ive listened to a few joy division songs, and i like them so far. so, if i was going to buy one of their cds, which would be the best? Substance, which has all of their more popular songs, or Closer or Unknown Pleasures?

well, being a JD fanatic....Substance. There was also another "best of" released in the late 90's called Permanent. But stick with Substance. The CD come with 6 or 7 song not on the cassette or LP (not that it matters nowadays.

I received the box set for x-mas. excellent. however, the cheapest packaging for abox set ever. alreay dented and looks like i've owned it for 10 years.

I'd say go with Unknown Pleasures. To me it's their most consistent and accessible LP. Substance contains "Love Will Tear Us Apart", possibly the greatest single ever, but it's also got a lot of stuff from whan the band was called Warsaw, which isn't as much to my taste.

Closer is also really, really great, but I think it's maybe a more "difficult" album.

Get Unknown Pleasures if you're loking to be comprehensive, but I'd say Substance is best if you just want to test them out. Don't get "Closer" unless you have tried some of their other stuff first -- it's my favorite JD album but it's also so, so, so, so dark.

There's also "Still," which is kind of an odds 'n' ends collection, it's probably my least favorite of the four but it does boast an absolutely killer cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray" that's perfect for annoying the neighbors.

Also go check out the movie '24 Hour People' if you haven't already, it dramatizes the whole "Madchester" scene and features an amazing take on Joy Division's early days.

I'll go with the recommendations here ..
start off with "Substance" .. and then if you want more, go for "Unknown Pleasures" first. It is more accessible than "Closer" which is a very dark album .. but one of my favourite albums.

But .. in the end, you're going to own all of these.

... or .. dammitt ... start off with "Unknown Pleasures" .. and then get "Closer" .. and later on get "Substance" ... just because it has Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Either way .. in the end, you're going to own all of these.

i'd just go with the Heart And Soul box, if you can find it cheap. pretty darn comprehensive!

CLOSER......it's their best album, hands down.


(BTW, for those who have the Heart & Soul box, how is it? What is it missing and what has it got that someone who owns the albums would need. Thanks)

I did the same thing after seeing 24 Hour Party People last year. I started with Substance and then moved on to Closer and other studio albums.

Surprised to see so many saying get Unknown Pleasures before Closer. I'd tell a newbie to buy Substance first and then go running for Closer (their best album).

the 4-disc heart & soul box is awesome. the first 2 discs are EVERY studio recording from "unknown pleasures" & "closer" along with 7" songs, zine songs, etc. CD3 is outtakes, more 12" single songs, 7" songs, etc., CD4 is all live recordings spanning their short career. comes with a nice big booklet. it was great for me since I only have "substance" & "permanent". I believe if you were to only buy this, you would own every song JD ever put out and then some.

the drawback: the packaging is horrible. cheap, weak, thin. go to amazon.com and read the user reviews they all give it 5 stars for JD & zero stars for the cheap box.

EDIT (to add track list)

Disc: 1 (3-11 is the Unknown Pleasures album)

1. Digital
2. Glass
3. Disorder
4. Day of the Lords
5. Candidate
6. Insight
7. New Dawn Fades
8. She's Lost Control
9. Shadowplay
10. Wilderness
11. Interzone
12. I Remember Nothing
13. Ice Age
14. Exercise One
15. Transmission
16. Novelty
17. The Kill
18. The Only Mistake
19. Something Must Break
20. Auto-Suggestion
21. From Safety to Where...?

Disc: 2 (7-15 is the Closer album)

1. She's Lost Control 12
2. Sound of Music
3. Atmosphere
4. Dead Souls
5. Komakino
6. Incubation
7. Atrocity Exhibition
8. Isolation
9. Passover
10. Colony
11. Means to an End
12. Heart and Soul
13. Twenty Four Hours
14. The Eternal
15. Decades
16. Love Will Tear Us Apart
17. These Days

Disc: 3

1. Warsaw
2. No Love Lost
3. Leaders of Men
4. Failures
5. The Drawback
6. Interzone
7. Shadowplay
8. Exercise One
9. Insight
10. Glass
11. Transmission
12. Dead Souls
13. Something Must Break
14. Ice Age
15. Walked in Line
16. These Days
17. Candidate
18. The Only Mistake
19. Chance (Atmosphere)
20. Love Will Tear Us Apart
21. Colony
22. As You Said
23. Ceremony
24. In a Lonely Place

Disc: 4

1. Dead Souls [Live]
2. The Only Mistake [Live]
3. Insight [Live]
4. Candidate [Live]
5. Wilderness [Live]
6. She's Lost Control [Live]
7. Disorder [Live]
8. Interzone [Live]
9. Atrocity Exhibition [Live]
10. Novelty [Live]
11. Auto-Suggestion
12. Remember Nothing
13. Colony
14. These Days
15. Incubation
16. The Eternal
17. Heart and Soul
18. Isolation
19. She's Lost Control

As you can see - you could sell every JD CD you have, buy this, and still have much more than what you started with.

That's what I was going to say. With Joy Division, once you start, you're going to want it all. Both albums are landmarks and some of their best stuff (Atmosphere for example) was single-only. Why spend 17 bucks to get one album when you can spend about 35 and get everything they ever did? I say splurge.

it is a tough box to hunt down for a reasonable price though. but that's what it takes to get great music these days. it took me a year just to get it for $35. most places never have it lower than $55.

www.ebay.com