'Substance' suffers from what you might call an unavoidable weakness: Joy Division's progression from scrappy punk band to artistic alt-Goth band is a crucial part of the band's story. Therefore, you've got to stick in those tinny early recordings that, by burying Curtis' voice, eschew the band's greatest point of difference from every other punk band. They may be a chore to sit through, but they show the divine, sophisticated inspiration of later pieces like the glistening, peaceful 'Atmosphere'.
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