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33⅓ Main Series #9
Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division's career has often been shrouded by myths. But the truth is surprisingly over a period of several months, Joy Division transformed themselves from run-of-the-mill punk wannabes into the creators of one of the most atmospheric, disturbing, and influential debut albums ever recorded. Chris Ott carefully picks apart fact from fiction to show how Unknown Pleasures came into being, and how it still resonates so strongly today.
EXCERPT
The urgent, alien thwack of Stephen Morris' processed snare drum as it bounced from the left to right channel was so arresting in 1979, one could have listened to that opening bar for hours trying to figure how on earth someone made such sounds. Like John Bonham's ludicrous, mansion-backed stomp at the start of "When The Levee Breaks"-only far less expensive-the crisp, trebly snare sound with which Martin Hannett would make his career announced Unknown Pleasures as a finessed, foreboding masterpiece. Peter Hook's compressed bass rides up front as "Disorder" comes together, but it's not until the hugely reverbed, minor note guitar line crashes through that you can understand the need for such a muted, analog treatment to Hook's line. Layering a few tracks together to create a six-string shriek, Hannett's equalization cuts the brunt of Sumner's fuller live sound down to an echoing squeal, revealing a desperation born of longing rather than rage. This is the way, step inside.
EXCERPT
The urgent, alien thwack of Stephen Morris' processed snare drum as it bounced from the left to right channel was so arresting in 1979, one could have listened to that opening bar for hours trying to figure how on earth someone made such sounds. Like John Bonham's ludicrous, mansion-backed stomp at the start of "When The Levee Breaks"-only far less expensive-the crisp, trebly snare sound with which Martin Hannett would make his career announced Unknown Pleasures as a finessed, foreboding masterpiece. Peter Hook's compressed bass rides up front as "Disorder" comes together, but it's not until the hugely reverbed, minor note guitar line crashes through that you can understand the need for such a muted, analog treatment to Hook's line. Layering a few tracks together to create a six-string shriek, Hannett's equalization cuts the brunt of Sumner's fuller live sound down to an echoing squeal, revealing a desperation born of longing rather than rage. This is the way, step inside.
136 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2004
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February 1, 2013
I've had the promise and confessions of true faith.
I once heard some thing about babies responding to the music video for New Order's "True Faith". It's better than The Teletubbies kind of thing. I remember some thing that kids loved Teletubbies because of the repetition or reinforcement of ideas. They probably liked the colors and how the rabbits were giants. I have something in my head about the video that's big sumo type of Tetris game people like when you play a game too long and you keep playing it in your head and everything is a Tetris game going at the same time as everything else. Or watching a lava lamp and thinking you've really wasted enough time watching the lava lamp already because that's what the not-people look like moving together. I don't really know about the video response thing in small children. My sister told me so maybe she was pulling my leg and little babies didn't feel returned to the womb when laying their yet opened eyes on the music video. I loved New Order's "True Faith" so much (still do) when I was a kid. I didn't have my own tape player until I was nine and soon after our uncle would throw it into the ocean (we cried and cried). Until nine and again until I was thirteen I would play these magical songs in my head, watching teevees in rooms I would pass into hoping for a glimpse of the longed for song, always at the mercy of another's taste (my big sister liked Hall & Oates). "True Faith" played in my head in different video versions and "I feel so extraordinary... somethings got a hold on me" moved me to ever hear it again. It was important to me. It is important to me on its own, learning my responders before I know to mourn what I will have to pay, what I will depend on. I knew something before I knew it about "I feel so extraordinary" and "I thought the day would never come". Every time a new song was about to start it could be "True Faith". (I used to call it squirreling. I stored The Cure based on one video for two years. Torch and flame carried me.) Chris Ott ticked me off a little bit down playing "True Faith" as "They had subtler songs" about being boys together and losing to darkness. I think it's a perfect song, really I do. Sumner would have been writing about that it cost too much. Ian Curtis remembers when we were young. I spent so much time longing to hear songs. I don't remember music videos as they really are but I can take Joy Division and New Order with me.
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun...
When I got my first cd player to share with my twin I went to the record store to purchase Joy Division without ever having heard a song. I counted the number of tracks on each album and "Still" (the collection of rarities) won because it had the most. (I liked to get the most because it could be a long time before I bought anything new.) The first Joy Division song that I fell in love with was "The Only Mistake".
I don't know if Chris Ott did some ritual like that to choose Unknown Pleasures over Closer. I lied. They lied. This is not about Unknown Pleasures. It's a biography of Ian Curtis that traces the skeletal and guts like a store bought Halloween costume of the Joy Division discography. Unknown Pleasures is a popular t-shirt for men. My guess is he was asked to write about Unknown Pleasures for the 33 1/3 classic albums list because he already had a well known article about the band floating around. It could've been about Closer, Still, or the Heart and Soul collection compiled in 1997. The way he compares every song to better songs on Closer gave me an inkling which he would have preferred to characterize. He notes in the introduction that his article was used without permission (or complaint) on the New Order/Joy Division fansite "worldinmotion.net". I am pretty positive that I read that article many years ago. I did read Deborah Curtis' book about Ian Curtis and Joy Division the day before reading Ott's Unknown Pleasures and he quotes from her a fair bit (as well as sources that Curtis used herself).
