(Track from compilation album, "Still")
"Disorder" was probably my favourite Joy Division song to start with in all fairness. Explosively opening the band's debut album, "Unknown Pleasures", the track's driving force is a very, very fast bass-line, mammoth in volume, violent in it's discordance, dipping into a totally unexpected note during the verse, again in the chorus, and finally causing the cataclysmic sonic mess at the end of the recording.
Just last week, I finished Peter Hook's book on Joy Division. As the writer and performer behind said bass-line, his interpretation of events from 30 years ago were fascinating, employing hilarious anecdotes but also serious and down-to-earth commentary of life in what went on to become one of the most influential post-punk groups of all time. One thing he repeated often throughout the book was the insistence that Joy Division's 2 sole studio LPs mixed out the 'live' punk feel of the band. Martin Hannet's production is praised, but at the same time there is this consensus on Hook's part that the real sound of the band was compromised by it.
Yesterday, I picked up "Still", a posthumous compilation a bum released by Factory in the wake of Joy Division and as the remaining members, rebranded New Order, attempted to find their feet with the melancholy musical document, "Movement". Amazingly, I paid a mere £1.33 for the double gatefold vinyl LP! (Boot fairs people, that's where it's at - I also picked up from the same couple a copy of "Friday I'm In Love" by The Cure on marbled purple 12" and also, my ultimate find, "The Queen Is Dead" by The Smiths, with the original sticker still proudly emblazoned, undamaged, on the front of the gatefold sleeve - 3 records for £4, not bad, eh?)
Reading the embossed notes on the reverse of the Peter Saville, thick, card sleeve I came to realise that the second disc was a live recording (which, initially, disappointed me enormously as I had seen "Ceremony" on the track listing and hoped to hear a full studio version - this was short-lived). I remembered what Hooky had written, and so set about cleaning the records and listening.
"Still", from my loot of the bank holiday boot fair trip, was the vinyl that was most clogged up; 2 soaks in soapy water later (thanks Mum), I spun disc 1, a collection of B-sides and unreleased material and found it was the normal, expected Joy Division material. The melancholy lyrics, the ecstatic sound etc. Then I played disc 2.
The "Live at Birmingham University" section is intriguing. For one, it's appallingly mixed. The opening track, "Ceremony" starts a good way into the song and the vocals are (accidentally) dubbed out for the first half of the recording. One will struggle to hear Ian Curt's voice for most of the duration, especially, actually, in the first verse ofthis track, "Disorder". There are also a lot of duff notes, but, this being a punk/post-punk band, the guys played straight on; I kind of like it, and it makes the sonics more...I don't know...real?
This said, the actual setlist is superb, and the instrumentation is like candy to the ears; listening to this now, very loudly, at 8 o'clock in the morning with the rest of my house is dormant and only the voice of a 30 years-dead frontman for company, I find myself still marvelling at the volume, speed, intensity and ferociousness of live Joy Division compared with what now seem to be suitably underproduced studio efforts.
Noteworthily, as mentioned by Peter Hook in "Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division" (a read I highly recommend), this gig was the final Joy Division concert before Curtis died, which adds a spooky feel to these recordings. You can't help but realise, as you listen to the romping bass-line, the scratchy, bum-note-ridden lead guitar, and the high-velocity drums that what hits your eardrums represents the final time these notes were played by this band, with this man singing his heart and soul out over the top.
Whilst I wouldn't recommend jumping into Joy Division by diving face first into a low-quality live recording, riddled with off-notes and instrumental patches where the vocals are badly mixed, I would definitely, definitely say that's it's worth investigating the studio material and coming back for this comparatively noisy alternative to the songs you will by then know and love.
★★★★★