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Unknown Pleasures

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Album

Unknown Pleasures · Joy Division formed in 1976 in Salford, after Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook had seen a Sex Pistols gig. The debut was released in June 1979 on Factory Records. It was recorded and mixed over three weekends in April 1979 at Strawberry Studios in Stockport. Producer Martin Hannett used unusual techniques: digital delays, tape echo, the sound of breaking glass and a lift with a rotating loudspeaker. He recorded Ian Curtis's vocals in Insight over a telephone line to give them distance.

The band was divided over that spacious, dark sound. Sumner felt that Hannett had tamed the guitars, while Stephen Morris was pleased with it. Peter Saville designed the cover with a graph of the signals of a pulsar. No singles came from the album. It is regarded as an influential post-punk album and appears on many lists of the best albums of all time.

Listening

Listening tip. In Insight, listen to the vocals, which seem to come from far away. That is because the voice was recorded over a telephone line.

Track list

  1. 1Disorder3:29Apple Music ↗
  2. 2Day of the Lords4:48Apple Music ↗
  3. 3Candidate3:08Apple Music ↗
  4. 4Insight4:26Apple Music ↗
  5. 5New Dawn Fades4:52Apple Music ↗
  6. 6She's Lost Control3:57Apple Music ↗
  7. 7Shadowplay3:54Apple Music ↗
  8. 8Wilderness2:40Apple Music ↗
  9. 9Interzone2:18Apple Music ↗
  10. 10I Remember Nothing5:55Apple Music ↗
  11. 11Dead Souls (Live)4:25Apple Music ↗
  12. 12The Only Mistake (Live)4:12Apple Music ↗
  13. 13Insight (Live)3:52Apple Music ↗
  14. 14Candidate (Live)2:08Apple Music ↗
  15. 15Wilderness (Live)2:32Apple Music ↗
  16. 16She's Lost Control (Live)3:47Apple Music ↗
  17. 17Shadowplay (Live)3:35Apple Music ↗
  18. 18Disorder (Live)3:29Apple Music ↗
  19. 19Interzone (Live)2:05Apple Music ↗
  20. 20Atrocity Exhibition (Live)6:14Apple Music ↗
  21. 21Novelty (Live)4:28Apple Music ↗
  22. 22Transmission (Live)3:50Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗

Categories: Albums and songs