There's also some music criticism. There's a fair amount of bitchiness about Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner's playing. Ott doesn't like some of the production choices on Unknown Pleasures. Nor did most of the band, save for Ian who desired the stark atmosphere admired in other music of the time. I'm all for no cock sucking in music books but I didn't feel like reading bitchiness for the sake of the appearance of journalistic integrity. "We walked in line" wasn't my favorite track on Still but really, how many digs about it did he need to get into this slight book?
The move from punk to what they admired doesn't interest me any more than who influenced The Beatles. Ott is pretty judge-y about the Nazi origins of their name. I've been meaning to read that book. According to reviewers on librarything it reads like a ya novel. I wonder about a grown man writing as if he was Anne Frank forced into prostitution. There were rumours it was about his sister but the author didn't have one. "No Love Lost" song is from this book as well. I wonder if they weren't only donning the shock techniques of the punk bands of the day. I don't think the name was exploitative of those women and girls. That wasn't how I took it when young me learned the origins of the name. I haven't read the book yet to know. Ott might think they started out with the youthful intensity and self centered view to liken their own troubles to Nazi sex slave victims blah blah blah. I don't know about the name. I guess I don't care. It all sounds like journalist crap when that stuff doesn't matter.
In one sense it's foolish to discuss poets, as their art is at once a biography of thought, albeit draped in veils of dramatized emotion. Lyric poetry in particular tends to reveal more of its author than perhaps is intended, inviting simple, direct couplets- this is especially so when tied to pop music's basic four-bar structure.
Those reviews of this are right this is boring to write about. I didn't need Ott to tell me that Joy Division had those songs. I don't want to talk about him anymore so I'm not going to. Nothing against the guy. For the most part he wrote a decent biography of their career with all the who signed what where. Humanistic eye holding of snakey intestines to care about bellies and sliding and slithering and holding on on slippery roads. Like Ian said, shadows on the side of the road. Like I said, they did too. It's in the music. Remember when we were young.
Through the streets,
Every corner abandoned too soon,
Set down with due care.
Don't walk away in silence,
Don't walk away.
Does anyone else listen to some Joy Division songs and you just have to play them on repeat because Ian's voice quiets out so that it feels like it has to continue on, to pick it up inside?
My feeling is that some of us listen to songs like Isolation and when he sings that he's ashamed of the things he's been put through, he's ashamed of the person he is it means... I would listen to it on my bedroom floor in the dark at 3 a.m. I would listen to it in my car when stealing time in my day for myself and want to run away. It's my feeling of not wanting to go on, wanting to take something. Wanting to say something. I want it to go on.
Oh, I've walked on water, run through fire,
Can't seem to feel it anymore.
It was me, waiting for me,
Hoping for something more,
Me, seeing me this time, hoping for something else.
Ott writes that Curtis believed in the ideals of art and romance. Death, fame, rock 'n' roll and hollow chocolate bunnies. Not here. I've been in that dimension and I try to keep a foot in another one. Ever feel in both too much and if you don't have another voice to light in you'll lose them? I turn to Joy Division. I think about J.D. Salinger's Raise High the Roofbeam Carpenters & Seymour a lot about this. How Seymour didn't have the glass ceiling that Buddy had. The something to look to, a fire to be safe. Eyes would be on corpses that don't close and look at you lost between worlds without it. I don't think Ian Curtis had any of it. Any one to look to. And it is there. And it isn't and these songs take on their own.
I gotta do it. Favorite JD songs:
1. New Dawn Fades
2. Atmosphere
3. Heart and Soul
4. She's Lost Control
5. Isolation
6. Auto-Suggestion
7. Love Will Tear Us Apart
8. Shadowplay
9. Transmission
10. Komakino
I once heard some thing about babies responding to the music video for New Order's "True Faith". It's better than The Teletubbies kind of thing. I remember some thing that kids loved Teletubbies because of the repetition or reinforcement of ideas. They probably liked the colors and how the rabbits were giants. I have something in my head about the video that's big sumo type of Tetris game people like when you play a game too long and you keep playing it in your head and everything is a Tetris game going at the same time as everything else. Or watching a lava lamp and thinking you've really wasted enough time watching the lava lamp already because that's what the not-people look like moving together. I don't really know about the video response thing in small children. My sister told me so maybe she was pulling my leg and little babies didn't feel returned to the womb when laying their yet opened eyes on the music video. I loved New Order's "True Faith" so much (still do) when I was a kid. I didn't have my own tape player until I was nine and soon after our uncle would throw it into the ocean (we cried and cried). Until nine and again until I was thirteen I would play these magical songs in my head, watching teevees in rooms I would pass into hoping for a glimpse of the longed for song, always at the mercy of another's taste (my big sister liked Hall & Oates). "True Faith" played in my head in different video versions and "I feel so extraordinary... somethings got a hold on me" moved me to ever hear it again. It was important to me. It is important to me on its own, learning my responders before I know to mourn what I will have to pay, what I will depend on. I knew something before I knew it about "I feel so extraordinary" and "I thought the day would never come". Every time a new song was about to start it could be "True Faith". (I used to call it squirreling. I stored The Cure based on one video for two years. Torch and flame carried me.) Chris Ott ticked me off a little bit down playing "True Faith" as "They had subtler songs" about being boys together and losing to darkness. I think it's a perfect song, really I do. Sumner would have been writing about that it cost too much. Ian Curtis remembers when we were young. I spent so much time longing to hear songs. I don't remember music videos as they really are but I can take Joy Division and New Order with me.
