Before there was
new wave, or New Order for that matter, there was Joy Division. In the early days of punk, the ‘first wave’, the Damned, The Clash and The Sex Pistols defined the sounds of the genre. But after the initial rush of punk releases, people like Elvis Costello, Penetration, the Slits and other
groups fine-tuned the originally narrowly defined sounds. In Joy Division’s case, it was a complete overhaul. First wave punk’s nihilistic tendencies were alive and well in Joy Division, but taken into uncharted territory. By the time the compilation Substance was released, the group covered some forbidden topics (nazi imagery), nightmares-come-to-life (“No Love Lost”) plus a tribute to sci-fi author J.G. Ballard (The Atrocity Exhibition). Substance is a good overview of the best of these worlds and more. Spooky
kids rose on a
diet of Marilyn Manson and System of a Down would do well to explore this
album to see where it all really started. Ian Curtis, as a lyricist and singer, is one of the most obsessed of his generation-the punk/Goth Chuck Bukowski, but without the fecal imagery. Standouts on this ‘required listening’ disc include “Transmission,” “No Love Lost” and the absolutely cracking “Warsaw” which was also the band’s original name. The central core of New Order was there-Bernard Sumner (AKA Bernard Dicken at one point, for some reason) Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris. Keyboardist Gillian Gilbert did show up in an incarnation of Joy Division just before the group dissolved thanks to lead singer Ian Curtis’s suicide. Gilbert shows up on the group’s wildly popular “Love Will Tear Us Apart” on the “Closer” album. Substance remains one of the best examples of the energy and fire that fueled the early punk scene after Johnny Rotten, Joe Strummer and The Damned’s Dave Vanian has settled into their careers. Rotten changed back to his original surname, Strummer and the rest of the Clash became obsessed with reggae, and The Damned…were just themselves. By the time Joy Division had made their impact, the scene had already mutated, and after Ian Curtis’s death the group took an entirely
new direction. The first New Order
album sounds an awful lot like parts of Substance, but the group soon went in a more dance floor oriented direction. And probably with good reason. The strength of Substance as a whole (in spite of the fact that it is a compilation disc) proves Joy Division a nearly impossible act to follow. After hearing this disc a few times over, it’s
easy to hear where many of today’s shock-rockers, electronic Goths and new-new wavers draw their inspiration from. Once more in case you forgot: Substance is absolutely essential. Those who need a full overview of the band should look no further than the excellent
film 24 Hour Party People which skillfully spliced actual concert footage of the band with the actors playing the roles of each member of Joy Division. The
movie chronicles the rise and fall of Factory Records, which supported Joy Division and New Order from the very beginning. Don’t miss this essential release, which is now available on DVD. The
movie , directed by Michael Winterbottom, skillfully handles the death of Ian Curtis, as well as the post-Joy Division careers of those involved with the group-bandmates and label execs alike.
