Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the Godfather of the genre that I love so much, post punk. The Godfather album, the legend among us post punkists, Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures. The debut record of English post punk act, Joy Division, was at the same, their second to last release, due to the untimely passing of the band's frontman, Ian Curtis. But let's not think about these unfortunate events, you have come to this blog to read an album review. Let's see how this record sounds...
The first song on the album is Disorder, which gives a perfect taste this album is. Sharp drums, thicc basslines and echoey guitars. The vocals are also very spacious, the production in general is very lucious and spacey. An amazing opening to this album.
Day Of The Lords contrasts with the previous song, as this track is much slower, heavier and ominous. The vocals are also full of growns and more monotone. The guitar is also very low pitched, and sounds like something from an early Black Sabbath record.
Candidate is another slow song, with some very echoey and reverberated production. It all sounds so spacious and moody.
Insight is the first instance we hear a synth used on this record. The song feels a bit more laid-back and the vocals sound much more filtered and modified this time.
New Dawn Fades is probably my favourite song on this album. The vocals are soft and mournful, the bassline is heavy, the guitar has that gorgeous filter that I cannot describe. It's all over Molchat Doma's guitar-driven songs, it's on here too. We also have a melancholic guitar solo towards the end, which sounds sooo good. This song is a masterpiece.
In contrast, She's Lost Control is probably my least favourite song on this record, mostly because of the vocals. I find them to be rather annoying. The guitar is also pretty mediocre on here.
Shadowplay is probably the album's most urgent song on here, with a killer riff towards the end on here. We also find a groovy bassline and grand vocals. The song in general sounds very powerful.
Wilderness is a bit messier, but that mess gives this song it's charm. Mainly because of the effects the drums have. They sound so reverberated and delayed, that give this song a very unique feel.
Next we have Interzone, which sounds more punk than post punk. The vocals are more in your face and the guitar has less effects. Not that that's bad, not at all, it actually gives this album some variety.
And finally, we end on I Remember Nothing. A slow, ominous song, with a thicc bassline and echoey vocals. Not that much guitar on here, but that just let's us sit in the darkness of the barren soundscapes of this song.
My, oh my, what an amazing album. Besides a minor hiccup at the middle, this record holds strong to the end!
Comments