Joy Division - Closer (2007 Remaster)

Chillier and more ethereal than the charred Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division's second and final studio album Closer tore a jagged hole through post-punk convention, as dirges like "Atrocity Exhibition" rubbed elbows with manic, synth-streaked dance-floor cuts like "Isolation." Dripping with echo, Martin Hannett's production gleams like a freshly polished tombstone. Late frontman Ian Curtis is the music's aching center of gravity, by turns unhinged, dejected, and resigned. To hear the album is to mourn what might have been and to celebrate what was.

Closer was recorded in March 1980 at Britannia Row Studios in Islington, London. It was produced by the highly praised Martin Hannett whose distinctive production style utilized unorthodox sound recording and technology.

The album cover was designed by Martyn Atkins and Peter Saville, with a photograph of the Appiani family tomb in Genoa's Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno. The image itself was taken by Bernard Pierre Wolff in 1978.

Heavyweight vinyl produced by Factory Records in 2015. Remastered from the original analog tapes in 2007. Faithfully replicated artwork.