Primal Fear

Meshuggah

Jorn

Firebrands

Eluveitie

A.O.T.W.

more interviews?

Band:Joy Division DVD:Under Review Released by:Music Video Dist. Writer: Vish Media: MySpace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

Before watching this documentary, I had heard of Joy Division, but I had never actually heard their music. After watching this, I have decided that I must now invest in some Joy Division albums, because all of the music that I heard was really good. I ran a search on Wikipedia for Joy Division’s frontman, Ian Curtis, and the article on him says that he is regarded as one of the most prolific frontmen in the history of rock. I have a hard time believing that, mainly because I hadn’t heard of him until watching “Under Review”. Ian Curtis Died before I was born and usually when a singer commits suicide or dies at an early age, they become a legend, revered and remembered like Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brad Nowell and Dimebag Darrell have been.

“Under Review” is a seventy-minute documentary that chronicles the very short lifespan of the band that formed in 1977 in Manchester, England, and ending with the Suicide of Curtis in 1980. After listening to the music played during the documentary, I knew right away that this band was most certainly a very influential band. Not as much in the punk rock genre, which they are usually lumped into, but very influential in the alternative music scene 10 years later that exploded in the 90’s. This is definitely a band that created music that has stood the test of time. I found myself digging many of the tracks that were played from their “Unknown Pleasures” album and even more-so with the tracks on the “Closer” album, which was released posthumously after the death of Curtis. This band made quantum leaps in musical maturity in their short 3 years of existence.

What I found the most interesting about “Under Review” was Ian Curtis. After learning that Curtis committed suicide, I immediately wanted to know why. I have always been interested in dead musicians and the reasons to why they died. Curtis was epileptic, which made touring with the band very hard and they cancelled many dates. Apparently the main reason for him hanging himself, though, is because he was having an affair on his wife with a Belgian lady. This, apparently, tortured his soul so much that he decided to off himself right when Joy Division was about to go on their first American tour.

Curtis’s singing style is very similar to Jim Morrison. Unlike The Doors, though, Joy Division makes GOOD music. Ian Curtis’s vocals are okay, but what really made his performing interesting, to me, was his stage presence. No prancing, no posing… just a funny dance where he moved his arms really fast. Looks like a drunk monkey.

Most of this DVD is comprised of interviews from music writers that have covered the band at some point in history. There are no interviews with band members or with Curtis’s family. The people that are interviewed do have a lot of insight on the band though, and make “Under Review” and enjoyable and interesting documentary.

Special features include a really shitty interview with Ian Curtis in which you can barely make out what he is saying due to horrible sound quality. Luckily, there are captions so you can read what the hell he is saying… which isn’t anything all that interesting. There is a profile of all of the people that were interviewed for the documentary and there is also an interactive quiz for hardcore Joy Division fans. I think that I got 3 questions right and then half way through, I decided to quit because the quiz sucks, mainly because after you get the question wrong, they don’t give you the right answer and go directly to the next question.

Easy navigation, great band, interesting documentary. I suggest to anyone that is a Joy Division collector to get this DVD. I am not sure if it is worth having if you are just a fan, but it is worth watching. If you have never heard of Joy Division, this is definitely worth watching because you get a feel for what the band sounds like from the generous music clips that are strewn throughout the span of the documentary.

Band:Joy Division DVD:Under Review Released by:Music Video Dist. Writer: Vish Media: MySpace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

To post comments CLICK HERE!