'Here are the young men, the weight on their shoulders.'
I listened to Joy Division much more than I did to Alexander O'Neal in the Eighties. It seemed much closer to my own journey at the time. It was about the fight. The struggle. The attempt to find a way towards the light.
I prefer to listen to Unknown Pleasures than Closer which often feels too painful and harrowing given what came next. I have the album on vinyl but I'm listening to it on headphones now. . It's a testament of resolve. Of confusion and pain, Isolation. In the words of one of one of the songs on here but also the sound of four young men coming together to create a lasting statement. Larger than the sum of their parts, A slab. A monument. A work of art. In the words of another of its songs. The Eternal.
A third song title. The albums closer, Decades. Decades later the record bridges a chasm. The inexplicable. The great passage of life. The wonder and fear of what comes next, The Unknown. It reminds me of The Doors. Of Velvet Underground. Two of Ian Curtis' great totems. Along with Iggy, Bowie, Roxy. Now it reminds me of them most of all. .
But as with all great artistic statements, Closer, like the rest of Joy Division's.small and fascinating body of work picks up the torch and carries it forward. Inward perhaps. I'm always slightly puzzled when I hear bands that are clearly influenced by Joy Division. There's nothing wrong with inspiration. I'm puzzled by mere replication. For me Joy Division' songs were the ultimate expression of a certain anguish. Great art wants to inspire. But most of all to be listened to. Do different.
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