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun...
When I got my first cd player to share with my twin I went to the record store to purchase Joy Division without ever having heard a song. I counted the number of tracks on each album and "Still" (the collection of rarities) won because it had the most. (I liked to get the most because it could be a long time before I bought anything new.) The first Joy Division song that I fell in love with was "The Only Mistake".
I don't know if Chris Ott did some ritual like that to choose Unknown Pleasures over Closer. I lied. They lied. This is not about Unknown Pleasures. It's a biography of Ian Curtis that traces the skeletal and guts like a store bought Halloween costume of the Joy Division discography. Unknown Pleasures is a popular t-shirt for men. My guess is he was asked to write about Unknown Pleasures for the 33 1/3 classic albums list because he already had a well known article about the band floating around. It could've been about Closer, Still, or the Heart and Soul collection compiled in 1997. The way he compares every song to better songs on Closer gave me an inkling which he would have preferred to characterize. He notes in the introduction that his article was used without permission (or complaint) on the New Order/Joy Division fansite "worldinmotion.net". I am pretty positive that I read that article many years ago. I did read Deborah Curtis' book about Ian Curtis and Joy Division the day before reading Ott's Unknown Pleasures and he quotes from her a fair bit (as well as sources that Curtis used herself).
There's also some music criticism. There's a fair amount of bitchiness about Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner's playing. Ott doesn't like some of the production choices on Unknown Pleasures. Nor did most of the band, save for Ian who desired the stark atmosphere admired in other music of the time. I'm all for no cock sucking in music books but I didn't feel like reading bitchiness for the sake of the appearance of journalistic integrity. "We walked in line" wasn't my favorite track on Still but really, how many digs about it did he need to get into this slight book?
The move from punk to what they admired doesn't interest me any more than who influenced The Beatles. Ott is pretty judge-y about the Nazi origins of their name. I've been meaning to read that book. According to reviewers on librarything it reads like a ya novel. I wonder about a grown man writing as if he was Anne Frank forced into prostitution. There were rumours it was about his sister but the author didn't have one. "No Love Lost" song is from this book as well. I wonder if they weren't only donning the shock techniques of the punk bands of the day. I don't think the name was exploitative of those women and girls. That wasn't how I took it when young me learned the origins of the name. I haven't read the book yet to know. Ott might think they started out with the youthful intensity and self centered view to liken their own troubles to Nazi sex slave victims blah blah blah. I don't know about the name. I guess I don't care. It all sounds like journalist crap when that stuff doesn't matter.
In one sense it's foolish to discuss poets, as their art is at once a biography of thought, albeit draped in veils of dramatized emotion. Lyric poetry in particular tends to reveal more of its author than perhaps is intended, inviting simple, direct couplets- this is especially so when tied to pop music's basic four-bar structure.
Those reviews of this are right this is boring to write about. I didn't need Ott to tell me that Joy Division had those songs. I don't want to talk about him anymore so I'm not going to. Nothing against the guy. For the most part he wrote a decent biography of their career with all the who signed what where. Humanistic eye holding of snakey intestines to care about bellies and sliding and slithering and holding on on slippery roads. Like Ian said, shadows on the side of the road. Like I said, they did too. It's in the music. Remember when we were young.
Through the streets,
Every corner abandoned too soon,
Set down with due care.
Don't walk away in silence,
Don't walk away.
Does anyone else listen to some Joy Division songs and you just have to play them on repeat because Ian's voice quiets out so that it feels like it has to continue on, to pick it up inside?
You take my place in the showdown,
I'll observe with a pitiful eye,
I'll humbly ask for forgiveness,
A request well beyond you and I.
My feeling is that some of us listen to songs like Isolation and when he sings that he's ashamed of the things he's been put through, he's ashamed of the person he is it means... I would listen to it on my bedroom floor in the dark at 3 a.m. I would listen to it in my car when stealing time in my day for myself and want to run away. It's my feeling of not wanting to go on, wanting to take something. Wanting to say something. I want it to go on.
Oh, I've walked on water, run through fire,
Can't seem to feel it anymore.
It was me, waiting for me,
Hoping for something more,
Me, seeing me this time, hoping for something else.
