On 18 July 1980, JOY DIVISION released their second and final studio album, CLOSER – three years to the day after they had entered PENNINE SOUND STUDIOS to record their first demo.
With its eerily claustrophobic and introspective atmosphere, Closer was a dark, unwavering dystopia. ATROCITY EXHIBITION, a nod to JG Ballard, was a hellish invitation to a possible 1984 to come. ISOLATION and HEART AND SOUL were almost resigned to a world in which humanity's supply of optimism had given out ("Existence, well what does it matter?/I exist on the best terms I can").
This was a beautiful and breathtaking body of work. The hard bass lines and punchy drum beats of the previous effort had been replaced by haunting vocals, rattling drums, trance-like keyboard rhythms, forbidding basslines and restrained guitar riffs. Ian's voice had mellowed and transformed into a deeply moving instrument, distorted with emotion.
The lugubrious tone of the music was reflected in the album cover, an Italian tomb.
Designer Peter Saville expressed concern with the choice of cover following Curtis’ death, “When Tony Wilson told me Ian Curtis had died I said, ‘Tony, we have a tomb on the cover,’” Saville declared.
“There was great deliberation as to whether to continue with it. But the band, Ian included, had chosen the photograph. We did it in good faith and not in any post-tragedy way”. Later, Saville used a photo from the same cemetery as the alternative cover for the posthumous single, “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”
Described by Fact's Mark Fisher as an album "often considered the crown jewel of post-punk” it sounds as rousing and important as it did in 1980.
Closer remains essential listening: a collection of sepulchral atmospheres that heralded a new decade of experimental music.
Instincts that can still betray us,
A journey that leads to the sun,
Soulless and bent on destruction,
A struggle between right and wrong.
You take my place in the showdown,
I'll observe with a pitiful eye,
I'd humbly ask for forgiveness,
A request well beyond you and I.
Heart and soul, one will burn.
Heart and soul, one will burn.
An abyss that laughs at creation,
A circus complete with all fools,
Foundations that lasted the ages,
Then ripped apart at their roots.
Beyond all this good is the terror,
The grip of a mercenary hand,
When savagery turns all good reason,
There's no turning back, no last stand.
Heart and soul, one will burn.
Heart and soul, one will burn.
Existence well what does it matter?
I exist on the best terms I can.
The past is now part of my future,
The present is well out of hand.
The present is well out of hand.
Heart and soul, one will burn.
Heart and soul, one will burn.
One will burn, one will burn.
Heart and soul, one will burn.
在線雷達
發表於 2019-7-19 22:23:08
廣播
置頂
超級提昇
強效提昇
推舊帖
收嗲鳥
油顏色
發表於 2019-7-19 22:23:27
發表於 2019-7-28 17:11:53