Joy Division - Plus Minus: Singles 1976-1980

by Mark Rowland

published: 17 / 12 / 2010

Joy Division - Plus Minus: Singles 1976-1980

Label: Rhino
Format: CD

intro

Faultlessly packaged and presented vinyl only Joy Division box set, which is only nevertheless for the hardcore fan

First things first: there isn’t one track on this compilation that Joy Division fans won’t already own. All the songs are widely available singles by the band, from ‘She’s Lost Control’ to ‘Transmission’ and ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, going back to earlier tracks such as ‘Warsaw’ and ‘No Love Lost’. All, of course, are great, timeless songs; the wonderfully glacial ‘Atmosphere’, the punky and paranoid ‘Digital’, the angular and flinty ‘Glass’, all of which are some of the bands best known and best loved songs. There’s no way that any self-respecting Joy Division fan won’t have any of these songs. In fact, most of them probably have them several times over. What this box set is going for is the serious collector, and it is doing so with its packaging. The singles’ are presented as they were when first released; ten 7” records that come in a clamshell case. It is also limited edition, with the first 500 containing exclusive artwork by Factory Records’ Peter Saville. It’s all designed, of course, to get serious collectors drooling. Musically, the compilation can’t be faulted, and the download version (priced at a more reasonable tenner) would make an excellent introduction to the band for the uninitiated. Then again, so would all the other Joy Division compilations. This one is strictly for the serious collectors, but props are due to the label for packaging and presentation.

Track Listing:-

1 Warsaw
2 Leaders Of Men
3 No Love Lost
4 Failures
5 Digital
6 Glass
7 Autosuggestion
8 From Safety To Where
9 Transmission
10 Novelty
11 Atmosphere
12 Dead Souls
13 Komakino
14 Incubation
15 As You Said
16 Love Will Tear Us Apart
17 These Days
18 She's Lost Control (12" Version)
19 Love Will Tear Us Apart (Pennine Version)
20 Isolation
21 Heart And Soul
22 Atmosphere
23 Glass
24 These Days
25 Komakino
26 She's Lost Control
27 Transmission
28 Digital
29 Incubation
30 Dead Souls
31 Love Will Tear Us Apart

Band Links:-

http://www.joydiv.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Division
https://www.facebook.com/JoyDivisionOfficial
https://www.joydivisionofficial.com/reimagined/
https://www.instagram.com/officialjoydivision/?hl=en

Have a Listen:-

interviews

Interview (2012)

Anthony Strutt talks to bassist Peter Hook about his second book ‘Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division’, which tells of his life in Joy Division

profiles

New Dawn Fades (2016)

Nicky Crewe attends 'New Dawn Fades', a theatre play on the history of Joy Division

Control (2007)

features

Vinyl Stories (2024)

In ‘Vinyl Stories’ Dave Goodwin writes of the kaleidoscopic music culture of Britain in 1980, of discovering Joy Division and the continued impact of him of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ all these years on.

The Image That Made Me Weep (2021)

The Image That Made Me Weep (2020)

Ten Songs That Made Me Love... (2015)