Ott writes that Curtis believed in the ideals of art and romance. Death, fame, rock 'n' roll and hollow chocolate bunnies. Not here. I've been in that dimension and I try to keep a foot in another one. Ever feel in both too much and if you don't have another voice to light in you'll lose them? I turn to Joy Division. I think about J.D. Salinger's Raise High the Roofbeam Carpenters & Seymour a lot about this. How Seymour didn't have the glass ceiling that Buddy had. The something to look to, a fire to be safe. Eyes would be on corpses that don't close and look at you lost between worlds without it. I don't think Ian Curtis had any of it. Any one to look to. And it is there. And it isn't and these songs take on their own.
I gotta do it. Favorite JD songs:
1. New Dawn Fades
2. Atmosphere
3. Heart and Soul
4. She's Lost Control
5. Isolation
6. Auto-Suggestion
7. Love Will Tear Us Apart
8. Shadowplay
9. Transmission
10. Komakino
May 15, 2020
That the 33 1/3 books are short is no news to anyone who clapped eyes on them, but this in particular feels like an essay (and originally was one) rather than a longer, full-fledged critical take.
And still, it manages to distil a beautiful, mature and insightful history of the band in a handful of short chapters, pointing at their role as musical innovators and at their importance in the evolution (and possibly in the end!) of pop. Chris doesn't cut them any slack for their early flirtation with Nazi imagery, either, or for Ian Curtis' toxic behavior, but deals with their legacy as a passionate fan able to approach their work with the necessary critical distance.
Easily one of the most brilliant entries in the series.
And still, it manages to distil a beautiful, mature and insightful history of the band in a handful of short chapters, pointing at their role as musical innovators and at their importance in the evolution (and possibly in the end!) of pop. Chris doesn't cut them any slack for their early flirtation with Nazi imagery, either, or for Ian Curtis' toxic behavior, but deals with their legacy as a passionate fan able to approach their work with the necessary critical distance.
Easily one of the most brilliant entries in the series.
December 23, 2013
Was a pretty dry (even though informative and factual) read - but I did enjoy the glimpse into how recording techniques and the invention of synthesizers evolved during this time. I think I was hoping for the book to be emotional/melodramatic, much like the album and Ian. While in some ways I think I already knew, I was still surprised to read how some of my favourite artists (The Cure) were inspired by Joy Division, and not the other way around.
I also ended up looking up some old recordings on youtube to see if I could spot Ian's epilepsy and pre-epileptic patterns that were described here.
I also ended up looking up some old recordings on youtube to see if I could spot Ian's epilepsy and pre-epileptic patterns that were described here.
April 19, 2022
Great overview, nothing groundbreaking but a fun read through an exceptional two year piece of history. Really enjoyed the author's playlist at the end of the book.
May 28, 2021
For fans of Joy Division or for those looking to know more, these pages provide enough behind scenes information and information to satisfy even trainspotter fans. This track was only included on this release. Hooky broke his instrument in a skinhead brawl at this gig and so forth. Looking back at group and Ian's Curtis' gradual demise is dark yet vibrant and revealing. Passion, epilepsy and bleak terrains intertwined. Author points out that Ian had made at least few attempts prior to ultimate 'success' by slashing at self and taking pills. There was also romance of death despite cavalcade of triggers and guilt and disorder. In hindsight, Martin Hannett's smacked out space digital delays helped push group out of the raw raw raw oi oi oi fast powerful guitar land into outer space. Deeply personal and introspective and tortured words did same.
July 8, 2007
i find the 33 1/3 series touch & go - for instance the Ok Computer one was abysmal, but i liked this one. didn't love it unfortunately. its a pretty straightforward, chronological account of the band thru the recording of the 1st record. he throws in a little exegesis, but, maybe since so much overwrought stuff has been written about the band/Ian Curtis he's trying to keep his toes on the right side of the line. i find it a little too conservative, but you can't help but marvel at Curtis' lyrics on the page. in any case, just listen to the album really loud - that's what's essential.
September 9, 2023
Για όσους αγαπούν τους Joy Division και έχουν κατά κάποιον τρόπο βυθιστεί στα τραγούδια τους, αυτό το βιβλίο είναι η ματιά πίσω από το φαίνεσθαι της φήμης τους. Δηλώνω παρούσα σε αυτό. Το ξεκίνημά τους, η μετέπειτα πορεία τους με τα (πολλά) σκαμπανεβάσματα και οι άνθρωποι πίσω από τους καλλιτέχνες, περιγράφονται χωρίς ίχνος διάθεσης να ωραιοποιηθεί το παραμικρό.
Στην κορυφή της διήγησης αυτής, ο Ian Curtis, η πιο ταλαιπωρημένη ψυχή της μπάντας, που ο πόνος του τροφοδοτούσε την τέχνη του. Μέχρι και το άχαρο τέλος του. Τώρα που διάβασα για τους προσωπικούς του δαίμονες, νομίζω πως καταλαβαίνω περισσότερο τους στίχους που έγραφε. Και μου είναι τρομερά δύσκολο να πω ποιος είναι ο πιο αγαπημένος μου.
