Sunday, November 21, 2010

Unknown Pleasures Is Everywhere


Joy Division's seminal masterpiece Unknown Pleasures seems to be everywhere these days. Original JD bassist (and New Order alumni) Peter Hook is currently touring (and soon to be hitting the States) behind the 30th Anniversary of the album, performing it in it's entirety.

Everything about the album has become iconic, from the songs themselves to the album sleeve. Legendary designer (and personal hero) Peter Saville created the iconic cover image of a digital view of a sound wave, and from that abstraction the cover was born. Today you can buy shoes, skateboard decks, iPods, or even mittens with the cover printed on it.

The album itself has held up amazingly well by the way. It sounds so, so contemporary. Everyone should go out and buy it, it should be essential listening for all members of the human race.

This is a really long way of saying that I love Joy Division, and the image of the doorway in Manchester above reminded me of that today. Really, that's all - I really love Joy Division.