But Manchester wasn’t always just LSD and hooks.

Enter Joy Division.

In March of 1980, the Manchester foursome recorded Closer, twomonths before singer Ian Curtis hung himself.

Named for a Nazi brothel, Joy Division were never ones to makepleasant, radio-friendly music. The album is an unnerving walkthrough a ravaged wasteland, where only horrific memories remain.Lyrical themes of death, betrayal, morbid fascination and evenCurtis’s own failed marriage haunt this album, inspiring some writersto cite it as “the darkest album of all time.”

It’s no surprise, either. At the time of the recording, Curtis wassuffering from epileptic fits, a drug overdose and marriage problems.There are hardly any moments of sunshine on this record, but anyoptimism would throw the rest of the album out of alignment.

But all darkness aside, Closer is Joy Division’s best album. Theband’s playing was much tighter than on Unknown Pleasures or any ofits early singles. Songs such as “A Means to an End” and “Heart andSoul” were so ahead of its time that their influence can still beheard today. And the synth driven “Isolation” and “Decades” hint atNew Order, the band that they would soon become.

Ironically, Joy Division’s most successful single, “Love Will TearUs Apart,” was recorded shortly before Closer. However, it was notincluded on the album, appropriately enough, because despite thepessimism of the song, it was entirely too accessible to be put nextto such bleak masterpieces as “A Means to an End” and “AtrocityExhibition.”

After the demise of Joy Division, three remaining memberscontinued recording music as New Order. However, the music evolvedfrom deliciously dark post-punk to dance pop, practically eliminatingany evidence of their former sound. Things were never the same forJoy Division, but Closer remains a testament to an influential andcreative band at the climax of their career.

–Jeff Terich