Heart and Soul

With the exception of Joy Division's last single, Love Will Tear Us Apart, which faded out gradually into the anguished silence of singer Ian Curtis' suicide, none of the band's songs ever really ended; they either fell apart or collapsed, as if to bring about a proper end to something beyond their grasp. Joy Division couldn't stand still. After introducing the listener to a world of shadow, unspeakable beauty, hopeless vulnerability, terror, and love so pure it contains loss and death, not only in Curtis' lyrics but in the music's totality and power, the band needed to move on to the next signpost, the next weighstation of the unknowable. In the late '70s, in the aftermath of punk's self-consuming, self-absorbed disintegration, Joy Division changed everything. This quartet from Manchester, England, went, in a very brief time, from just another three-chord-wielding bunch of louts called Warsaw, who took themselves too seriously, to become an entity that challenged you to believe that music could take you to places you never really dreamed you could go, and perhaps never wanted to. This four-CD box set, comprising 80 tracks (about five hours), includes virtually everything the band ever recorded. It was originally issued in the U.K. in 1997, and available only sporadically as a ridiculously expensive import. The Warner Bros. edition is identical with the exception of the quality of the paper stock used on the box's cover; it's a bit thinner, but also a bit glossier, so it's a tradeoff (this writer prefers the American issue). It contains all of the Warsaw material, both studio albums (Unknown Pleasures and Closer), all of the singles, live material, both John Peel sessions, and a number of studio demos and alternate takes.