Preston 28 February 1980

Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979 Unavailable for some time, available again at a mid price, this intriguing release captures a complete gig by the band, weeks before the tragic demise of Ian Curtis. Alchemy. 2003.	The Complete BBC Recordings The ever-expanding log of BBC vault recordings is a decidedly mixed lot, with plenty of rubbish surfacing along with more than a few gems. This 10-song collection from the short-lived but vastly influential foursome Joy Division definitely belongs in the latter camp. Made up of r...	Further Transmissions	CLOSER (180 GRAM VINYL)	Warsaw 1994 reissue of compilation of early recordings from 1977 byWarsaw, an early moniker for the Mancunian act Joy Division.This pressing features 17 raw, but respectable cuts, including five bonus tracks: 'Inside The Line', 'At A Later Date', 'Gutz', 'The Kill' and 'You're No Good F...
Let The Movie Begin UK only Official Live disc is interspersed with rare interviews of all the band members. The live songs were recorded in various European locations including rarities from Dutch and Belgian concert performances along with a couple of rare alternative studio outtakes. 26 tracks in...	Still	Still	Joy Division - Under Review This 70-minute documentary covers the entire career of Joy Division one of Manchester and Post-Punks most respected bands. It charts the entire short lifespan of the group from their origins in their days as Warsaw to the more well known incarnation of Joy Division. Features incl...	Heart and Soul Though Joy Division's anxious, angular songs echoed time-honored art-school obsessions from the Doors through Eno, they never stooped to cheap nostalgia or pretentious condescension. Neither bridge nor battering ram, the band's music--haunting and hypnotic, with an emotionally na...

The Eternal
This record has been out for several years as a bootleg. I had it on a tape and it was called as "Shadowplay" when it was resaled to the public and its cover was a 2 color draw of a lady dancing. This cd version has the same sound quiality of the bootleg. Don't expect a remastered sound. I know the songs are not perfertly played and there are lots of problems with the equipment, but c'omon, this is what makes this record unique. A raw band, a band trying to develop in a low budget stage. What I like about this record, despite other rewiever, is the song called "The Eternal". This could have been the first steps into a synth oriented music that will make New Order famous for. If you want a perfectly sound album, get "Les Bains Douches" -only the songs from the Paris show has a soundboard quiality-.

Serious fans only
I can't figure out the reviewers that give this one 5 stars. I am a huge Joy Division fan and have been since I discovered them in high school in 1985. But that doesn't mean that I think everything they ever did was perfect. I've heard a lot of live recordings of this band and quite frankly, some of them just suck. These guys were not especially talented musicians, and many live recordings are marred by either Peter Hook or Bernard Sumner hitting bum notes or chords (glaring example: the version "New Dawn Fades" on Still), or Ian Curtis' voice, which on the best of days was intense and full of character, but also prone to off-pitch moments. The best live material available is on the Les Baines Douches collection. That one deserves five stars. This is a nice document of a single show late in the band's career, and as such has some historical value; but the sound is so-so and the equipment problems did not help this fragile band's performance. Ian mumbles "some slight problems" after the third song; that's an understatement. Later, he barks "I think everything's falling apart!" That's a bit more accurate. I am one of those guys who loves to make mixes and compilations. I tend to try and get everything available by a band and create the ultimate mix of live and studio material ... there's not one song on this album that I would call a "definitive version." Either the sound quality or the actual performance quality keeps all of this stuff from being truly great. Again, as my title suggests, a serious Joy Division fan should pick this up. But this would certainly NOT be recommended as an introduction to the band.

Not many like this
First: I don't understand these complaints about sound quality...bootlegs have had crappy sound quality ever since they started...and if you have a regular stereo, or receiver, that allows you to change the ambience or treble and bass, I think you can salvage almost any recording (of course, some are just crap, but I've made Iggy Pop and The Stooges releases from Bomp Records sound bearable, which ain't easy)...Now, for this one, Joy Division, probably the last great rock band...to cut this short, since it is absolutely mindless, and counterproductive to write about music, I will say that this album, as a live album, mind you, goes right next to the best live document of a rock performance...Who Live At Leeds....thats how good I feel this is...And I think we can safely say that all that thin whiny whiteboy music of the nineties, all that grunge, and angst, is just D-level rip-offs of Joy Division...I've stopped listening to Radiohead (although I have not abandoned them) and Tool (Compare the vocals, you'll understand) because I realized they were obsolete for about 10, 15 years before they got on TV...Well, I'm not going to tell you what you already know (90's sucked/not getting better) I will tell you to be a consumer and buy this CD...along with Heart And Soul, the boxed set (even though the talk of "everything" J.D. ever recorded is not exactly what this boxed set is)...Great music to appreciate (cause it ain't coming back)...what more to say?

