The career of Joy Division — the greatest band of the post-punk era of the late 1970s and early ‘80s — was tragically short, ended by the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis at the age of just 23: Not even a year passed between the June 1979 release of their iconic debut album, “Unknown Pleasures,” and his death. The band left behind just two studio albums and a dozen-odd singles and other stray tracks but their influence was vast, from the entire goth movement to Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead and Interpol (who were basically a Joy Division soundalike in their early years), to multiple samples in hip-hop songs.
The surviving members continued — and thrived — for decades as New Order, but that was a very different sound.
Joy Division’s studio albums — menacing, melancholy and melodic — were produced with eerie precision by the great and deranged Martin Hannett, but live, they were a different animal: raw, loud and aggressive, with Bernard Sumner’s roaring guitar, Peter Hook’s driving bass and Steven Morris’ supple drumming, all providing an angular backdrop for Curtis’ stentorian vocals. Although multiple live recordings have trickled out over the years, a full compendium of their concert material was missing, although they were one of the most bootlegged bands of their era.
