Joy Division
The Complete BBC Sessions
Strange Fruit (U.K.)

Even though Ian Curtis, lead singer of the mercurial late '70s group Joy Division, has been dead for more than 20 years, someone somewhere seems intent on sullying his reputation.

It began last year with the official release of a widely circulated bootleg, Preston 28 February 1980, and continues with the recent release of The Complete BBC Recordings. As is the case with the equipment problem-laden Preston gig, Joy Division is far from its best. But here the problem lies not with the sound or instrumentation, which is often brilliant, but with Ian Curtis' voice, which often sounds bored, chemically impaired or just plain tired.

Which is too bad because what made "She's Lost Control," "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Transmission" such classic songs was Curtis' hypnotic, nightmarish singing, low and reverberating, sounding eerily morbid even before his suicide in May of 1980.

On The Complete BBC Recordings, it might as well be my dad behind the mic. The chilling vocals demonstrated so sublimely on Unknown Pleasures and Closer are sorely lacking. And though the band sounds a bit more lively and the instrumentation more accomplished, it's all lost in the fact that Curtis sounds like he'd rather be anywhere else, doing just about anything other than revisiting yet-to-be-released tracks like "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Transmission."

Only "Insight" — one of Unknown Pleasures' most forgettable songs — and "Exercise One" sound better than previously released versions. Given that the album leads off with these two tracks, things quickly go downhill, as inferior versions of JD's best songs line up like ducks in a shooting gallery.

The version of "Transmission" from a John Peel session recorded in January of 1979 — before the June release of Unknown Pleasures — is embarrassing, and each time it comes on, you'll find yourself reaching for an alternate version. Another rendition, from a session called "Something Else," is an improvement, but Curtis' nonchalant refrain of "Dance, dance dance ... dance to the radio" pales in comparison to the original.

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" fares even worse. The original, released as a single shortly after Curtis' death, is beautiful, soaring and ironic. The only irony on this version (from a November 1979 Peel session) is the sad feeling you get when you hear one of your favorite bands ruin one of its best songs.

The two versions of "She's Lost Control" — perhaps Joy Division's finest moment — are mixed bags. On the first, the instrumentation is blistering, improving markedly over the versions on Unknown Pleasures and Substance, the group's greatest hits collection. But once again, the vocals are lacking. There's no booming, sinister reverb, only the flat, tired voice of a soul who's sick of this song even before it's officially been released.

On the "Something Else" version, the band speeds up the tempo — which is too bad because Curtis' vocals are more on the mark, and the crunchy, crackling electric guitar sounds deliciously similar to Joy Division contemporaries The Fall. This is almost worth keeping around, but ultimately the tempo change and some extraneous growling by Curtis (sounding not unlike The Fall's Mark E. Smith) mean that any true JD fan will shelve the CD and take out Unknown Pleasures, or maybe even The Fall's A-Sides.

Perhaps the best moment of The Complete BBC Recordings comes in the three-and-a-half-minute interview track. There's something deliciously wicked about hearing Curtis and Stephen Morris (who, along with Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner, formed New Order in 1981) talk about wanting to be signed by a major label.

Still, a few minutes of conversation have rarely been enough of a reason to shell out $15. You'd do best to sit this one out.

— Eric Wittmershaus (ericw at flakmag dot com)