5 stars for 3 songs. That's how good.
Ah, The Preston Gig. What to say about this. It sounds like nothing else. It clocks in at around 50 minutes and it's a total mess. Utterly muddy and shot through with problems. If you dig that kind of thing then pick this up. I would have you buy either The Box Set, 'Les Bains Douches' or 'Still' first to get a proper taste of Joy Division live. The thing is: there are 3 renditions here that stand up with Joy Division's best energy: Tracks 6, 7, and 8 are soul-crushingly good. Enough to make up for the rest of the set's low points. If you are a fan of the band and don't have this- Dive in. You need to. Blast this. It will take you somewhere. 1.) Opening off with three minutes of the instrumental, "Incubation." Three minutes of charging, churning guitar, bass and pounding drums. Kinda gets old fast. You wonder if Ian was taking a piddle or something... the band played on. Lumps into a decent rendition of 2.) "Wilderness," the sound is a bit off, not mixed so well... bass is a bit low. But still, a keeper song- you can actually make out what Ian is singing. Languidly slips, like an old pair of jeans into 3.) "24 hours," with the vocals buried and kinda ratty sounding. Something feels off, to me. His mic starts humming a bit with feedback. 4.) you get treated to an almost nine minute long "The Eternal," which certainly lives up to its name. It feels f*#king eternal. The vocals don't come in until around the 5.30 mark... The instrumentation is good here but really repetitive. Ian apologizes for something. bass booms a little. Voices chatter. 5.) "Heart and Soul:" their sound is almost shot by this time- the guitar is way down in the mix somehwere. The vox are echo-ey and querulous. Some bonus feedback and distortion... If you like Ian's droning intensely to a good beat this right up your alley... Small interlude at teh end wherein they apologize and try to cope with their sound problems. They admit they've been playing through the bass amp. Ian asks for requests and then... They get damn good. UNBELIEVABLY. I STARED AT MY CD PLAYER. 6.) "Shadowplay." Maybe the best live version of this I have heard, and it was a show staple. I don't say that lightly. Starts out a bit rough but Sumner cuts with that guitar as if to make up for earlier- he hits one wrong note at the beginning of the first bridge and it WORKS so well! Wow. It's basically all about Ian and Bernard. I love this tune. Ian's voice is in top form. 7.) "Transmission," doesn't do a lot for me lots of times. This is the exception! Picks up on the momentum from Shadowplay and ups the ante- kicks it up about three thousand notches. Probably the best live version of this excellent tune. They charge through it, fast as blazes. Veers into anarchistic hell-fire towards the end. No one else can sing "dance to the radio!" and sound so scarred and desperate. Ian is howling at the conclusion! The crowd loses their sh&! at the end. With good reason! 8.) "Disorder," More perfection. Maybe my favorite Joy Division song- and the tune that got me into them. Played super-fast, with that knife guitar and the bass begging to be exhumed a bit from under the drums and keening guitar. Another top-notch performance! Ian throws himself into this. 9.) warsaw. Great version of an earlier song from their warsaw (duh.) days. Good and thick. Angry, makes you want to beat your head into something dense, in time to the thumping drums and crunchy guitar. Still, the energy seems to fade a bit from the last 3. 10.) Colony, (good rendering) 11.) interzone, (too muddy- can't hear Ian almost at all- can't hear much except for that robotic beating of the drums) and 12.) SLC (also muddy. thick, sound is just almost gone by now)... The last three are all good in that the anger is still there, but the energy seems diminished and you can't make out a word. The sound gets progressively worse- either you can here the bass or the guitar well at one's expense. Ian sounds possessed until you can't hear him. Hell, the whole CD sounds like hell, sometimes hell with clarity and spirit. And sometimes buried under an avalanche of fire brimstone and technical difficulties. I WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!!!!!!!! Like you expect a riot at any time, which... is what it is... The mood is overtly hostile, save for the mentioned tracks- where it becomes redemptive. Temporarily transcendental.

If you are a JD fan
If you are a big JD fan, you NEED this CD. It's one of my favorites to play LOUD. The performance is spotty, as noted by other reviews, but the power is just incredible. This is JD doing their thing. The sound of the guitar on the opening chords of Colony are worth the price alone. For those of us who didn't reside in England in the late 70's/early 80's, this is our chance to experience what JD was like live. This is not, however, a good primer if you just have a passing interest in the band. In that case, check out Unknown Pleasures.