Warsaw

As an old school punk, I was so excited to hear this album. It was brilliant!!! Way ahead of their time as Warsaw had a start in the mid 70's. It was so raw sounding, and again, I wish I had known about Warsaw back in 1980 when I started getting into punk. My favorite track on this CD is "They Walk in Line". Well, I thank the Joy Division documentary for introducing me to their original band. It brought me back to a great time.

I'm an avid Joy Division fan, and had to add this to my collection of Joy Division vinyl. The recordings are fantastic and I would recommend this to any fan of Joy Division, New Order (Joy Division includes the same members as Warsaw, there was a name change due to the fear of a lawsuit, New Order is a group that was formed after the death of Ian Curtis), or any other post punk groups.

This seems to be the RCA sessions Joy Division recorded in 1978. The mastering seems kind of low for my liking, but the material here is first rate! This is when Joy Division were very much Punk influenced and very fast and furious. There are a number of tracks that were later re-recorded and released on Unknown Pleasures and Still, but on this record they are far more "rocked out" guitars and drums heavier in the mix and comparatively more uptempo.

This is great for many reasons: 1) It's a good chance to hear the band as it just started to shed its early punk sound and become much darker-sounding. Its also a chance to hear them without any fancy Martin Hannett production trickery. 2) It's a remarkable document of just how much Ian's voice changed in a very short time. This is a snarling, snotty sounding, angry young man at the mic - nothing to even hint that in two years he'd be crooning like a despondent Frank Sinatra on songs like "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Heart And Soul". Listen to "Walked in Line" on this album and compare it to the version from "Still." Its hard to believe they were only done a year apart. 3) It's got a couple of what i feel are the best versions of Joy Division songs: "Shadowplay," "No Love Lost," "Leaders of Men," and "Novelty" all sound better here, even in their somewhat rough recordings, than any other version I know of. 4) Only 3 of the 11 songs here are included on the box set. 5) For sheer comic value, you have to love the last five songs - these are the earliest, rawest recordings of Joy Division. Sometimes I just crack up listening to these incredibly primitive cuts - "You're No Good For Me" could have been done by any number of booze-soaked louts. But even as early as July '77 Ian's lyrics were already chilling: "Human beings are dangerous and they call me in the dark" (At A Later Date), for example. Plus you get the immortal "Warsaww!!!" howl at the beginning of "Gutz." This is a very good "punk" album and a very interesting Joy Division album. Highly recommended.

It is what it is. If you like it you'll like it, but don't expect any substantial gain in fidelity just because it's 180-Gram vinyl. Old punk is just old punk. None of these recordings were made or purchased by us because of the quality of the recordings. I still believe that the best albums of the day were Flipper-Blowin' Chunks and everything by Crass; both awful and awesome at the same time.

Do you enjoy all things Joy Division? If so, do not hesitate with this album purchase. So good. Keep in mind this is no late Joy Division sound. Definitely not New Order-ish. Proto-punk at its best in my opinion.

Great punk and partially post punk album. Setups Unknown Pleasures which came afterwards.

This was a great find - it takes me back to those angst filled teenage years. As a major Joy Division fan, I was thrilled to get this CD and get a feel for their evolution as a band. Get New Order - 316 if you want to hear an early New Order still sounding like Joy Division.