Album #171: Closer

By Joy Division (1980)

Closer on 1001albumsgenerator

Today's album made me realise a thought I'd had about the list all along - that some albums were going to be on the list because they were influential, rather than because they were, in isolation, a good. Well. Yeah, of course influential albums will be on there, and thats a totally valid reason for it to be on a list of albums you must hear before you die. Maybe even a better reason than 'it sounds nice'.

Luckily it didn't matter because this album is also good, as well as being influential. Drifting in to the bonus disc - a live recording - I quickly spotted two tracks that I know the covers of (The Twilight Sad covered Twenty Four Hours on 'Killed My Parents and Hit the Road', and Nine Inch Nails' cover of 'Dead Souls') without knowing they were Joy Division covers. Hearing the original band play them live was a great way to soften me up to really enjoy the whole live recording, which benefits from having a fantastic version of Love Will Tear Us Apart, which was a single released after the album.

I still find post-punk hard work, but with each track I found new aspects to appreciate. Drum parts, guitar parts or just rhythms that stay in your head. There's definitely a Jim Morrison influence in terms of both lyrics and delivery, but the music behind them gels in a way that The Doors never did for me.

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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