Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures

Just got a copy with a slightly different matrix which does not match any other issue but seem very similar to others for this pressing.
FACT-10 – OUTSIDE I – B ⇀ THIS IS THE WAY A PORKY PRIME CUT
FACT 10 – INSIDE ! A A PORKY PRIME CUT ⇀ STEP AE

Submitted as a potential additional version.

that is, I have a 1979 English print copy, with PORKYS PRIME CUT matrices .... etc ... the insert is square and has no rounded corners and the disc has no red / purple reflections ..... but in all respects it seems first print ....... is it ????

My school friends and I queued up outside Downtown Records in Billericay on the day of release to buy this. We had heard them on John Peel and seen them in London so we’re big fans. This release is the one I got as I still have it. I didn’t know there was the translucent issue until I read it while cataloguing my records on here. To the eye, and even if you hold it up to a window, it looks black, which I always thought it was. However, if you hold a bright LED torch behind it, it will shine through with a red tinge. Much like the early Elton John pressings do. But it looks black to the eye.

I sold three translucent copies as 1st press, but in absolute good faith, because I had heard that Hookj was wrong in taking the vinyls, but since they are also on "Closer" and the single "ATMOSPHERE / SHE'S LOST CONTROL" then, it was a promotional choice. On Central, the first print was black, but in the runout, it said "This is the way" and "Step", not "porky prime cut" and the vinyl is black. And since they're the safest source I know of, I believe in them, translucent copies are a print that really exists, but it's not the first copy. But since the opinions, the stories change fast enough on the Joy Division, the fine will have to pay the central

Maybe the theory that it was pressed at two factories at the same time makes sense. I was always under the impression that the tranco translucent reds were represses from Sept 1980 after Ian Curtis died. However there are those who state that they had red ones on release. There are also tranco pressings that are very red, some quite red and some not red at all (all with same matrices) which indicates to me that it was an additive to the vinyl. In my mind the first press is the one with no extra matrices S-numbers and no raised edge. However the discogs master entry states it was pressed at West Drayton, which I think is a CBS pressing, so would have an inner ring, like initial copies of Closer. Been trying to work it out for a while but I don't think anyone can say for sure. Other than that, these are possibly the two best albums ever made. Happy anniversary!

Both black and Tranco red vinyls are first pressings pressed at same time at different factories.
I bought my Tranco red copy with rounded inner the week it was released.

Has anyone provided definitive proof that it was the intention of Factory to release a “red when held up to the light” version of Unknown Pleasures?

listen up people,, iv'e been sorting out my vinyl over the past couple of weeks when i came upon my joy
division albums....back then i was a big stranglers fan and saw them play "minus hugh cornwell" at the
rainbow theatre in London, that night i saw joy division play it was absolutely brilliant and totally
unexpected i didn't have a clue they were even on...point is i had bought a copy of unknown
pleasures in 79 and iv'e had it ever since...black vinyl.. no trace of red anywhere to be seen
under any light source or anything.,,, end of story .

Too damn good to not own. Fusion of Art Rock, Noise and Punk with Ian's voice is just magical.

I could have chosen to write about Unknown Pleasures or Closer both brilliant releases by Joy Division, and instead will mention aspects of both releases here ... but more, I would like to speak to the nature of the albums themselves and the effects they had on me.

As a veteran, one who has seen more then my share of combat, combat related issues, and was probably dealing with Post Traumatic Stress, the rise and discovery of Joy Division was as if a window had been opened in the back of my head for the first time ... the darkness of the music [as found on “She’s Lost Control”] not only flowed in, but it flowed out. No longer was I compartmentalizing, storing, hoarding, turning all of my feelings and experiences inward ... I had finally heard the music that I had been straining to hear since I had gotten back from Vietnam ... and here it was, with all of its splendid darkly haunting verse and notes. I felt that I had found a kindred spirit in Ian Curtis, and when I shared or discussed this music with other service men and women, they too felt the connection with the alienation ... yet all was counterbalanced with a sense of place and belonging.

Both “Closer” released in 1980 and “Unknown Pleasures” released in 1979, probably contributed to saving my life. I woke up with these albums and I went to bed with them, their essence seemed to float like smoke all around me, effected my outlook and attitude ... it was only from allowing Joy Division to draw me so deeply into the dark waters, that I was able to make the decision that I wanted to breath, swam to the surface gasping for air, and allowed myself to sink again, this time knowing that I could make this plunge at will ... no longer was there a driving force compelling me to venture so far from shore. Of course, just because I could see the beach did not mean that I was not drowning ... but there did come a day when I found that I was sitting on the beach looking out at the black waters, uncomfortably covered with sand, wet and cold.

I have not played these albums for years, and opening both of them for this review is actually the first time I have touched them in just as long ... perhaps one day I will have the strength or courage to again let the music contained on these discs wrap around my soul ... but not today.

The music of Joy Division exists in and of itself, it relies on nothing, seemly arriving on this planet fully formed, with no need for development or refinement ... it was perfect just the way it was. I doubt that I could list more then six other albums that exist in that realm ... they burned so brightly, that it is no wonder that Ian and his band burned out as Joy Division so quickly ... leaving us a remarkable body of work to be pondered over for years. It is said that Michelangelo received his commission to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by drawing a perfect circle, while his counterparts labored over detailed renditions of their abilities ... Joy Division drew the perfect circle ... and I lived there for quite some time.

After all, music like this is all about the emotion, “Joy Division” lets me touch the wound ... truth is often a difficult thing to face, especially when in doing so, the mask I’ve been wearing is essentially stripped away, exposing for all the world to see ... the hurt child, the angry adult, the emotionally shattered, taped together and chemically fortified tower of strength who can hold the dying at 4 P.M. and be sharing dinner conversation at 6 o’clock with a smile on my face, happy to see the company, all while knowing they can’t be leaving soon enough.

Review by Jenell Kesler