10 Perfect Post Punk Albums With No Bad Songs
6. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division (1979)
The most defining act to form in the wake of the punk rock movement was Joy Division. They were part of the wave of young musicians inspired by the raw audaciousness of the Sex Pistols, and their hap hazard approach to making music. Punk was all about playing hard and fast, and not giving a damn if people thought you were any good or not. Joy Division took this adventurous attitude but ran in a different direction entirely.
Unknown Pleasures has come to represent the pinnacle of post punk. Although Ian Curtis' lyrics are personal confessions of isolated loneliness and despair, they symbolised the mood felt by many in the UK at the time. The brooding intensity of the lyrics are matched by the ominous and foreboding bass and synthesiser lines. This album is full of dread: you can all but see the bleak city scapes of England, the endless dole lines and the abject poverty that was tearing through the country when it was made.
Tracks like She's lost Control and Interzone stand out due to their distinctive guitar parts, but to realise the full impact of the record, you'll need to stick it on from start to finish. Just try not to fall into a pit of despair..