10 Amazing Rock Albums That Will Scare You To Death

The story of Joy Division tends to feel more like a tragedy in rock and roll rather than the start of post punk. Although the band's take on atonal punk rock may have been novel on songs like Love Will Tear Us Apart, it was just hiding the ongoing problems that Ian Curtis was facing day after day, feeling more and more isolated in his own skin and not really feeling like he belonged anywhere. Unknown Pleasures may be the more straight ahead post punk experience, but Closer feels more like a confessional than a proper album.

Released a few months after Curtis was found dead by suicide in his home, a lot of these songs tend to take on a different character given the circumstances, with Ian laying all of his harsh feelings out in the open. While the rest of the band provide a good backing track for him, songs like Colony and Isolation are a lot more scarring than Ian was probably intending, always sounding like he's either on the verge of a breakdown or trying to paint a happy face on a truly ugly situation.

The songs may still be there, but what you're hearing here feels more like Ian signing off from the land of the living than trying to actually write proper songs. While New Order were able to rise out of the ashes of Joy Division, Closer will forever be known as a shroud that coated the dark final months of the band's existence.