Review Summary: Ian Curtis's masterful nightmare.
Morose and gloomy, Ian Curtis croons with the sorrow one would usually reserve for a funeral. Because that's what
Closer seems like; a funeral for Ian Curtis. Each note, each ominous drum beat, each robotic bass line, rings out with torment, evoking images of Ian Curtis lying beneath the dirt. Each song on
Closer is dirge-like, morbidly representing the overbearing depression he felt leading up to his suicide in the most profound and understandable way. As Ian Curtis tragically took his own life,
Closer was indented into the minds of all Joy Division fans.
Closer is a gorgeously melancholy album, coming from deep in the crevices of Curtis's distraught mind. The emotions and tone the album evokes is brooding like no other. Thick, heavy, yet complex and intricate drumming is enhanced by the bizarrely monotonous vocals of Curtis. and the brilliantly dour jangling guitars. Because of the astonishingly dark imagery
Closer evokes, it's much more difficult to sit through than its predecessor, but the better album for that.
Closer demands patience and intense focus to truly enjoy songs like the textured, atmospheric opener, "Atrocity Exhibition." Steven Morris's brilliant, rhythmic drumming is the highlight, along with the frighteningly post-apocalypic lyrics.
This is the way, step inside. The bleak imagery sounds like a controlling dystopia not dissimilar to Orwell's
1984:
In arenas he kills for a prize/Wins a minute to add to his life. It's horribly sickening, as the haunting melody suggests.
Track two, "Isolation," is somewhat of an anomaly: its upbeat drumming is unanticipated to say the least, after the doom that encompasses the opener. Its synth melody would not sound out of place on an album from the next incarnation of Joy Division sans Ian Curtis, New Order. Its title and lyrics, however, are in line with the lyrics of the rest of the album.
I'm ashamed of the things I've been put through/I'm ashamed of the person I am, Ian confesses like a churchgoing sinner pleading for forgiveness.
Nearly every song is locked in an impenetrable dance groove, along with the stark contrast of a massively depressing tone. Curtis's voice mostly contributes to the macabre trademark sound of Joy Division, besides the lyrics; his depression pours into his singing in an emotionless yet deeply affecting way. While songs like "A Means To An End" and "Twenty Four Hours" are excellent and surprisingly listenable for the content, perhaps the most affecting track is the closer, "Decades." Ian Curtis pitifully drones in a way that makes you want to empathize with him. The track is a slow-burning, building up to the stunning wails of
Where have they been? It's a brilliant climax of the album, masterfully placed as the closer.
At only nine tracks, every song is necessary, leaving the album completely devoid of filler. While rarely leaving its place in a world of deep sorrow, it doesn't have to. The potency of the album lies in its lamenting atmosphere. Every song drips with anguish, making
Closer a burdensome yet highly rewarding listen. , one unmatched by bands attempting to achieve its sulky tone.
Closer is the eulogy of Ian Curtis, the last pained cries of a deeply troubled genius.
