Truth be told, if you’re going to own only one Joy Division album, Substance is the way to go, mostly just because it’s as close to a definitive look at the band’s short but influential career as you’re likely to find. The original version of the compilation that was released in 1999 was pretty great to begin with, but this expanded 2-LP version is even better. Granted, there are only two additional songs – “As You Said” and the Pennine version of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” – but it still provides a little bit more to the Joy Division story, plus the 180-gram remasters make the music sound better than ever.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” in June 2015, Rhino Records is pleased to announce the re-issue of four iconic Joy Division releases on heavyweight 180-gram vinyl. The studio albums Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980) will be available in June and will be followed in July by Still (1981) and an expanded version of Substance (1988), both available as double-LP sets.

Each design replicates the original in painstaking detail, including the gatefold covers used for Still and Substance. The music heard on the albums was remastered in 2007 when Rhino introduced expanded versions of the albums. The lone exception is Substance, which features audio remastered in 2010 for the +- singles box and for the first time on vinyl, the expanded tracklist from the original CD release, plus two additional songs: “As You Said” and the Pennine version of “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”

Joy Division recorded two albums before singer Ian Curtis tragically took his own life in 1980. But what the Manchester quartet lacked in longevity, it more than made up for in quality. The band’s only two studio albums were groundbreaking and helped shape the sound and mood of the alternative music that followed in the band’s wake.

Curtis (guitar/vocals), Bernard Sumner (keyboard), Peter Hook (bass), and Stephen Morris (drums) released their debut, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979. By the end of the year, the album’s atmospheric sound had won over fans and critics with tracks like “She’s Lost Control” and “Day of the Lords.” Closer, the group’s second album, arrived the following year and its dark and melancholy tones continued to earn rave reviews for songs like “Isolation” and “Heart and Soul.”

The compilations Still and Substance fill in the missing pieces of the band’s history with non-album singles (“Transmission” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart”), unreleased studio tracks (“Something Must Break” and “Ice Age”), and choice live recordings (“Disorder” and the only performance of “Ceremony”).

180gm heavyweight vinyl.
Replicating original album artwork, cut from the 2010 ‘+–’ audio remasters.
Includes two additional tracks.
‘As You Said’
‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ Pennine version.
Issued with two printed inner sleeves housed in a replica of the original single pocket jacket.

Joy Division Substance 1977-1980 Track Listing:

LP1
1.  Warsaw
2.  Leaders Of Men
3.  Digital
4.  Autosuggestion
5.  Transmission
6.  She’s Lost Control
7.  Incubation
8.  Dead Souls
9.  Atmosphere
10. Love Will Tear Us Apart

LP2
1.  No Love Lost
2.  Failures
3.  Glass
4.  From Safety To Where
5.  Novelty
6.  Komakino
7.  As You Said
8.  These Days
9.  Love Will Tear Us Apart (Pennine Version)

Label: Factory – Fact250R
Barcode: 825646183937