily the surviving members continued as New Order, and listeners do have their excellent catalogue to listen to.

Joy Division - She's Lost Control (Live At Something Else Show) [Remastered] [HD]

The Rhino reissues of Unknown Pleasures and Closer are available through Amazon.

Terence Praet
Terence Praet contributes to The Manual’s New Music Monday column. He studied Philosophy and History at Skidmore College…
Everything points to Apple TV+ making a change you’re not going to like
Is an ad-supported tier coming to Apple TV+?
The Apple TV Plus Logo

It turns out that TV worked pretty well under its old model. According to a new report from Business Insider, Apple TV+ may be the latest streaming service that's set to introduce an ad-supported tier and charge those who don't stream with ads a premium fee to access their great shows and movies.

At this point, the report is still speculation, but Apple has made several recent hires in the advertising space that seem to suggest the direction they're planning to take. The company recently hired former NBCUniversal ad executive Joseph Cady to serve as executive vice president of advanced advertising and partnerships, a move that comes following the company's hiring of another former NBCUniversal executive, Jason Frum, who joined Apple's video ad sales team.

Read more
From Gilda Radner to Ali Wong, these are the best female comedians of all time
These women from all generations will make you laugh out loud
Ai Wong comedian 2017 Moontower comedy festival

Hot take: I don’t care for straight male comedians. It’s not that they’re not funny, they’re just … I don’t know, boring? Maybe that’s reductive of me, but I never seem to leave a straight male comedian’s set feeling particularly inspired. And though some may argue that it’s not important for a set to "inspire" its audience, I’d actually argue that the opposite is true. For me, I want to see a comedian use humor to address real issues and say real things about the world, even if they do it in a completely goofy way.

Therefore, I tend to prefer female and female-identified comedians. They’re sharp, tough, and have often seen shit that makes their comedy feel raw and true. Undoubtedly there are male comedians who do this, too, but to a much lesser degree, in my very humble and very personal opinion.

Read more
12 classic sci-fi books everyone should read
If you love science fiction and reading, these classic sci-fi novels are a must
Man reading a book and drinking coffee

It may feel like we were recently living in a science-fiction dystopia life -- and in some ways, we were -- but that doesn't mean that we should simply avoid an entire genre of writing. Hardly. In fact, this is probably the perfect time to explore classic sci-fi books, to see what the masters have written, and maybe even see if someone predicted anything like this. Many, though, simply ignore sci-fi wholly and completely because of an association with robots, aliens, and the like.

Long story short, if you think you don't like sci-fi, you have never read great books from the genre. But indeed, many such books abound, including a number that has delighted generations of readers going back well over 150 years. In fact, one of the best things about so many sci-fi books is their very timelessness. As by definition, this type of fiction breaks away from the norms of the everyday world -- whether slightly twisting things or taking place on entire other worlds -- the stories often feel as fresh and relevant today as when they were published decades ago.

Read more