Today's album I will be reviewing is none other than Joy Division and New Order's album "Total: From Joy Division to New Order".
First, let's have some background on these artists. Joy Division was an English Rock Band formed in Great Manchester in 1976. Before it got its infamous name we know as Joy Division, the band was called Warsaw. Its first line-up was Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris.
Joy Division's debut album was called Unknown Pleasures. Joy Division finally had high commercial success until their second studio album, titled Closer.
After the tragic death of Ian Curtis, the rest of the band left and formed a new band- titled New Order.
New Order was formed in 1980 by the rest of Joy Division and was the basic line-up of Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris. The initial release of New Order was their single called "Ceremony".
An interesting fact was "Ceremony" and it's B-Side "In a Lonely Place" were written two weeks before the death of Ian Curtis.
Their first hit single was released in 1983 called Blue Monday. Then followed other singles like Bizarre Love Triangle and The Perfect Kiss.
The first track on the album is none other than Joy Division's "Transmission". The song is dark and positive to me, because although the music darkens the situation, the lyrics can't disappoint. It reminds me of New Order's single "Age of Consent". Dark and positive at the same time, but not in a bad way.
The next track is Joy Division at its best, "Love Will Tear Us Apart". It has a great tune, with lyrics that self-reflect anybody's love situation. The bass and the vocals really complete the song to me.
Now, let's move onto New Order.
The first track on New Order's side is "Ceremony". This song introduced New Order's first style. Not the regular techno style you'd here by them, but more of a Joy Division style music with Sumner's vocals.
The next hit track on there is Blue Monday. Although it is an abridged version, it still includes the story of New Order's techno style music we know today.
Then there is the track that introduced me to New Order, Bizarre Love Triangle. It also is very abridged, all the way down to 3 minutes, but includes all the music excerpts we love.
Then the next track is The Perfect Kiss, then Temptation. I have always loved both of those songs, especially Temptation, because to me, it was the perfect mix of techno, and their first style of music.
This album to me was the perfect mix of Joy Division and New Order. Although the abridged versions of some songs did arise flaws to me, it still is perfect for any JD/New Order fan.
Today's overall rating is 3.5 Stars. Thank you for reading.
Source(s) for my information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total:_From_Joy_Division_to_New_Order
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Division
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Order
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