I tend not to feature live Joy Division recordings on VersionCrazy because… well… where will it end?! There are simply so many of them released over the years – official, semi-official, unofficial… and as for the sound quality. I shouldn’t be too harsh as it is from an era where documentation of every movement was not the norm it seemingly is now… and with the ease of finding recordings online, who even needs physical versions? But once in a while a release comes along that is worth celebrating, if you still crave a physical copy. If you come across this one, you will be in for a treat as sonically, this is as good as you can expect from the era… and the packaging, while no Peter Saville production by any means, does a decent job.
The gig in question is from 11th January 1980 at The Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You can read more about the gig and its unique background on why there were two Joy Division sets on the treasure trove of info that is the wonderful Joy Division Central website. Its one of the most bootlegged gigs and has also ‘officially’ been re-issued, though somewhat cack-handedly, on the ‘official’ versions here and here. There is a forum discussion about live recordings of the gig on the interactive message board area of the site dedicated to the gig and you’ll find plenty of discussion as well as links to online YouTube recordings of the 2010 high quality recording from which its likely this is sourced from too.
While this CD though is clearly mastered from a high quality original source of the original radio broadcast – its not flawless. ‘Shadowplay’ fades in at the very start, for example – but, is as good as the original allows, I guess, and sound quality is so much better than those earlier, disappointing ‘official’ releases.
If you come across a copy, I can certainly recommend it as well worth a listen, not least for the all too brief wonder that was Joy Division live in concert.
