Permanent (Joy Division album)

Permanent
Greatest hits album by Joy Division
Released	8 May 1995
Recorded	1979–1980
Genre	Post-punk[1]
Length	64:53
Label	London
Producer	Martin Hannett
Joy Division compilations chronology
Warsaw (1994) Permanent (1995) Heart & Soul (1997)

Permanent is a compilation album by English post-punk band Joy Division. It was released in the United Kingdom on 8 May 1995 by London Records and in the United States on 15 August 1995 by Qwest Records and Warner Bros. Records.^[2] The album charted for three weeks and peaked at number 16 on the UK Albums Chart.^[3]

Songs

Permanent contains tracks from the band's two studio albums, Unknown Pleasures and Closer, as well as other tracks previously released on the compilations Substance and Still.^[4][5][6]

The one new track is a new mix of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" titled "Permanent mix".^[7] This version of the song features guitar throughout the song, balancing the synths and bass giving a fuller sound. The liner notes (first on a Joy Division album) were provided by Jon Savage. Permanent peaked at #16 in the UK albums chart in 1996.^[8]

Critical reception

In a positive review, Josef Woodard of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A–" and called it a "still-vital compilation" that showcases Joy Division's "cool, beyond-punk voltage beneath Curtis' murmurings."^[9] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice said that, although others revered Ian Curtis' despair, he himself preferred how the band was showcased on Permanent, which he felt was on-par with the 1995 compilation album The Best of New Order.^[10] In a mixed review, Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it three out of five stars and found it less useful than both the 1988 compilation Substance and the studio albums it compiles tracks from, even though there is "a wealth of brilliant music" on Permanent.^[1] In The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (1997), Colin Larkin gave the album four out of five stars.^[11]

Track listing

All tracks written by Joy Division.

LP (828624.1) and CD (828624.2)

1. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (12" B-side version) – 3:11
2. "Transmission" – 3:34
3. "She's Lost Control" – 3:58
4. "Shadowplay" – 3:53
5. "Day of the Lords" – 4:45
6. "Isolation" – 2:53
7. "Passover" – 4:44
8. "Heart and Soul" – 5:48
9. "Twenty Four Hours" – 4:26
10. "These Days" – 3:27
11. "Novelty" – 4:00
12. "Dead Souls" – 4:53
13. "The Only Mistake" – 4:13
14. "Something Must Break" – 2:52
15. "Atmosphere" – 4:10
16. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Permanent Mix) – 3:37

Notes

• Tracks 1 and 10 first released on the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" single in 1980.
• Tracks 2 and 11 first released on the "Transmission" single in 1979.
• Tracks 3 to 5 first released on the Unknown Pleasures album in 1979.
• Tracks 6 to 9 first released on the Closer album in 1980.
• Track 12 and 15 first released on the Licht und Blindheit single in 1980.
• Tracks 13 and 14 first released on the Still album in 1981.
• Track 16 previously unreleased.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from Muze.^[12]

• Don Gehman – producer
• Martin Hannett – producer
• Joy Division – composer, producer
  • Ian Curtis – vocals
  • Peter Hook – bass
  • Stephen Morris – drums
  • Bernard Sumner – guitar
• John Savage – liner notes

References

1. "Permanent – Joy Division". Allmusic.
2. Rosen, Craig (5 August 1995). "Joy Division Has Afterlife With Two New Compilations". Billboard: 9, 107. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
3. "Joy Division". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
4. CMJ New Music Monthly Jan 2000 N° 77 Page 50 "There are two basic kinds of live albums: the archival retrospective, which may or may not be taken from a single legendary ... Joy Division were once the only group that mattered to their fanatic fans — they were rumored to be the most bootlegged band in its day. ... further toward demonstrating the importance of the short-lived band than the 1997 greatest "hits" retrospective Permanent (Warner Bros.). "
5. Dafydd Rees, Luke Crampton Rock stars Encyclopedia 1999 – Page 545 ".... UK #19 peak on 17 June the same year, an incomplete compilation Permanent : Joy Division 1995 reached UK #16 in its week of entry on 1 July also in 1995."
6. Billboard – 5 August 1995 Vol. 107, n° 31- Page 107 "As was the case with the album "(the best of) New Order" (Billboard, 25 March), the U.S. version of "Permanent" follows the release of a U.K. compilation: The album was released on 8 May by London, the label that obtained the Joy Division ..."
7. Billboard -Vol. 107, n° 31 5 August 1995 – Page 107 "The remix, which features a more prominent guitar sound, is dubbed the Permanent mix and closes the album. ... Although "Love Will Tear Us Apart" was rereleased as a single in the U.K., Qwest has no plans to issue a single from "Permanent."
8. Joy Division UK Charts. officialcharts.com. Retrieved 1 April 2012
9. Woodard, Josef (6 October 1995). "Joy Division: Albums Reviews". Entertainment Weekly (New York) (295). Retrieved 2 January 2014.
10. Christgau, Robert (26 December 1995). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved 2 January 2014.
11. Larkin, Colin (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music. Virgin. p. 267. ISBN 0753501597.
12. "Permanent: The Best Of Joy Division CD Album". CD Universe. Muze. Retrieved 2 January 2014.

External links

• Permanent at Discogs (list of releases)