release date: Jun. 1988
format: cd (1999 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 /5]
producer: Joy Division, Martin Hannett
label: London Records - nationality: England, UK
10 track compilation album by Joy Division originally released by Factory Records, is a collection of early single releases and only really interesting for fans and collectors. I bought it because it contains the four track ep An Ideal for Living, and the "Licht und Blindheit" single. The original LP version doesn't really do justice to the band as a good and reasonable buy if you don't have their two studio albums but it really only expands the view on Joy Division in terms of insight in the original sound. Nonetheless, the 1991 cd version contains the addition of 7 tracks (making it a 17 track cd), which seems like a more interesting issue as it also includes "Glass", "From Safety to Where", and "Komakino" - tracks that are hard to find elsewhere. Other compilations exist but I don't really find them that useful. A box-set 1977-1980 has been released consisting of 5 discs and it includes their official studio albums as well as Substance but really, although it's an attempt to embrace most of the band's material: you'll be better off just buying the original studio albums. It doesn't include any of The Peel Sessions at all, and the 'problem' with a compilation of Joy Division material is basically how much they changed over short time. This will not be easy to obtain on any disc, changing from Unknown Pleasures over Closer, to Still with its poor sound quality and so forth. Best of releases and Martin Hannett editions and the like... no, just start from the beginning. It's not a long journey after all. I resold the vinyl album at some point in the early '90s.
