Search - Joy Division :: Les Bains Douches

A must for any Joy Division fan

Amanda | United States | 05/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a Joy Division fan for years, but before hearing this album, I'd never heard them live before. Les Bains Douches totally blew me away. The songs I thought were excellent on their studio albums were phenomenal live. Their emotionally unsettling lyrics and sound pack a power, energy, and raw nerve live that's absolutely chilling. The thrashing "Day of the Lords" and "Transmission" demonstrate is perhaps the most brilliant example of Joy Division's affect in their entire catalogue, live or studio. "Shadowplay" and especially "Atmosphere" show themselves as two of the most haunting, brooding songs ever recorded. Perhaps the only bad spot on the album is the outdated synthesizer-prominent sound on "Love Will Tear Us Apart", but it is outshined by every other track on Les Bains Douches, and Les Bains Douches outshines any studio work Joy Division ever recorded."

Extraordinary live album

Erik A. Nielsen | 10/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While the title of this record would bring a chuckle to the lips of any American teenager, the recordings inside (taken from three live shows) are anything but laughable. The sheer manic energy of this album should amaze any fan of Joy Division. Of note is live take on Atmosphere--whereas the studio single is meticulously engineered and spacious, this version has a primeval energy and warmth that makes up for its lack of deliberation; and this is true for much of the rest of the album--one could almost feel that the members of Joy Division were in the room, trying so hard to reach out to the rest of us."