The Story of Closer: One of the Bleakest Masterpieces in Rock History
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2024
- The story of Closer by Joy Division is a story of pain and suffering, but also of unquestionable beauty. Between the haunting vocals and lyrics of Ian Curtis, and eclectic instrumentals for the time created by Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook, Closer is an album that sticks with you. So I hope you have fun watching me talk about it and analise it in this video.
Thank you so much for watching!
Music:
Jobii - Holstein
I Just Want Quiet - Slow Acoustic Guitar Calm Background Music
00:00 Intro
03:20 Atrocity Exhibition
04:38 Isolation
05:46 Passover
07:27 Colony
08:56 A Means To An End
09:54 Heart and Soul
11:16 Twenty Four Hours
13:26 The Eternal
15:56 Decades
17:05 Aftermath and Conclusion
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I borrowed Closer and Unknown Pleasures from a classmate when I was 17, and both records completely blew me away. Never has music touched me in a way Joy Division has; they will remain my all time favourite forever.
I think I saw Joy Division on the telly doing Transmission around 1992 and that was my entry. I bought both studio albums and the Permanent album within weeks of seeing them on the telly.
I know they never put singles on albums but "Love will tear us apart " is a masterpiece.
@user-ek2ng7qb6c Maybe not , Isolation, Means to an end are up there for me
This band really gives me a feeling that something original is being unfolded. Never seen a so immediate and unpretentiously band of musicians since. New Order is an unexpected genius move. They are both the soundtracks to my life.
Same for me mate
I first heard "she's lost control" on a mix cassette somebody gave me back in 1983. I Immediately went out and bought both albums.
WOW 🤩 😍 thank you for posting this! Simply sublime. He was so real.
Yeah sure 😂
@@user-vg5rv5xf4u True story. I was 19 years old in 1983. This dude in one of my classes at UNO gave me the tape. I bought the albums at Mushroom Records uptown, New Orleans.
I love Joy Division but it took a while for me to understand and appreciate them.
I was in college when Closer came out. Intrigued by the haunting cover image I bought the album. Since this was 1980 there was no Internet or Spotify and they sure as hell weren't playing it on FM radio. I took one listen and went back to the record store to exchange it - probably for The Teardrop Explodes. It was so dark and foreboding it scared the shit out of me.
A year later I was in another record store and came upon "Movement". I asked the clerk about it and he relayed the story of Ian Curtis and the subsequent formation of New Order. I took it home and fell in love with this band and its unique sound.
Eventually I bought Unknown Pleasures and began my 40-year love affair with both bands. I saw New Order play Ceremony in 1983 but that was the only JD song I heard them play in the 3 NO concerts I saw. Fortunately I saw Peter Hook's phenomenal performance of both albums a year ago to close the circle. Just an astounding legacy and thanks for the reminder of how powerful and enduring this music is!
I've not heard Closer in about a year & while I have to watch my actions/moods when I listen to it, this video essay will invariably make me pull it out to listen to again, thanks. I did not know the story genesis behind Eternal, thank you for sharing that and I fully agree with you regarding 24 hours being their darkest lyrical fare and in my opinion their best song. Looking forward to more of your content.
I always found it funny how The Eternal is brought up in conversation as an example of how tortured Joy Division's lyrics are, when the song that comes literally before it is far darker. Glad this video had that impact on you!
An amazing album.....my personal favourite. Kudos.
One of the saddest albums of all history yet still arguably one of the most beautiful. Well done.
Absolutely wonderful presentation thank you
nice to see someone talking about closer
My music taste and life changed when I listened to Unkown Pleasures in 1988. I was only 13 those days... Forever Joy Division & New Order
I happened upon this outstanding analysis today. It had me examine each of the songs a bit farther than I ever have. Well done Joe...
A really insightful and beautifully illustrated video. I was a JD fan back when Unknown Pleasures first came out and have never stopped loving their music. Thank you for making this film.
One of the best documentaries I’ve seen on Joy Division. You really did a great job!!!
Excellent and deep commentary on this emotional recording. Thank you ❤
2:15 Ian wasn't unallowed to pick up Natalie, he would just refrain himself from doing it, something that his wife, Debbie, didn't really see the issue in. (Info from the book, Touching from a Distance)
Thanks for this. The more people who know about this masterpiece the better. Just a couple of clarifications. JD were performing Atrocity Exhibition before Unknown Pleasures was released. Colony was also performed shortly after UP was released with 24 hours being performed in October 1979. Although Closer wasn’t released until after Ian’s death, by then they had performed every song on the album live. From what we know Decades appears to be the only song debuted after the recording of Closer making its first performance at the Rainbow in London on 4th April; Closer being recorded the previous month.
