JOY DIVISION - CLOSER. UK ORIGINAL RED TINT LP.FACTXXV

	£		51
	$		68

Rare chance to bid on an increasingly scarce original 1980 Factory Records copy (Catalogue number Fact XXV) of Joy Division's 2nd classic long player Closer . This is the very rare 1st press vinyl which shines through a reddish/purple colour when held up to the light. The vinyl I have played through from start to finish on my Acoustic Research deck with Goldring 1012 stylus and is a superb example which I shall grade as being in excellent+ condition with the very very minimal amount of surface interference.The original matt card sleeve I would have given my highest grade of mint- if it weren't for a very small blemish approx 6mm across.It can be found,if you look closely at 45 degrees and 30mm above the "C" in Closer.Aside from that the sleeve is as good as you will EVER see I'm sure but I will still grade it honestly as being in excellent condition. The spine is just about untouched as you can see from the photo I've taken.The original matt card inner sleeve(with square corners,not rounded,some were square,some were rounded) is just about perfect so I shall grade as being in a mint- condition.The label on side 1 is in near mint condition,and the label on Side 2 is in vg+ condition as it has  kind of scratch/crease on,which obviously was there from the pressing plant,but nothing which wouldn't personally bother me as it doesn't interfere with the playing surface in any manner.The matrix has old blue? etched into it.So there,I think that just about covers it,so all in all a great opportunity to bid on a fantastic copy of a fantastic and rare record.Thanks for taking the time to view my auction.Please note that I have 100% positive feedback spread over 8 years so you can bid with complete confidence.

Joy Division - Closer
If Unknown Pleasures was Joy Division at their most obsessively, carefully focused, ten songs yet of a piece, Closer was the sprawl, the chaotic explosion that went every direction at once. Who knows what the next path would have been had Ian Curtis not chosen his end? But steer away from the rereading of his every lyric after that date; treat Closer as what everyone else thought it was at first - simply the next album - and Joy Division's power just seems to have grown. Martin Hannett was still producing, but seems to have taken as many chances as the band itself throughout - differing mixes, differing atmospheres, new twists and turns define the entirety of Closer, songs suddenly returned in chopped-up, crumpled form, ending on hiss and random notes. 
Opener "Atrocity Exhibition" was arguably the most fractured thing the band had yet recorded, Bernard Sumner's teeth-grinding guitar and Stephen Morris' Can-on-speed drumming making for one heck of a strange start. Keyboards also took the fore more so than ever - the drowned pianos underpinning Curtis' shadowy moan on "The Eternal," the squirrelly lead synth on the energetic but scared-out-of-its-wits "Isolation," and above all else "Decades," the album ender of album enders. A long slow crawl down and out, Curtis' portrait of lost youth inevitably applied to himself soon after, its sepulchral string-synths are practically a requiem. Songs like "Heart and Soul" and especially the jaw-dropping, wrenching "Twenty Four Hours," as perfect a demonstration of the tension/release or soft/loud approach as will ever be heard, simply intensify the experience.
Joy Division were at the height of their powers on Closer, equaling and arguably bettering the astonishing Unknown Pleasures, that's how accomplished the four members were. Rock, however defined, rarely seems and sounds so important, so vital, and so impossible to resist or ignore as here.

Track Listing: -

1 Atrocity Exhibition Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 6:05
2 Isolation Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 2:53
3 Passover Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 4:46
4 Colony Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 3:55
5 A Means to an End Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 4:07
6 Heart and Soul Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 5:51
7 Twenty Four Hours Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 4:26
8 The Eternal Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 6:07
9 Decades Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 6:09

RECORD COLLECTOR GRADING SYSTEM

MINT :
The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed be Mint.

EXCELLENT :
The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and/or creasing.

VERY GOOD :
The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

I may use a + or a - to emphasise a grading which may be inbetween a grade. I will never use a mint grading for a 2nd hand/used record for instance. Mint- will be the very highest grade.

PLEASE NOTE THAT I DO NOT,AND WILL NOT,RETRACT A BID FOR ANYONE REGARDLESS OF THE EXCUSE.THIS IS SOMETHING YOU WILL HAVE TO DO YOURSELF USING THE BID RETRACTION FORM AND EARN A BID RETRACTION STRIKE AGAINST YOURSELF.
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