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I've been listening to Unknown Pleasures in the car the last couple of days, and have started to wonder whether it would have sounded better with a 'fuller' production sound as opposed to the clean, almost glacially cold production adopted by Martin Hannet which isolates the individual elements to a high degree and exposes the flaws in the singing/playing. Much as I've loved Joy Division for years now, I think that's why I find the bands they've spawned such as Interpol an easier and more enjoyable listening experience in many ways. Anyone have an opinion on this? Other than 'How dare you question the production of such a classic album, blah blah blah ad nauseum...' I find the same with Closer too.

[daveofficer]

would those recordings had as much of an effect though if they hadn't sounded so different at the time? i think if they'd been recorded with a fuller production they might have aged a little more as well. as it stands the production on unknown pleasures and closer gives those albums a unique and timeless quality which makes them still kinda fresh now. no one can recreate that production without sounding completely like joy division rather than themselves.

i know what you mean though but i think they have more impact the way they were originally recorded.

[Lester Burnham]

Agreed with the above *points to Dave*

I see what you're getting at, I think it is something that seperates Joy Division from other bands though. The sound of Joy Division is so raw that I'm not sure it would benefit from modern production.

Yeah, I agree the production gives the Joy Division albums an individual quality but I think that still would have existed by virtue of the individuality of Ian Curtis's vocals, Peter Hook's bass playing and Bernard Sumners guitar playing, all of these have remained pretty distinctive to me. Although later bands have copied the style, Joy Division's guitar work is pretty amateurish in places, but I like it a lot more than slicker outfits, it just sounds so good. I dunno, it's not a huge belief that I have that it should be different, I would just be interested to hear it done differently as with Iggy's remastering of Raw Power, it pisses all over the original mix which was way too tinny sounding to adequately communicate the lovely Stooges noise. The remastered version is awesome.

[Larsen B]

Originally Posted by bluesxman

Yeah, I agree the production gives the Joy Division albums an individual quality but I think that still would have existed by virtue of the individuality of Ian Curtis's vocals, Peter Hook's bass playing and Bernard Sumners guitar playing, all of these have remained pretty distinctive to me. Although later bands have copied the style, Joy Division's guitar work is pretty amateurish in places, but I like it a lot more than slicker outfits, it just sounds so good. I dunno, it's not a huge belief that I have that it should be different, I would just be interested to hear it done differently as with Iggy's remastering of Raw Power, it pisses all over the original mix which was way too tinny sounding to adequately communicate the lovely Stooges noise. The remastered version is awesome.

I see where you're coming from. I must say i think if there was slicker production then Barney's guitar would have sounded very much like any other punk band of the time. I think the guitar stylings, in Interpol for example, have very little in common with Barney's playing overall. Martin Hannett was definitely the fifth member of Joy Division. As with the American mix of the Manic's Holy Bible, i think it would be interesting to hear a slicker produced version, but i doubt it would be as good.

Get Les Bains Douche, the live album. It's worth it just for the version of Disorder.

[Larsen B]

Originally Posted by Ikaruga

Get Les Bains Douche, the live album. It's worth it just for the version of Disorder.

And Still is worth it for Barney's humurous bum notes on New Dawn Fades.

[Sam_b]

How dare you question the production of such a classic album!

Originally Posted by Larsen B

I see where you're coming from. I must say i think if there was slicker production then Barney's guitar would have sounded very much like any other punk band of the time. I think the guitar stylings, in Interpol for example, have very little in common with Barney's playing overall. Martin Hannett was definitely the fifth member of Joy Division. As with the American mix of the Manic's Holy Bible, i think it would be interesting to hear a slicker produced version, but i doubt it would be as good.

Interpol have more in common with The Chameleons than Joy Division to my ears musically, although the vocals are very Ian Curtis at times, more so on the first album though.

[Larsen B]

It will be interesting to hear what Barney, Morris and Hookys new "Joy Division" songs for the Anton Corbjin film will sound like, with no Curtis or Hannett.