I was interested to see the last thing Ian did before he hung himself was listen to Iggy Pop: The Idiot and watch the Werner Herzog film: Stroszek. That film is pretty much unrelenting in its bleakness. I can see how watching that in an anguished mental state could potentially tip you over the edge. For any Joy Division fans that haven't seen it...check it out. William S is great as the titular character William Stroszek. Leaving Germany for a new life in America quickly turns to shite for our hopeful European threesome. A pointless peregrination. The dancing chicken at the end before Stroszek blasts himself with a shotgun is particularly poignant and Ian may have looked at that and saw himself on a stage like the dancing chicken? The dancing chicken is inside a coin-operated arcade machine that electrocutes the poor, unfortunate poultry's feet to make it dance. For entertainment they watch its body twist, behind its eyes it says: I don't exist. Food for thought. Anyhow... a cracking film if you enjoy lugubrious fayre.
It's one of those films that only Herzog ( or Fassbinder) could direct .
I don't know if it's ever been stated which side of 'The Idiot' was last played ....much as I love the LP the B side - 'Dum Dum boys ' , 'Tiny Girls & especially 'Mass Production ' can be difficult to listen if in a down cast mood , but it's difficult to equate records & life situations ...he'd also been listening to JA dub lps around then , including 'the dark prince of reggae' Keith Hudson ( who wrote ' turn the heater on' - later covered )...
I haven't up with JD & gigs/lists since 'Still' was released , (surprised to see 'Sister Ray' in a set as they had a surprisingly large number 'in the can')..So
When did 'Ceremony' appear (post tour with Buzzcocks ?) ,
Was 'Dead souls' still the opener late on ?
& I didn't know they played at Finsbury Park 'the Rainbow' - was this a support slot ,like the previous slightly smaller Strand 'Lyceum' gigs ' ??
@@andchat6241 A mutual love of Sister Ray was what initially bonded Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley. Hehehe. I can't argue with that. I've listened to Sister Ray in every conceivable substance-addled state. It has everything you want from music and more. Yeah...I read that Ian loved the VU. I've still got the book 'Touching From A Distance' after all these years and got quite a lot of info from that. There was a newish BBC documentary about 6 or 7 years ago that said Ian tried getting William Burroughs's autograph in Holland but was denied this unknown pleasure by an uncooperative/irascible author. Hehehe.
@@andchat6241 - I have a black VHS box and videotape here: Joy Division's "Here Are The Young Men" FACT 37 - I've just done a Google search and the release date was August 1982. I haven't watched it in years but it's live footage of Joy Division from somewhere or other. The set list on the back of the VHS box is this
Dead Souls
Love Will Tear Us Apart
Shadowplay
Day Of The Lords
Digital
Colony
New Dawn Fades
Autosuggestion
Transmission
Sound Of Music
She's Lost Control
They Walked In Line
I Remember Nothing
I haven't watched it for aeons and have forgotten whether the quality is any good but my VCR just needs plugging in and I can remind myself. I may return to report on my findings if I get around to watching it. I bought it in St John's Market in Liverpool city centre around 1996 from a really small booth down by where the meat market was.
I adore this album. Just the best.
This is great. Thanks for doing this
The Eternal is my favorite song of all time on my favorite albums of all time.
Ian`s epilepsy got severe during the intense "UP" tour when they ate the speed (drug) to stay sharp and awake . Before that Ian was very normal bloke and not depressive at all. The heavy epilepsy drugs and sudden stardom in the alternative scene drove him craze.
The affair with Annik was strange and according to Annik it wasn`t sexual at all. She was more like a devoted groupie-friend and Ian acted awkward with the case.
I have watched a few of your videos now, and one thing that stuck out was the almost lyrical quality about your narration, especially towards the end. I really dig your style, mate!
Great job on this, I absolutely love this album.
So interesting! Thank you! They are both unique albums in it's own way.
One of my favorite bands of all time. On a trip from the US to the UK in 1979, we stopped for the night in Manchester. I hadn't discovered Joy Division yet, at 12 y/o - but I did a couple of years later & it always bothered me that I may have had the opportunity to see them live & missed it. Ian, like Kurt Cobain, is one of those people I really wish had lived - selfishly because of all the incredible music we've lost with their early deaths.
Hmmm. A band with Ian and Kurt in. A four-piece with two amazing lyricists sounds rather nice, doesn't it? Or maybe a four-piece with a bass-playing songwriter as well? Three songwriters then. And Ringo on drums, of course.
