Complete BBC Recordings

Joy Division - Complete BBC Recordings

Complete BBC Recordings
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CD Details

Artist: Joy Division
Edition: Music CD
Format: Live
CD Release Date: 2000-10-24
Music Label: Varese Sarabande
Soundtracks:
  1. Exercise One
  2. Insight
  3. She's Lost Control
  4. Transmission
  5. Love Will Tear Us Apart
  6. 24 Hours
  7. Colony
  8. Sound Of Music
  9. Transmission
  10. She's Lost Control
  11. Ian Curtis & Stephen Morris Interviewed By Richard Skinner

Music reviews of Complete BBC Recordings

Music Review: Hidden gem worth seeking out
Rating: 4 Stars

Apparently this album is becoming increasingly hard to find, but it is definitely worth seeking out. It collects both Joy Division Peel Sessions (early and late 1979), their BBC television appearance, and a short interview with Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris.

This is a real hidden gem. The Peel Sessions performances are excellent, and contain several rarer songs like 'Exercise One' and 'The Sound Of Music' that can be difficult to get elsewhere. These live performances really showcase the rawer, punkier side of the band compared to the studio albums. You'd think that Joy Division's songs would sound anemic when stripped of Martin Hannett's production, but that's not the case. The more direct sound actually benefits songs like 'Insight' (much better than the over-produced version on 'Unknown Pleasures') and 'The Sound of Music' (clearer vocals). A stripped-back version of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', with much more prominent guitar, isn't as good as the studio version but is an interesting take on the song. The only song that doesn't work for me is the Peel version of 'She's Lost Control'; at a much slower tempo, it lacks the frenetic drive of the original.

This is redeemed though by a blistering, manic live performance of the song from their BBC TV appearance. This, along with 'Transmission' from the same appearance, would have to be one of their best ever live performances; certainly better than those on 'Still' and 'Heart And Soul', and arguably the equal with 'Les Baines..'.

And despite its brief length, the interview at the end is also very revealing. For all their gloom-and-angst image, Ian and Steve come across as typical Northern "lads", cracking wry jokes and offering self-depreciating assesments of themselves. Its refreshing to hear Ian in particular in such a context.

Some reviewers recommend buying 'The Best Of Joy Division', which contains this material on a bonus CD, but that compilation offers nothing new for the dedicated fan who already has the studio albums and 'Substance'. So there's really nothing to be lost by seeking out this hidden gem; excellent live performances plus some rarer songs make it an important album for die-hards and collectors to own.
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Description of Complete BBC Recordings

Includes two separate performances at the BBC studios recorded in 1979, and 10 months apart.
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 radio performances cut in January, September, and November of 1979, The Complete BBC Recordings captures the post-punk outfit two years after they came together following a Sex Pistols appearance in their Manchester, England, base and a matter of months before frontman Ian Curtis took his life. Signaling a tidal shift in the punk mindset, Curtis's inner torment was expressed by melancholy rather than rage. His instrumental cohorts--the pre-New Order trio of Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris--created a sound that was as terse yet expressive as a rude remark. These John Peel and Radio One performances depict a band on a grim mission--to give their sense of paralyzing futility an undeniable momentum. Riveting from start to finish, The Complete BBC Recordings is a must-own for fans of the band and anyone interested in hearing where the '70s ended and the '80s began for a vital segment of British rock. --Steven Stolder

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