Search - Joy Division :: Peel Session

Redundant, Obsolete...Brilliant

Kathy Fennessy | 10/24/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Joy Division recorded their first Peel session in January 1979, the second in November. Their first full-length, "Unknown Pleasures," would hit the streets between the two--around the same time Manchester's sewage system collapsed (at least the city had something to celebrate in their hometown band's brilliant debut).



The sessions were originally available as separate four-track EPs. Both were rendered somewhat redundant when combined into one release. Then it too was superseded by 1998's "Heart and Soul" boxed set and 2000's "The Complete BBC Recordings." The latter includes all eight tracks, two additional live versions of "Transmission" and "She's Lost Control" (recorded for BBC2 in September of the same year), and a short Radio One interview with Ian Curtis and drummer Stephen Morris.



"Exercise One" opens this set with a squeal of feedback and a primal

drumbeat. It ends abruptly, and bears a slight resemblance to the short sharp shocks of early Gang of Four. A high-pitched repeating keyboard pattern distinguishes "Insight," while the insistent "She's Lost Control" is fairly straightforward, just less polished than the studio version.



Throughout, the Macclesfield lad commits to the material like a man possessed, particularly "Transmission" ("Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance / To the radio"). One year from his death, Curtis sounds like he could go on forever, singing the same lyrics over and over. It's a hypnotic performance."

Too little...

Skunk Meister | da SKUNK HOLE | 11/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"plus it's obsolete, since the four here are on the Complete BBC wrex. So pick that up instead, chillen."