Στην κορυφή της διήγησης αυτής, ο Ian Curtis, η πιο ταλαιπωρημένη ψυχή της μπάντας, που ο πόνος του τροφοδοτούσε την τέχνη του. Μέχρι και το άχαρο τέλος του. Τώρα που διάβασα για τους προσωπικούς του δαίμονες, νομίζω πως καταλαβαίνω περισσότερο τους στίχους που έγραφε. Και μου είναι τρομερά δύσκολο να πω ποιος είναι ο πιο αγαπημένος μου.
August 14, 2020
This has been my favorite of the 33 1/3 series so far. Joy Division and New Order where the background music while I was defining who I was and would become in my teens. Ian Curtis was a tortured soul much like Kirk Cobain but for very different reasons. Unfortunately, pain seems to fuel art better than any emotion. If you like Joy Division, I recommend it.
May 23, 2009
looks cheesey but it is so well writen and informative, even for the not so big fan. Quick read too!
April 3, 2022
Another from the brilliant and expansive 331/3 series from Bloomsbury, I took one star off for the often convoluted and sometimes overly exaggerated verbiage Ott falls prey to. Each song Curtis wrote seems to include his most "despondent lyric" until it becomes somewhat meaningless. Also, a caveat, while most of the books in this series are singly focused on the album being written about (with the historical conditions leading to its recording and then a song by song analysis) this book is interestingly more an overall history of Joy Division, with analysis of recordings prior to and after Unknown Pleasures and indeed, Ott doesn't begin to write about the album until Chapter Three (page 61 of a short 114 page book)! And even then, it's less song by song and more thematic.
All that said, this is a book about a band that arguably had more of an impact on the trajectory of post punk rock (and rock in general) than any other bank outside The Velvet Underground. And Ott shows a real sympathetic and compassionate tone throughout when describing the tragic arc of Ian Curtis. His concluding paragraph puts it quite clearly:
"As with all suicides, it's easy to say the departed 'gave up' or 'quit.' Surely, it's fairer in this case to say that Ian Curtis lost. He lost to a disease no doctor could cure -- one that kept him from living the life he had dreamed about. That he considered those dreams more important than the people who loved him betrays his youth and naivety. His epilepsy took a huge toll on him, and he felt shame at leading such an indulgent life, while his affair with Annik became less a romance than a monument to his dashed idealism...."
One can only imagine what a young man, so filled with a lust for life, with creativity bursting out of him, would have felt when diagnosed with a disease he had had to study just a year before as part of his job working as the Assistant Disablement Resettlement Officer at Macclesfield's Employment Exchange. His work experience there led to the powerful and scary "She's Lost Control," written about a woman who suffered from epilepsy that he had worked with and whom he had learned later had died.
In just over a month from when I write this, it will be the 22nd anniversary of his death. The sadness still lingers for all those moved his words and the music four young men made in those few short years from 1976 - 1980.
All that said, this is a book about a band that arguably had more of an impact on the trajectory of post punk rock (and rock in general) than any other bank outside The Velvet Underground. And Ott shows a real sympathetic and compassionate tone throughout when describing the tragic arc of Ian Curtis. His concluding paragraph puts it quite clearly:
"As with all suicides, it's easy to say the departed 'gave up' or 'quit.' Surely, it's fairer in this case to say that Ian Curtis lost. He lost to a disease no doctor could cure -- one that kept him from living the life he had dreamed about. That he considered those dreams more important than the people who loved him betrays his youth and naivety. His epilepsy took a huge toll on him, and he felt shame at leading such an indulgent life, while his affair with Annik became less a romance than a monument to his dashed idealism...."
One can only imagine what a young man, so filled with a lust for life, with creativity bursting out of him, would have felt when diagnosed with a disease he had had to study just a year before as part of his job working as the Assistant Disablement Resettlement Officer at Macclesfield's Employment Exchange. His work experience there led to the powerful and scary "She's Lost Control," written about a woman who suffered from epilepsy that he had worked with and whom he had learned later had died.
In just over a month from when I write this, it will be the 22nd anniversary of his death. The sadness still lingers for all those moved his words and the music four young men made in those few short years from 1976 - 1980.
August 24, 2023
This is the first of the 33 1/3 series to feature an album I’ve never cared for. Some of the other books have been about albums I didn’t know, but this is one that I have listened to in the past and simply not been able to understand why people love it so much. Possibly, it’s because I was never a suicidal goth as a teen or even mildly disenchanted. I may not have been the most popular person, but I had friends and enjoyed a fairly social existence and never had the desire to end it all.
