I’d never really noticed before how strong the influence of The Doors seems to be on Joy Division, probably because I’m most familiar with Love Will Tear Us Apart, which isn’t on this album and has more of a later, Eighties synth-pop vibe to it.
On the track Day Of The Lords, for example, Ian Curtis’ voice is very much like Jim Morrison, and the dark, steady progression of the song brings to mind The End. Shadowplay is also quite Doors-esque, but ends with a great wash of guitar noise in a solo by Bernard Sumner. Peter “Hooky” Hook does on the bass what Marc “Lard” Riley couldn’t quite manage with The Fall, especially on the moody opening on New Dawn Fades. The essence of krautrock, especially Neu! Is threaded through the music.
The name of the group comes from a pleasant-sounding euphemism for something from history that is much darker and crueller. Curtis suffered from depression, exacerbated by his epilepsy, and this sense that life is pain is reflected in the lyrics. From Insight, for example, Curtis sings that “Guess your dreams always end. They don't rise up, just descend. I don't care anymore, I've lost the will to want more”. The song ends with the refrain “I’m not afraid any more”, as if he’s already decided by that point that suicide is the only way out, which he will sadly do.
The combination of the personal tragedy of Curtis, coupled with the dark music and dark lyrics don’t, surprisingly, make this an album of unrelenting misery to listen to, but it is something that takes a certain joy from bleakness, and I can’t help but feel that this is the first truly “Goth” album.
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