Still (Joy Division album)
Still is a compilation album by English rock band Joy Division, consisting of previously released and unreleased studio material and a live recording of Joy Division's last concert, performed at Birmingham University. It was released on 8 October 1981 by Factory Records, and was intended to both combat the trade in bootlegs and give fans access to recordings that were not widely available at the time.
Still | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | 8 October 1981 | |||
Recorded | Oct. 1978 – May 1980 | |||
Genre | Post-punk | |||
Length | 83:25 | |||
Label | Factory - FACT40 | |||
Producer | Martin Hannett | |||
Joy Division compilations chronology | ||||
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Joy Division chronology | ||||
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Background
The album includes the only live performance by the group of the song "Ceremony", which later became a New Order single. For reasons unknown, the recording abruptly begins just before the song's first chorus, as opposed to at the actual beginning of the song; like all surviving Joy Division recordings of "Ceremony", Ian Curtis's vocals are barely audible, though in this instance the final chorus is unusually clear. Another song featured is a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray", recorded at the Moonlight Club in London on 2 April 1980.
Release
Originally planned for release in August, Still was eventually released on 8 October 1981. It reached No. 5 in the UK upon its release[1] and peaked at No. 3 in New Zealand in February 1982.
The CD version of the album was released in March 1990 and was the first edition to delete "Twenty Four Hours".
Still, along with Closer and Unknown Pleasures, was remastered and reissued on 17 September 2007. The remaster was packaged with a bonus disc of live recordings from the Town Hall, High Wycombe on 20 February 1980.[2]
Reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
BBC Music | (mixed)[4] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
Pitchfork | 8.4/10[6] |
Q | [7] |
Joshua Klein of Pitchfork called the album "a ragged, enigmatic coda; an uneven odds-and-ends collection of lost tracks that fills in some gaps in Joy Division's history and legacy".[6] BBC Music called it "a partly frustrating compilation".[4]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Joy Division (Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner), except "Sister Ray", written by John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Lou Reed and Maureen Tucker.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Exercise One" (recorded in April 1979 at Strawberry Studios, Stockport during sessions for Unknown Pleasures) | 3:06 |
2. | "Ice Age" (recorded in October–November 1979 at Cargo Studios, Rochdale during sessions for the "Licht und Blindheit" single) | 2:24 |
3. | "The Sound of Music" (recorded in January 1980 at Pennine Sound Studios, Oldham during sessions for the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" single) | 3:55 |
4. | "Glass" (recorded in October 1978 at Cargo Studios, Rochdale; originally released on A Factory Sample) | 3:56 |
5. | "The Only Mistake" (recorded in April 1979 at Strawberry Studios, Stockport during sessions for Unknown Pleasures) | 4:17 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
6. | "Walked in Line" (recorded in April 1979 at Strawberry Studios, Stockport during sessions for Unknown Pleasures) | 2:47 |
7. | "The Kill" (recorded in April 1979 at Strawberry Studios, Stockport during sessions for Unknown Pleasures) | 2:15 |
8. | "Something Must Break" (recorded in July 1979 at Strawberry Studios, Stockport during sessions for the "Transmission" single) | 2:48 |
9. | "Dead Souls" (recorded in October–November 1979 at Cargo Studios, Rochdale. Originally released as the b-side of the "Licht und Blindheit" single) | 4:53 |
10. | "Sister Ray" (The Velvet Underground cover; recorded live at the Moonlight Club, London on 2 April 1980) | 7:36 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | "Ceremony" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980) | 3:50 |
12. | "Shadowplay" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980) | 3:57 |
13. | "Means to an End" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980) | 4:01 |
14. | "Passover" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980) | 5:10 |
15. | "New Dawn Fades" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980) | 4:01 |
16. | "Twenty Four Hours" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980; extra track on original vinyl and cassette versions only) | 4:26 |
No. | Title | Length |
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17. | "Transmission" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980) | 3:40 |
18. | "Disorder" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980) | 3:24 |
19. | "Isolation" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980) | 3:05 |
20. | "Decades" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980) | 5:47 |
21. | "Digital" (recorded live at High Hall, Birmingham University on 2 May 1980) | 3:52 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Sound of Music" (recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 4:19 |
2. | "A Means to an End" (recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 3:57 |
3. | "Colony" (recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 4:06 |
4. | "Twenty Four Hours" (recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 4:20 |
5. | "Isolation" (recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 2:49 |
6. | "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 3:14 |
7. | "Disorder" (recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 3:13 |
8. | "Atrocity Exhibition" (recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 5:58 |
9. | "Isolation" (soundcheck: recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 3:00 |
10. | "The Eternal" (soundcheck: recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 3:36 |
11. | "Ice Age" (soundcheck: recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 3:16 |
12. | "Disorder" (soundcheck: recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 3:14 |
13. | "The Sound of Music" (soundcheck: recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 4:05 |
14. | "A Means to an End" (soundcheck: recorded live at High Wycombe Town Hall on 20 February 1980) | 3:45 |
Total length: | 53:12 |
Personnel
- Technical
- Martin Hannett – production
- Chris Nagle – engineering
- Grafica Industria – sleeve artwork
References
- "Joy Division | Artist | Official Charts". theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- "Joy Division Concert: 20th February 1980: Town Hall, High Wycombe". joydiv.org. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- "Still - Joy Division | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
- Jones, Chris (14 September 2007). "BBC – Music – Review of Joy Division – Still". BBC Online. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- Larkin, Colin (2011). "Joy Division". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. pp. 509–11. ISBN 0857125958.
- Klein, Joshua (29 October 2007). "Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures / Closer / Still | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- Lynskey, Dorian (October 2007). "[Still review]". Q (255).