Joy Division - The Complete BBC Recordings
(Strange Fruit)
Some may say that to profit from the dead is either morbid, cynical, or both. Such notions are
appropriate when applied to Joy Division, a band that was a product of the cynicism and morbidity of a
dead empire. Ultimately, it may have been to the benefit of Joy Division's legacy that Ian Curtis died
at his and the band's peak. This way, we do not have to suffer through his downfall, and the sluggish,
bloated later works that ruin once great bands (pick a band, any band). Also, when "new" music
surfaces (or someone bothers to finally make it available), we can rejoice securely in the knowledge
that nothing that will be released will be bad.
Joy Division has two rare distinctions. The first being that so far nothing has been released that is an
embarrassment, or a tarnish on their deified, idealized image (as is customarily granted to rock stars
who burn out too quickly). The second is that, which one exception (the Warner Brothers'
Permanent album, which featured nothing new) and one blunder (the incomplete and poorly
compiled Heart and Soul box set), the "official" releases have all been outstanding and
essential pieces in any music collection.
The Complete BBC Recordings is no exception. It is comprised of ten tracks: four each from
two Peel Sessions on BBC radio (meaning, they were recorded "studio live") and two live tracks for
another BBC program, all recorded in 1979. The two Peel Sessions have been previously available as
two different eps, however, the other two tracks are unreleased (and only three of the ten tracks here
were included in the box set). Taken together, they are a powerful document of a band about to
break. (There is also a short radio interview with Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris, the drummer, which
adds further proof to the theory that rock stars are always better when they sing and don't speak;
there is nothing terrible about the interview, but nothing useful, either.)
There is nothing really "new" on this release, as in songs that have never been heard before. With
the exception of "Exercise One," "Sound of Music," and "Transmission" all of the tracks are available
in different versions on either Unknown Pleasures or Closer (and those three are
available in different versions on the posthumous Still and Substance compilations).
The two live tracks, "Transmission" and "She's Lost Control," even appear twice each.
However, the duplication is no reason to criticize this collection, because what it provides is a
perspective on Joy Division that, unless you were hanging out in all the hip clubs in Europe twenty
years ago, few have seen. The Peel Session songs are bolder and more aggressive than their regular
album counterparts, showing their roots in punk rock primitivism, without losing the post-punk
sparseness, which actually accentuates the bleakness of many of the songs. Removed from the
sterile confines of the recording studio, and with the band members able to play off each other, songs
which are moody and atmospheric on Unknown Pleasures and Closer become fleshed
out and frantic. "Exercise One," "Sound of Music," and "Colony" stand out as dark and fearsome
masterpieces. This factor applies to an even greater degree to the live tracks, "Transmission" in
particular, which becomes a raging anthem in its climax.
Listening to Joy Division is like stimulating an exposed nerve, painful in an exquisite way. There has
been no band before or since that has wrung so much out of so little.
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