That may be treating Ian Curtis’ true disease a bit lightly, but I have a knee-jerk attitude to the hagiography surrounding the rock stars who felt they had to burn out instead of fade away, either consciously or unconsciously. Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division, had some real health issues. He suffered from epilepsy and the rock-n-roll lifestyle he desired to partake of was antithetical to the treatment he needed for that disease. Conversely, by not taking care of himself, he likely ruined his mental health, encouraging him in these thoughts of following in the go out grandly style of his rock gods (not to mention his disdain for Bowie, who wrote “All the Young Dudes” and failed to live up to its message).
What does all that have to do with Unknown Pleasures. Simply it is impossible to talk about Joy Division without confronting Curtis. So many people, including the author Chris Ott, find Curtis’ lyrics to be genius; I find them overwrought and tepid. The music behind the words is slightly of more interest to me, such that I’m not surprised I enjoy the work of New Order (i.e., Joy Division post-Curtis) much more.
To each their own. Not everyone loves the same albums. I enjoyed reading this to learn more about an album and band I never cared for and came to understand possibly why given some of the details of the life of Curtis and the band and the production choices.
That may be treating Ian Curtis’ true disease a bit lightly, but I have a knee-jerk attitude to the hagiography surrounding the rock stars who felt they had to burn out instead of fade away, either consciously or unconsciously. Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division, had some real health issues. He suffered from epilepsy and the rock-n-roll lifestyle he desired to partake of was antithetical to the treatment he needed for that disease. Conversely, by not taking care of himself, he likely ruined his mental health, encouraging him in these thoughts of following in the go out grandly style of his rock gods (not to mention his disdain for Bowie, who wrote “All the Young Dudes” and failed to live up to its message).
What does all that have to do with Unknown Pleasures. Simply it is impossible to talk about Joy Division without confronting Curtis. So many people, including the author Chris Ott, find Curtis’ lyrics to be genius; I find them overwrought and tepid. The music behind the words is slightly of more interest to me, such that I’m not surprised I enjoy the work of New Order (i.e., Joy Division post-Curtis) much more.
To each their own. Not everyone loves the same albums. I enjoyed reading this to learn more about an album and band I never cared for and came to understand possibly why given some of the details of the life of Curtis and the band and the production choices.
May 18, 2019
I bought this when it first came out and never read it. I thought it was just the lyrics of the album as there are none included with the album. But when the latest Joy Division arrived last week, I thought I should pull it out and read it. That and I've been on a 33 1/3 binge of late.
He discusses way more than just Unknown Pleasures, he starts with the Warsaw songs, finally gets to UP about halfway through the book, and then deals with the songs which were recorded at the same time as UP, but didn't make the album, and then the singles - Transmission, LWTUA, Atmosphere, etc.
I have read most of the books published about Ian Curtis and Joy Division, so I know a fair bit already. While this book is well-written, I find the author relied heavily on the book written by Deborah Curtis and, therefore, shows Ian in a bad light. I think she has every reason to be bitter, but I don't think she has the right to rip his reputation to shreds when there is nobody around to refute her side of things. The author mentioned Mick Middles' book, which is a book I think anybody who reads Deborah's book should also read as it's the only way you're going to get Ian's perspective (as much as that is possible), so I think he should have toned down the "Ian was a right bastard" narrative, in addition to the "Annik was a terrible person" narrative, as again this is coming straight from Deborah.
He discusses way more than just Unknown Pleasures, he starts with the Warsaw songs, finally gets to UP about halfway through the book, and then deals with the songs which were recorded at the same time as UP, but didn't make the album, and then the singles - Transmission, LWTUA, Atmosphere, etc.
I have read most of the books published about Ian Curtis and Joy Division, so I know a fair bit already. While this book is well-written, I find the author relied heavily on the book written by Deborah Curtis and, therefore, shows Ian in a bad light. I think she has every reason to be bitter, but I don't think she has the right to rip his reputation to shreds when there is nobody around to refute her side of things. The author mentioned Mick Middles' book, which is a book I think anybody who reads Deborah's book should also read as it's the only way you're going to get Ian's perspective (as much as that is possible), so I think he should have toned down the "Ian was a right bastard" narrative, in addition to the "Annik was a terrible person" narrative, as again this is coming straight from Deborah.
October 8, 2022
Ο Chris Ott πιάνει το νήμα από τα πρώτα χρόνια του σχήματος και τις πρώτες άγουρες ηχογραφήσεις ως Warsaw, ξεπερνά γρήγορα τα μασκαριλίκια των ναζιστικών αναφορών αλλά θα χρειαστεί να περάσουν 92 (!) σελίδες (από τις 160 συνολικά) μέχρι να αρχίσει να μιλά για το ίδιο το άλμπουμ, το εμβληματικό "Unknown Pleasures" στο οποίο είναι αφιερωμένο το βιβλίο.
Ουσιαστικά προσπαθεί να βρει μια ισορροπία μεταξύ των μουσικών αναφορών, των συνθηκών ηχογράφησης αλλά και το ρόλο των εξουθενωτικών επιληπτικών κρίσεων του Curtis αλλά στη συνέχεια ο χώρος που αφιερώνει δεν είναι αρκετός αφού μιλά και για τις επόμενες ηχογραφήσεις μέχρι την τραγική κατάληξη.
