Unknown Pleasures

Product Information

The cold nocturnal funereal sounds & lyrics of JD as they throb thru another doom-laden post-punk-goth droning landscape of nihilistic & disturbing material all enhanced by beautiful cover art. What’s not to like? The colors are the result of formulations used for the original pressings, with the purple believed to be the very first pressing. The red-tinted version was apparantly more widely distributed. The punch in the lower frequencies,yet the warmth of vocals and ride cymbals along with precisely located sound stage, are but feeble attempts to convey the nature of this absolute analogue gem of a record. July 1993: LP, MC, CD (cat# 520 015-1 / 2 / 4), with repressings in 1994, 1996 and 1998. The LP edition was only released in Greece (1993). Anyway, the music breathes way more, the details are much more pronounced, Martin Hannet’s production really breathes, and so does the whole band: they are way punchier, you feel the depth(s).

Don’t get me wrong, this is a pretty decent version and MILES away from the 2015 one. But I HAD to buy the German press after testing it: it simply crushes this reissue. Mine is the green variant. Everything else exactly as above for the 1980 UK release. No barcode on sleeve. Bought used, early 80s. As remarked by others I only recently discovered the translucent nature of the album. The LP features a photograph taken by Bernard Pierre Wolff (1978) which was captured at the Staglieno Cemetery located in Genova, Italy. It is a large emotional work created & sculpted by Demetrio Paernio in 1910 for the Appiani family tomb. A compilation that is as pleasantly confusing an "album" - and despite the adorable hessian sleeve, it is a mixed bag.The vinyl for this release has several variations (hold up to a light source to see): Purple translucent or red translucent or green translucent or brown translucent. It's ironic how JD were so unhappy that RCA was insisting on adding the synthesizer, making them sound so less punk. It paled in comparison to what Hannett would do. And then to think the direction that N.O. would take it...! Among Tranco / PRT pressings, there is no correlation between vinyl colour and paper part variants. The embryonic version of "Ceremony" is an interesting moment in this, although it sadly starts almost half way down the song - but regardless of the sound engineer messing up the first part of it (thus the reasons for its exclusion on record), this live opener carries a promise of a live performance. "Shadowplay" continues with vibrant energy, the audience nicely adds to the atmosphere, greeting Peter Hook's bass introduction to the song. But then along comes the utter mess - which, considering the circumstances surrounding this particular concert (reportedly being the group's last) isn't something that should be blamed directly on the group; however, the point they reached at that stage, playing as clumsy as they were is, with all due respect, sad - Ian Curtis audibly exhausted and struggling to sing - which, however, does give this particular live material an aura of a brutally honest, stripped-to-the-bone, tortured soul that absolutely triumphs on "Twenty Four Hours" which is a stand out moment in an otherwise technically troubled performance ("Decades" is probably the greatest victim here, sounding weirdly enough like a warped-sounding tape, with synths so especially out of tune). RCA was the home of Bowie and Iggy, 2 big heroes to this band, especially Ian, hence the determination to get on the label.

It's good to hear that some justice is being done to those BASE releases of the 1980s.I've always held them in high esteem;and the audiophile event of listening to Joy Division on such a High End level never fails to paint a respectful smile on my face.As no US edition was ever pressed at the time of first release, UK copies were imported to the USA via independent record companies, who usually self-sealed the releases to meet then current US retailer expected standards.