Joy Division - Closer [180g Black Vinyl LP]

Joy Division's second and final album Closer arrived in July 1980 on Factory Records, following Ian Curtis' death two months earlier. Recorded between March and May 1980 at Britannia Row Studios in London, the album was produced by Martin Hannett, whose atmospheric production techniques shaped the band's haunting sound. Its dark and melancholy tones earned rave reviews for songs like "Isolation" and "Heart and Soul." The album stands as both a culmination of the band's artistic vision and a tragic farewell, with Curtis's lyrics taking on haunting new dimensions following his suicide in May 1980. Peter Saville's stark cover design, featuring a photograph of the Appiani family tomb in Genoa's Staglieno Cemetery, perfectly captured the album's somber themes.

The nine-track album opens with "Atrocity Exhibition," a disorienting journey through fractured rhythms and Curtis's detached vocals. "Isolation" and "Passover" showcase the band's ability to create tension through minimalist arrangements, while "Colony" and "A Means to an End" push toward more driving, propulsive territory. Side two features "Heart and Soul," with its hypnotic bassline from Peter Hook, followed by the sprawling eight-minute "Twenty Four Hours." "The Eternal" offers a brief respite before the closing track "Decades" provides a haunting finale, with Curtis delivering one of his most emotionally devastating performances over austere synthesizer tones. Bernard Sumner's guitar work, Stephen Morris's precise drumming, and Hook's melodic bass lines create atmospheric landscapes that support Curtis's increasingly introspective lyrics.

This 180-gram heavyweight vinyl reissue replicates the artwork to painstaking detail and features audio from the 2007 remaster. The pressing delivers enhanced clarity that reveals the depth of Hannett's production, from the cavernous reverb to the stark, isolated instrumentation. This reissue preserves one of post-punk's most influential albums, capturing a band at their creative peak while documenting the final recordings of one of rock's most compelling frontmen. The weight and quality of this pressing honor the gravity of the music contained within.

• Format: 180g Black Vinyl LP
• Standout tracks: "Isolation," "Heart and Soul," "Decades"
• Pressing details: 180-gram pressing, cut from 2007 remaster, replicated original artwork
• Genre/style: Post-Punk, New Wave, Gothic Rock, Art Rock
• UPC: 825646183913

This 180-gram pressing captures Joy Division's final statement with clarity and weight, preserving one of post-punk's most influential and emotionally devastating albums.

* The Spotify track list may not exactly represent the tracks and audio of this LP edition.

Track List:

Side A:

1. Atrocity Exhibition
2. Isolation
3. Passover
4. Colony
5. A Means To An End

Side B:

1. Heart And Soul
2. Twenty Four Hours
3. The Eternal
4. Decades