Urban Hat€monger ?

Time to finish this I think


If anyone tells you image is not important in music show them this album & tell them they`re talking out of their ass.This album to me has such a vivid image. It`s dark , it`s bleak ,to me Joy Division is black and white , it`s minimalist , it`s almost like an anti- image in that in that the image does nothing but compliment the music so effortlessly, you look at the cover art , you look at the lyrics it`s almost like you can hear the album just by looking at it.
But the music , you look at the elements that make up Joy Division and in the hands of a lesser band they would come across as a complete joke.There is so much here that could be parodied but it`s done so well they get away with it , if anything from sheer intesity alone. Many many bands have tried to copy what Joy Division have done but none come close to emulating their sound.
Now you mention Joy Division to anyone and the first thing they think of is Ian Curtis , which is hardly surprising really but there are 3 other things that make Joy Division a cut above the rest. The first being Peter Hooks bass. The whole album is driven by Hookys bass. Your typical Joy Division song starts with Hooks slow building bass followed by the drums entering after a short time , then Ian Curtis will start in his low monotone voice , and then suddenly the song will kick in. If Joy Division were a metal band you can bet Hook would be getting mentioned in all these best musician polls that are around this forum.
The second thing Joy Division have in their arsenal is Martin Hannetts production. Described by anyone who worked with him as a genius (and a total psychopath) Hannett really is the 5th member of the band.He was a hard task master who demanded total perfection who would record on top of the roof or even in the toilets if it would give the recording the right sound.His vision gave the album it`s iconic & unique sound, I`ve always thought there`s something unsettling about Joy Divisions sound.The drums are always echoey , the guitars always sound slightly off kilter.There always seems to be an edge to their sound that makes you feel that something is not quite right.The perfect compliment to the subject matter of Curtis`s lyrics & manic epileptic induced delivery of them.
The third thing I love about Joy Division is Bernard Sumner`s guitar work. Guitarists are all about ego , and the great thing about Sumner is that he doesn`t. You won`t find guitar solo after guitar solo on this album. The guitars are low in the mix and are used sparingly just adding a bit of colour to the song when needed.And because of this it`s much much more effective because of it the phrase unsung hero springs to mind, especially considering the way he managed to take things further with New Order after Curtis died.
So then , Joy Division. in my opinion one of the biggest influences on music today and I think it`s a credit to them they they did it through the music , with the exception of Curtis`s death the band themselves were virtually anonymous ignoring publicity , not even bothering to put up pictures of themselves in album covers , and just getting on with writing great songs. I think a few bands could learn from that.

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