JOY DIVISION - STILL @ 40

 

Released 40 years ago today, on October 8th, 1981, Joy Division’s 3rd album, Still, would function as the headstone upon the tomb of this doomed, yet groundbreaking band after the tragic suicide of its lead singer, Ian Curtis.

The double disc set contained mostly studio outtakes from the Unknown Pleasures and Closer sessions on disc one, while the second disc contained the group’s final UK live performance. Its purpose was partly intended to thwart bootleggers looking to cash in on the band’s demise and infamy, but it also offered the opportunity to corral all the disparate bits of studio leftovers together into a convenient package for the band’s eager fans. Though the quality of the songs might not quite match up to the perfection of those contained on their prior albums & singles, there’s regardless some great songs to be found on the album, and some rarities for good measure.

The initial release of the album was elegantly packaged in a cloth hessian grey cover bound by a white silk ribbon, which gave it a kind of “memorial” gravitas as the final statement from the group after its termination following the death of Curtis. It certainly continued the visual aesthetic established by the group’s previous releases on Factory and took it to a natural extreme befitting of the somber nature of its existence. A subsequent CD reissue added a bonus disc of live and soundcheck recordings.