Closer cover

Closer

Released

The second and last formal studio album by Joy Division, Closer may have slightly less of a visual subcultural impact compared to the iconic cover design of Unknown Pleasures, but musically it found the band taking on new strengths and approaches more than ever. From the rumbling Can-like groove of “Atrocity Exhibition” to the solemn piano-led ballad “The Eternal” and the stark, slow descent of “Decades,” the quartet translated its earlier intensity into a mysterious, murky realm, Ian Curtis’s compelling vocals and lyrics remaining a key constant.

Ned Raggett

Recommended by

Suggestions
Reproduction cover

Reproduction

The Human League
In Debt cover

In Debt

Disco Inferno
Woven Hand cover

Woven Hand

Wovenhand
The Psychedelic Furs cover

The Psychedelic Furs

The Psychedelic Furs
Fiction cover

Fiction

The Comsat Angels
The Crackdown cover

The Crackdown

Cabaret Voltaire
 Illusions of the Sun cover

Illusions of the Sun

Marianne Nowottny