Όπως και τα υπόλοιπα βιβλιαράκια της σειράς 33 1/3 δεν σε συγκλονίζει αλλά λειτουργεί συμπληρωματικά για το άλμπουμ και το σχήμα. Με λίγα λόγια, μπορείς να ζήσεις και χωρίς αυτό αφού λογικά έχεις ήδη διαβάσει και αυτό που είχε γράψει η γυναίκα του («Αγγίζοντας Από Απόσταση»), έχεις δει την ταινία («Control») ή/και το ντοκυμαντέρ «24 Hour Party People» (εστιάζει περισσότερο στην εταιρεία Factory) και φυσικά έχεις λιώσει το άλμπουμ...
“For way too long / we were strangers…”
Ουσιαστικά προσπαθεί να βρει μια ισορροπία μεταξύ των μουσικών αναφορών, των συνθηκών ηχογράφησης αλλά και το ρόλο των εξουθενωτικών επιληπτικών κρίσεων του Curtis αλλά στη συνέχεια ο χώρος που αφιερώνει δεν είναι αρκετός αφού μιλά και για τις επόμενες ηχογραφήσεις μέχρι την τραγική κατάληξη.
Όπως και τα υπόλοιπα βιβλιαράκια της σειράς 33 1/3 δεν σε συγκλονίζει αλλά λειτουργεί συμπληρωματικά για το άλμπουμ και το σχήμα. Με λίγα λόγια, μπορείς να ζήσεις και χωρίς αυτό αφού λογικά έχεις ήδη διαβάσει και αυτό που είχε γράψει η γυναίκα του («Αγγίζοντας Από Απόσταση»), έχεις δει την ταινία («Control») ή/και το ντοκυμαντέρ «24 Hour Party People» (εστιάζει περισσότερο στην εταιρεία Factory) και φυσικά έχεις λιώσει το άλμπουμ...
“For way too long / we were strangers…”
March 7, 2021
Chris Ott mi je najdraži glazbeni novinar ikad i jako sam bio nahajpan na čitanje ovog kad sam skužio da piše o Unknown Pleasures. Inicijalno tek esej, Ott je proširio taj esej u knjigu i to je možda i najveća mana ovog čitanja. Knjiga se više bavi kronologijom benda i psihom Iana Curtisa nego što se bavi albumom, što je šteta jer Ott tako glatko, pametno i znalački piše o zvuku da je pravi gušt čitat ga. Doduše, za kontekst albuma jest bitno znati pozadinu, dok su posljedice manje više svima znane, ali ako ništa, Ott citira poneki film i knjigu za dublje razumijevanje problematike Curtisovog ponašanja i povijesti benda. Naravno, Ott ne bi bio Ott da ne napravio nešto snobovski šašavo što je ovdje dokazao time što je u postscriptum naveo albume koje je na repeatu slušao dok je pisao knjigu!
3.5 -4/5
3.5 -4/5
August 20, 2022
I loved reading this and I'm not even that into Joy Division.
This book was written with great understanding of the music of Joy Division and, more importantly, with great empathy for the individuals in the story. This empathy especially comes through in describing the effects of sever epilepsy on Ian Curtis particularly as these effects collided with his immense talent, youthful naivety and acute artistic romanticism.
At times the book seemed to struggle to understand its purpose. Is it about Unknown Pleasures itself? About the entire history of the band? The author would begin exploring an interesting rabbit hole only to pull back, almost just to keep the book shorter and more in line with the expectations of a 33 1/3.
Still I learned a huge amount and now find myself listening to Joy Division differently, and more, than before
This book was written with great understanding of the music of Joy Division and, more importantly, with great empathy for the individuals in the story. This empathy especially comes through in describing the effects of sever epilepsy on Ian Curtis particularly as these effects collided with his immense talent, youthful naivety and acute artistic romanticism.
At times the book seemed to struggle to understand its purpose. Is it about Unknown Pleasures itself? About the entire history of the band? The author would begin exploring an interesting rabbit hole only to pull back, almost just to keep the book shorter and more in line with the expectations of a 33 1/3.
Still I learned a huge amount and now find myself listening to Joy Division differently, and more, than before
June 6, 2020
Two-and-a-half stars.
Most books in the 33 1/3 series hone in in some way on the album at hand. This book does not. It is a biography of the band while active. (It focuses primarily on singer/lyricist Ian Curtis, which is to be expected.) It doesn't go into the factors that led to the album reaching classic status or discuss its influence. It doesn't defend the album's importance, but rather takes it as a given. It doesn't analyze lyrics so much as it says, "Hey, here's another good lyric."
I think the 33 1/3 series gives an author the opportunity to do more than simply rattle off facts to the reader about the subject band or album. The author has the opportunity to try and bring new appreciation to a massively influential album. I would not say this book did that for me.
