Ian Curtis and Joy Division stand out. Not least because their music portrayed emotions, sorrows and terrors in a way that most popular music never comes within a country mile of and because Ian Curtis held nothing back in revealing his inner feelings, both live and on record. Indeed, he seemed to be singing directly to the listener in a way that seems too personal for a pop record.
As Robert Smith of the Cure, himself no stranger to seriously soul-searching habits and music, put it: ‘I remember hearing Closer [Joy Division’s second and final album] for the first time and thinking, “I can’t ever imagine making something as powerful as this. I thought I’d have to kill myself to make a convincing record”.’
To understand why Joy Division sounded the way they did, it is important to look at the time and context that they grew up and lived in.
