After Ian Curtis' death by suicide in 1980, the band known as Joy Division became New Order. Probably most famous for a little tune called "Blue Monday"(maybe you know it), New Order went on to see some real success in the Post Punk/New Wave age. They even started playing together again last year (after a four year break), with a modified lineup.
Joy Division was an amazing outfit. They may have been inspired by punk (like the Sex Pistols), but I like to think they were more effected by it given their rise in the late 70's. That conveniently allows them to fit the mold of a post-punk group perfectly, but there is a uniqueness to their sound that has never been seen again. Most of that came from Ian Curtis.
When I worked at the Weinstein Company, we did a black & white film called Control, which was a biographical account of Ian Curtis and the band. I enjoyed working on the film, and the film itself is entertaining for both fans of the band, and newcomers alike. When it was released in 2007 I knew little about Joy Division. After learning about them through the film, and seeing Sam Riley's incredible portrayal of Curtis, I was intrigued. I found myself wondering what would have become of the band if Ian Curtis hadn't taken his own life. What we got in reality was a look at what happened because he did. This was New Order.
New Order has some tacky stuff. But they balanced that by creating some very influential music. "Ceremony" came out before they went to a much more synthesizer based sound, the sound that they're better known for. But Ceremony was the groups original release. It was a song that was written weeks before Curtis committed suicide, and thus, sounds very much like a Joy Division song. The album Movement (1981), retains the dark, brooding sound of Joy Division, but you can hear the influence of synthesizers on it, foreboding what was to come. New Order went on to become a very big band in the 80's, but I still prefer Joy Division any day of the week.
No comments:
Post a Comment