Most books in the 33 1/3 series hone in in some way on the album at hand. This book does not. It is a biography of the band while active. (It focuses primarily on singer/lyricist Ian Curtis, which is to be expected.) It doesn't go into the factors that led to the album reaching classic status or discuss its influence. It doesn't defend the album's importance, but rather takes it as a given. It doesn't analyze lyrics so much as it says, "Hey, here's another good lyric."
I think the 33 1/3 series gives an author the opportunity to do more than simply rattle off facts to the reader about the subject band or album. The author has the opportunity to try and bring new appreciation to a massively influential album. I would not say this book did that for me.
December 28, 2020
I was fascinated by the movie 24 Hour Party People over 20 years ago. This book fills in many of the details that the film covers about Joy Division in detail.
It is amazing to see the influence of the 42 people who attended the first Sex Pistols show - though many more claimed to be there.
When I heard New Order as a child in the 80s (and then rediscovered them as a college student a decade later), I would never have assumed their electronic pop was birthed out of punk. Maybe most fascinating is to hear Still, their last show recording. It is the only time that Ian Curtis performed Ceremony just 2 weeks before he passed on. This recording serves as the missing link between Joy Division and the band I knew as a kid.
It is amazing to see the influence of the 42 people who attended the first Sex Pistols show - though many more claimed to be there.
When I heard New Order as a child in the 80s (and then rediscovered them as a college student a decade later), I would never have assumed their electronic pop was birthed out of punk. Maybe most fascinating is to hear Still, their last show recording. It is the only time that Ian Curtis performed Ceremony just 2 weeks before he passed on. This recording serves as the missing link between Joy Division and the band I knew as a kid.
August 25, 2019
A thorough and detailed biography of the history of Joy Division. Which didn’t necessarily throw any new light on the band that I didn’t already know, but was an engaging read none the less.
As this was a fairly early addition to the 33 1/3 canon this does not diminish the strength of the book in any way, but I would also be interested in a version of this book that focuses more on a critical analysis of the album Unknown Pleasures.
As this was a fairly early addition to the 33 1/3 canon this does not diminish the strength of the book in any way, but I would also be interested in a version of this book that focuses more on a critical analysis of the album Unknown Pleasures.
May 1, 2021
Made compelling by its underlying subject matter--one of the most formally inventive albums of the last 50 years. Marred by the prose clichés of rock journalism, and by an inadequate attempt to make use of Goethe in the penultimate chapter. (Werther and Elective Affinities as the man's "chief works"? If you're talking about the psychology and world view of Ian Curtis, surely you can make use of Faust!)
July 21, 2023
A great book about one of the greatest bands and albums of all time and their contribution to the evolution of rock music. Contains great history and analysis of the band, and specifically Unknown Pleasures, as well as a thoughtful examination of Ian Curtis life, art, and tragic death. All in a short concise book and approached with critical insight rather than strictly fan service or mythologizing, this was very well written by Chris Ott, whose music writing and commentary I’ve been a fan of.
May 3, 2023
Thorough and engaging. I learned a lot about the history of Factory Records and the band, and the tragic spiral of Curtis's final months is so bleak and sad to read about. I love Ott as a music critic but some of the more brash judgments in this book definitely bear the hallmarks of being written in 2004 (like trashing all of Proust in two dismissive sentences).
September 24, 2023
I'm a big fan of the 33 and 1/3 series, but this is one of the best ones. Incredibly detailed and includes lots of information about the recording and sound of the tracks as well as the personal details behind them (my favourite mix). Not only that, but it covers all the other recordings Joy Division did, tracking the whole development. Highly recommended and a great intro to the series.
September 9, 2018
excellent... well-informed author. Also covers in great detail all recording sessions and released prior to Unknown Pleasures, much of it not available until Still, Substance, or Heart & Soul, and also gives some final glimpses of post-Unknown Pleasures Joy Division
March 5, 2024
Enjoyed the writing, but disappointed that only about 10 pages are dedicated to the making of Unknown Pleasures. The rest in early band bio and a significant chunk at the end detailing Curtis' spiral towards death.
January 3, 2025
33 1/3 books can be a real big gamble but this was one of the most digestible books I’ve read in the series. Gives a nice background on the history of the band, lead up to the recording and breakout. Heavily focuses on Ian Curtis.
September 3, 2025
This wasn't really what I expected, it covers the entire career of Joy Division rather than focus purely on the recording of Unknown Pleasures. That's not a bad thing, but it's so short that it often feels like it's lacking details. I'll definitely try another book or two from this series.
November 24, 2025
One of my favorite albums from one of my favorite bands. Ott does a great job of putting the album in the context of the times, the band, and the individual members. Even if you know a lot about JD/NO like I do, it is still worth the read.
January 30, 2018
Fantastic walk through the history of each track on Joy Division's first album.
April 13, 2018
3.5 stars
April 1, 2019
I’m not a fan of Joy Division. Their music is too square for me. Kinda like Kiss, they weren’t very good musicians. Also there’s a lot of Nazi imagery I’m not comfortable with. Thanks but no thanks.
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