10 Famous Albums That Left The Best Song On The Cutting Room Floor
1. Joy Division - Closer
Cut Song: "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
Released as a single in 1980, it's a shame that Joy Division's most popular song never found its way onto that year's Closer, which would become the band's final album.
Written as a cynical "piss off" to Captain & Tennille's cheesy "Love Will Keep Us Together", the band never considered the softer track to be a real contender amidst their more angsty and abrasive work.
Producer Martin Hannett had much grander aspirations for the song, though, and spent an inordinate amount of time mixing and re-mixing the track until it was polished to his liking. Hannett considered "Love Will Tear Us Apart" something truly special, and in hindsight, he couldn't have been more right.
But as the band had predicted for what they thought was a "good but not great" song, it came and went without much fanfare, not even scratching the bottom of the charts. But following the tragic suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis, the song was re-released, and ironically found a second life. It even reached No. 13 on the UK Singles chart.