Closer

Mojo - "...A work of genius..." NME - Ranked #2 in The NME "Top 30 Heartbreak Albums". NME - Ranked #8 in NME's list of The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s - "...`Sad,' `depressing,' and `really, really depressing,' [CLOSER] is one man's eloquently articulated angst set to a spine-tingling, soft-focus soundtrack..." NME - Ranked #20 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of All Time.' Q - Included in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums Ever" Rolling Stone - Ranked #157 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" Rolling Stone - Ranked #56 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Albums Of The 80s" survey. (November 1989) Q - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...CLOSER [is] less clattering and disturbingly more haunted....Martin Hannett's delicate production prized every last shivering nuance. On one level it's a terrifying last testament. But Peter Hook's becoming a great bassist..." NME - 10 - Classic - "...a benchmark against which, if nothing else, all those early Cure albums sound a bit silly...." Blender - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Prickly synths and lurching grooves suggest an ascetic version of disco, and Curtis sings as if he's hanging on by a thread..." Rolling Stone - Ranked #56 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Albums Of The 80s" survey. (November 1989) NME (8/12/00, p.28) - Ranked #2 in The NME "Top 30 Heartbreak Albums". Q (1/03, p.64) - Included in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums Ever" Q (9/93, p.97) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...CLOSER [is] less clattering and disturbingly more haunted....Martin Hannett's delicate production prized every last shivering nuance. On one level it's a terrifying last testament. But Peter Hook's becoming a great bassist..." NME (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #8 in NME's list of The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s - "...`Sad,' `depressing,' and `really, really depressing,' [CLOSER] is one man's eloquently articulated angst set to a spine-tingling, soft-focus soundtrack..." NME (7/3/93, p.36) - 10 - Classic - "...a benchmark against which, if nothing else, all those early Cure albums sound a bit silly...." NME (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #20 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of All Time.' Mojo (9/01, p.86) - "...A work of genius..."

The news of singer Ian Curtis's suicide still hung in the air when this album was released. Given the deep introspective nature of Joy Division's music, his death invested CLOSER with an even greater pessimism. Yet there is a fragile beauty in its content and if Curtis's voice seems more distant, it complements the sparse textures created by mesmerising synthesizer lines and occasional, highly effective, piano. Slow, hypnotic tempos increase the sense of brooding mystery and if the few faster songs provide musical relief, their lyrics prove equally tortured. Eerie, yet compulsive, CLOSER confirmed Joy Divison's pre-eminent place in rock's pantheon.|