I have to say when i hear the live tracks off this album, my two favourite ones live are Atrocity Exhibition and Colony. If we are talking about the best song lyrically I would have to give that one to heart and soul, Ians lyrics are incredible on that song. But my top 2 tracks in general would have to be Twenty Four Hours and A Means To An End with isolation coming in third best on this classic album. Passover has got some very hard truths in it and I will say that The Eternal is one of the most soul breaking songs ever and Decades is quite possibly JD's finest moment!
Isolation, A Means To An End, and Colony are possibly my favourite tracks lyrically. But the entire album is 24-carat poetic perfection...if you like dark lyrics. I don't get people that don't like the dark side of life. I mean...take a look around any working-class community in Britain and see the despair, desperation, and general despondency. Ian's family sounded like aspirational working-class folks though. The effects from his epilepsy meds must have flummoxed and confounded Ian as well as given him even darker thoughts to write about.
Oops, I missed out Heart and Soul which was the song from Closer that immediately announced itself lyrically to me. Erm...1992, it was and it was not a great year for me. The year I acquired an itch that took me 18 years to scratch sufficiently and then dispose of.
First time I heard Closer was after I'd become a New Order fan. I was still at that stage where I was still wasn't sure about Joy Division. Musically, they were so far removed from New Order. I'd heard Love Will Tear Us Apart and Atmosphere previously, but Unknown Pleasures was...well, it was just different.
Late one night, I turned the radio on and was listening to 4ZZZ (alternative radio station in Brisbane, QLD, Australia).
I didn't know who or what was playing, as I'd missed any announcement, but I could tell they were playing a full album based on the silence between songs.
As the album kept playing, I suddenly realised it was Joy Division - and it was good. Very good.
Suddenly, Joy Division made perfect sense.
As much as I love Unknown Pleasures now, Closer really was a defining moment in music for me.
I saw a doc where the band members said they weren’t paying attention to his lyrics at the time recording… nice video man. Love this album
Thanks man! Yeah saddly none of them saw it coming. According to this video th-cam.com/video/rY_Z62mHB2U/w-d-xo.html Ian Curtis was able to hide how he was feeling pretty well unfortunately.
Thanks for this, indeed I prefer Closer to Unknown Pleasures, and Colony is my favourite J.D. song because it's kind of a heavy metal/grunge tune under a post-punk suit, so I cover it (quite rearranged) with my band, and I still wonder why no metal or grunge band ever did it!
thanks... genius music and words... great albums... RIP Ian Curtis...
Saw them live at Camden Hall in London late 1979. Ian Curtis was mesmerizing. That dance he did.
Did it have another name ? As Camden had the 'Electric Ballroom , Music Machine' and wasn't 'the Venue' nearby ?
@@andchat6241 Sorry I can’t remember the name. I lost the tickets in a move.😭 I was just a “tourist” on my honeymoon from Chicago. I would love to return to London someday.❤️
Awesome.
Decades is my favourite
me too i think
Thank you , best album ever
agreed
'there's no turning back the last man'
Yes Joy Division!!
Poor Ian. My heart broke at his life/death.
I've been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand
could these sensations make me feel the pleasures of a normal man?
The backing music to this presentation is so antithetical to the music described within I at one stage checked if it was some form of interference or I had some infomercial open in another tab. Little to learn here beyond the bleeding obvious and in tune with the selected backing track as tone deaf and lacking in insight that Mr Curtis was troubled, the sound was fully worked in production stage along with the odd supposed quote from surviving band members. That the presenter appears to have not read Ballard speaks volumes though the volume in question is pretty out there. I made to to 7:35 and utilised the remaining time writing this and am about to commence a search for my Ballard short stories anthology. Ronald Reagan, how prescient.
It;s a 20 minute primer video, not a thesis. If you think you know better or can do better then why not put yourself forward and make a video?
I don’t know why anyone would refer to Closer as a punk album. Apart from that….pretty good synopsis
If you'd have gone into a record shop in the early 80's, you'd more than likely have found Joy Division under 'punk'. At the time, it included everything that later became defined as either independent, indie, post-punk, new wave, alternative, college rock, goth etc etc. The likes of 'darkwave' was a much later continental european coinage.
Most categorisation is retrospective, and requires either time/hindsight or peers/imitators. One way that people who really liked music/read the music press/listened to John Peel actually spoke to each other about new bands was what label they were on.
They're a Factory/Creation/Postcard/SST/Rough Trade band was both a convenient short-hand and a vague but not useless descriptor.
Remember, much of the time you'd be buying records you'd never heard, only read or heard about.
