It was a beautiful day the day this came in for me. I can't speak highly enough about the Peel Sessions. In general, bands that performed on John Peel's BBC1 show back during this late-70s/early-80s era created something that really pushes their original recordings and I love that. But I won't get in to how amazing The Cure did "A Forest" or The Jam did "Saturday's Kids" for the Peel Sessions right now, this is about Joy Division and the 1990 Strange Fruit vinyl that came to my mailbox a few days ago.
Joy Division had a rare quality to them in that their live performances were sometimes better than the studio versions of the same songs. This is in part due to Martin Hannett, their experimental producer. He's the man who helped fill in the eeriness. It's because of him that "I Remember Nothing" makes me jump every time I listen to it in the car because I think the windscreen is being broken. He's the man with the effects. However, sometimes, I wonder why things were done the way they were done. Unknown Pleasures is one of the most amazing debut albums ever conceived, but there we have "She's Lost Control" with Bernard Sumner's guitar muted behind the sound of the bass and the keyboard. I know beyond any doubt that the version of "She's Lost Control" from the Unknown Pleasures is not the best version of that song. The Peel Sessions version is perhaps only second to the live version they did for "Something Else" (which has video accompaniment). The only reason I'd rate it second would be because of the way the frustration builds in to a scream during the "Something Else" version before he goes in to a dance. However, in either version, when the barre chords kick in after the first verse, it makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise. It's imperative that that song is not left simply heard through the studio version.
He was clever and clean, but hardly knew what he was doing. Fantastic.
Believe it or not, however, there are seven more songs on the album besides "She's Lost Control." Including the famous "Love Will Tear Us Apart." The Peel Sessions version is much easier to listen to as it seems more epic and uplifting musically whereas the studio version is downright haunting. Which, to be fair, is the better way to be with a song like that. In all, the Peel Session versions emphasise the instruments the band was playing rather than placing all of the emphasis on the reverb of Ian's voice. Thus, the high treble of that forward voice track is cut down and there's more aggression put to the performance. It's especially noticeable in "Sound of Music" and "Insight." Studio recordings of his voice are like you are being haunted by a spirit, but live in live recordings, you can almost see the man himself--the human, not the spirit--singing these songs. He was an emotional performer. And I've gained that knowledge from four good quality videos; three live concert recordings; and about an hour of concert footage that is of such poor quality I can't believe I'm still enthralled by the blurry figures performing.
This is the quality that must be dealt with. I'm just happy live footage even exists at all.
This collection is a total must for anyone who likes Joy Division enough to own anything from them. In fact, if you're just curious about the band and don't know where to start, I would suggest to start here. Here's a fun tip for anyone who has actually read my thoughts here and takes me seriously in the least: If you purchase the special edition of The Best of Joy Division--which is the import version if you live in the US--that comes with two discs, the second disc is a copy of The Complete BBC Sessions (to buy this on it's own is three times the price as it is out of print). It includes not only the Peel Sessions, but the two other BBC live recordings (That is, you get two versions of "She's Lost Control" and "Transmission." Each one totally worth it.), as well as a little three minute interview at the end for an extra bonus. It's a rare ordeal to hear Ian Curtis speak so that's a decent selling point. So, not only do you get the best of studio versions, but you get the BBC versions, too. It's such a worthy 'best-of' compilation that even I bought it. And this was after I'd already purchased the box set!
The best-of compilation has this iconic shot on the cover of it. Pretty enough to be framed.
This is how Kevin Cummins earns his keep.
But as for the Peel Sessions vinyl I recently purchased, the track list is as follows:
A1-Exercise One
A2-Insight
A3-She's Lost Control
A4-Transmission
B1-Love Will Tear Us Apart
B2-24 Hours
B3-Colony
B4-Sound of Music
I'm not going to get too picky, however, if I was in charge of picking songs for them to perform, I would have replaced "Colony" with "Means to an End." How amazing would that have sounded in that setting? Incredibly amazing.
I'm not afraid anymore. I keep my eyes on the door, but I remember...
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