Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979 [CD]

Well this release is definitely impressive. The overall recording and performance is much better than the WAREHOUSE release. However, there seems to be some pressing flaws on tracks 1 and track 3 that keep this cd from getting 5 stars from me. I had bought and returned this disc twice because of what I thought was a flaw in the manufacturing of the disc. As it turns out the flaw is with the mastering of the original source material. Here's a rundown of what you may notice. On track one you can hear what sounds like the disc skipping but the music is not affected. On track 3 there defintiely is some skipping going on about a minute and 10 seconds into the track. Overall this is a great addition to the expanding JOY DIVISION catalog, however these flaws are worth pointing out.

I hate most live CDs. I hate the sludgy sound, I hate not being able to hear the singer- I hate the mushy production and recording, the obnoxious crowds... I just don't go for bootlegs. As they so often are, Joy Division prove to be the exception here. I obsess over their live material. In part because they were one of those bands that either you don't get at all, or they change your life. Not much middle ground. No middle ground, in fact.

They thrived onstage- and their mesmerizing sound comes through on much of the recorded shows.

Of the shows you can get in here: This would be a keeper. The beekeeper, so to speak. This is one tight show (actually, two tight shows). Of the two Factory re-release CDs of Joy Division live ish (the two that you can buy on amazon- many, many more await you on ebay if you're in it for the crawl...): This is MUCH, MUCH more faithful than the Preston gig. take that as you will. Better sound, more urgency (but less fire) in the vocals, better recording, plus their equipment. is working so they're not playing through Hook's bass amp, a la a couple songs on Preston. Moreover, there's No 8+ minutes of "The Eternal," here...

It's also much more intense than The BBC recordings, which all-too-obviously lack Martin-Zero-Hannett's production skills (as much a part of the band's studio sound and legacy as the other contributors...) and aren't so spectacular.

Anyway- The set lists here are a good mix of Joy Division's maturing styles. Opening up with a fast-paced, raw, break-neck rendition of "Disorder," (a personal fave) and then segueing quickly into the CD's sole low points- A truly awful "LWTUA" (the synthesizer's pitch is WAY to high- like someone's record player is playing the original at pitch 4% faster than it should be. Ugh.) and an disco-ed out version of "Candidate" that alternately bores me to death or bugs me to death (that Galaga-esque disco pow-pow-pow!). So, tracks 2 and 3 I loathe.

The rest of Les Bains veers between rollicking good and sublimely badass! Perhaps the roughest most brutal version of "Shadowplay," I've heard. A frenetic, pulsing "Transmission" that kicks up the intensity. Sumner's guitar playing is pretty choice. One of the few live versions of "Day of The Lords," (the closest JD ever got to Black Sabbath): it's sooooooo damn fine. The sludgy churning guitar and crashing beats with Ian (sometimes plaintive, sometimes furious- "Where will it end?") guiding the insanity. Wow. Great song. Great version.

Tracks 7, 8 and 9 ("24 hours," "These days" and "A Means to an End," respectively) are also great. All are faster than their studio versions, kinda smokin... "a means to an end," is a particularly good one. Ian sings it a little differently. So far the CD is consistently gooder than good.

Now then, only the first 9 tracks are from Les bains Douches. The remaining 7 are from another show they did in Holland, a month or so later. The sound suffers a little bit, especially on "Passover." Short song, not one of their best- drums are kinda quiet... BUT. Things pick up for the remainder of the set. Really great version of "New Dawn Fades," followed an overly long "Atrocity Exhibition." If you like that song- you'll like this very clear version of it. I don't like it, and it's about 6 and a half minutes long. "Digital" and "Dead Souls" more than make up for it, though. Scathing, vicious, and idiosyncratic performances of both tunes! "Autosuggestion," is a song that does little for me. The live version has the vocals buried at first, but the guitar is razorsharp, it builds furiously, around the 1.40 mark... I dig this version more than the studio version that I've heard.

Ends with "Atmosphere," a song that I don't think lends itself to live performances, especially given that they couldn't recreate the full studio sound of it, in its entirety (the shimmery synth sounds and guitar chords). Having said that, this is an admirable attempt at recreating the song that succeeds for the most part. Sublime. A great closer to the CD, and a great closer to a burned Joy Division live-show compilation, should you be moved as I am to do stuff like that.

A final caveat: I recommend this for fans who KNOW THE LYRICS. This is a live set- unless you're familiar with the music or are reading the lyrics from a book... you won't be able to hear some of the words.

When Ian Curtis hung himself in 1980 on the eve of Joy Division's first US tour, it's safe to say that no one could ever experience the feeling of being at a Joy Division concert ever again.

Les Bains Douches, a 2001 post-humous collection of 3 Joy Division concerts (Les Bains Douches, Amsterdam and Eindhoven), is the closest to actually being at a Joy Division concert before that fateful day.

No band has made such an impact on the music world in such a short timeframe. In Joy Division's 3 year existence, the band only released 2 full studio albums. But today, bands like Interpol are constantly cited or compared to the work of Ian Curtis and his Manchunian bandmates. Groups ranging from the likes of Fallout Boy to Nine Inch Nails do covers of some of Joy Division's best known songs.

This album is full of energy with flawed but nevertheless excellent versions of songs like "These Days," "Shadowplay," and the sped-up version of Joy Division's hit song, "Love Will Tear Us Apart," but also has its quiet and introspective moments with "New Dawn Fades," "A Means to an End," and the closing song, "Atmosphere." The album is chilling, like looking at a moment in time so ideal and good-natured that you know ends badly. The silent moments are deafening, the quieted roar of the crowd, the occasional chants of "Joy Division!" by the Amsterdam audience. You know something's wrong. The album's sound quality slowing deteriorates, with Curtis' voice becoming more and more distant and the drum beat more and more pronounced until the album finally fades into fuzz 16 tracks later. The familiar baritone voice is nearly unheard in "Dead Souls." Whereas this would be a detriment to other groups, this technological failure only strengthens the emotions in the CD, symbolizing Curtis' departure from the band and the world.

This is a wonderful CD, displaying Joy Division's wide range, well written lyrics and engrossing drumbeats. The album art is less minimalistic than I'd expect from any Joy Division CD, but good nevertheless. The liner notes are amusing and touching, and give some insight into the album's creation. All I can complain about is that I wish I were there.