The album Closer, not the song Closer by NIN which is truly a masterpiece...
Punk was pretty much over by 1979. I never thought of Joy Division as punk. The music didn’t sound punk, the band didn’t look punk.
the background music is amazing, do a show on that, genius!
Actually most of the songs were played live.
For sure.
The collectors edition has a whole CD of live tracks from closer
it's not a punk album in any way , WARSAW was mainly sounding this way , but JOY DIVISION rapidly went over it !!!
If a few people are interested I have a few JD live reviews/ interviews & 'Joy Division singer found dead' cuttings I kept from 79-80 I could print up .
I always thought of A means to a end as Ian’s kind of last words to the other guys in the band. With “our vision touched the sky “ and “a legacy so far removed one day will be improved “ and “ I put my trust in you “ three times in a row to the other guys as to say whatever you three do with the music is ok I trust you to do what’s best with it. Also the lyric “ committed still I turn to go” I take it as he loves the music and the band but he knows it’s over and he’s going to improve the legacy
It's been my favorite album since 1990. I've read that George Michael loved it too. I think Benard really could cut loose on guitar in Joy Division and had to limit himself with New Order because of the Indie/Dance sound they were famous for. And having to be the vocalist as well.
Yeah George Michael loved Closer, especially the second side of the record. He says so here th-cam.com/video/Vj3HOklzUTo/w-d-xo.html .
@@joefikifiki Thanks! George was open minded and interesting talking about Joy Division and Closer. And Morrissey was...... Morrissey.
whats the Song in the background?
There are 2:
Jobii - Holstein
I Just Want Quiet - Slow Acoustic Guitar Calm Background Music
I have them in video description.
I had heard somewhere that Decades was also inspired by punks who showed up to Joy Division shows wearing heavy trench coats and military overcoats - the young men with "weights on their shoulders".
Decades was not written about war
I cannot believe you talk about joy division and have the audacity to through elevator jazz guitar background music on them
😂 it’s not that serious. It’s pretty sophisticated elevator music though.
@@Pmb213 You have no taste in music if you find this elevator music sophisticated. You probably use icecream as souce for steak too.
With respect, Joy Division were never 'on the verge of stardom'. Their albums got decent chart placings because their fans were the type to buy the records the week they came out. They didnt hang around in the higher reaches of the charts for long.
British music changed halfway through 1982, exemplified by New Order's subsequent career, funnily enough. Much of the 'no sell-out' punk ethos was replaced by the 'new pop' 'anti-rockist' sensibility. Hell, Madonna used to be in a band with future members of Swans.
With Ian, I simply dont believe they'd have made the concessions necessary for mainstream acceptance like U2 or Simple Minds, both broadly speaking their peers at the time.
This is really an excellent overview, but I think you shoot yourself in the foot by using that generic jazzy bluesy background music. It’s not related to the album, but worse, it makes it a lot harder to recall the individual songs as you’re listening to the text.
You should do one on black flag, the history of sst records is pretty interesting
SST released more great records within 5 years than anyone, ever - even Elektra or ESP.
Ironically, they ripped everyone off, but bands like Dinosaur and Sonic Youth still left smaller but honest labels like Homestead to join them, just, as Thurston Moore admitted, for the kudos of having a record on SST.
thats right, greg ginn started SST ~ which stands for SOLID STATE TRANSMITTERS ~ before he got into punk music. he modified old transistor radios and sold parts through mail order business @@Spectrescup
I n a c c u r a t e a l s o s h i t e
very interesting and well-researched, but it seems to me too much of a reductionist reading. i think the songs are open to many interpretations - not all of them just concrete references to the lyricist's own life
I’ve watched a few of your videos but this one sounds like you’re drunk or took some qualudes or something, very distracting. Hope you’re doing better.
Well er , a few points - after 'At a later date' , 'ideal for living 'e.p. Joy Division did not regard themselves 'a punk band' .
reading Huxley ,Burroughs , 'House of Dolls' & others may help .....well done getting so much 'live footage ' back to front ....the lack of JD music ( replaced by what sounds like a backing track for a Grover Washington/John Martin LP) makes this rather pointless to those trying to learn about 'Closer' & JD in general ...
Punk?? What punk?? Whole catalogue? Who cares about the whole catalogue? They released 2 albums of original music, period. That's the catalogue. The rest is something else
Not punk .......ever
when they were warsaw they had a more punk feel
Masterpiece my ass. Most Joy Division songs sounded much better live than what Hanchett did to them.
I was a huge JD fan for a decade. Itx not that great of an album.