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Recensire Unknown Pleasures è qualcosa di emozionante e terrificante allo stesso tempo. Su questo album sono stati scritti fiumi di parole, è stato detto tutto quello che c'era da dire, forse troppo, perchè opere come questa meriterebbero meno commenti (spesso superflui) e più ascolto. O meglio, meriterebbero di essere ascoltati da più gente. Recensire Unknown Pleasures è per questo motivo difficile, perchè difficile è dire cose, anche se valide, che non siano già state dette e ridette. Il mio obiettivo si limita a questo punto a quello di far scoprire le grandi doti dei quattro a coloro (spero pochi) che per un motivo o per l'altro non lo conoscono ancora (infelici).
Si parta da un punto di riferimento ben preciso: quello che sto analizzando non è un semplice lp, ma una scuola di pensiero e di concepire la musica (quella buona) che ha influenzato molta musica degli anni ottanta e novanta.
Disorder", il brano che dà l'attacco all'album è un riassunto della musica dei Joy: veloci stacchi di batteria elettronica, basso wave che pulsa senza prendere un attimo di sosta, un riff geniale di chitarra e la voce fottutamente malata di Ian Curtis. Molte sono le definizioni che sono state date della voce di Curtis, ma risultano tutte superflue. La voce di Curtis è la voce di Curtis. Punto. Nessuno aveva il suo timbro. Punto. "Day Of the Lords" e "New Down Fades" sono a mio parere le due perle dell'album, i due fuochi intorno cui ruota l'intero lavoro.
"She's Lost Control" e "Insight" sono due brani in cui più degli altri emerge la genialità del bassista Peter Hook. Si sta parlando di atmosfere cupe, appese al nulla, di viva drammaticità. Ebbene, in questi due pezzi cosi oscuri e inquietanti Hook riesce ad intromettersi con linee di basso che sono costruite suonando sulla prima corda del suo Rickembeker, la corda di Sol (quella più acuta delle quattro corde di un basso), ottenendo un effetto di grande armonia nell'insieme. Anche questa è la genialità dei Joy Division, il non essere mai banali pur essendo essenziali, scarni, volutamente vuoti nel suono, per nulla ricco ed avvincente.
Il disco prosegue senza cadute di stile, il che è un fatto eccezionale, trattandosi di un disco New Wave, in quanto ritengo che molti album degli anni ottanta pecchino un pò di queste cadute. Unknown Pleasures cambia il posto in cui viene suonato, e in molti casi ha cambiato anche le persone che lo hanno ascoltato. E' semplicemente fondamentale.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Disorder (03:32)
I've been waiting for a guide to come
and take me by the hand
Could these sensations make me feel
the pleasures of a normal man
New sensations bear the innocence -
leave them for another day
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling
take the shock away
It's getting faster, moving faster now,
it's getting out of hand
On the tenth floor, down the backstairs
into no-man's land
Lights are flashing,
cars are crashing,
getting frequent now
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling, let it
out somehow
What means to you,
what means to me -
and we will meet again
I'm watching you, I watch it all
I take no pity from friends
Who is right and who can tell,
and who gives a damn right now
Until the spirit, new sensation
takes hold - then you know
Until the spirit, new sensation
takes hold - then you know
Until the spirit, new sensation
takes hold - then you know
I've got the spirit, but lose the feeling
I've got the spirit, but lose the feeling
I've got the spirit, but lose the feeling
Feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling
03 Candidate (03:05)
Forced by the pressure,
The territories marked,
No longer the pleasure,
Oh, I've since lost the heart.
Corrupted from memory,
No longer the power,
It's creeping up slowly,
That last fatal hour.
Oh, I don't know what made me,
or what gave me the right,
To mess with your values,
And change wrong to right.
Please keep your distance,
The trail leads to here,
There's blood on your fingers,
Brought on by fear.
I campaigned for nothing,
I worked hard for this,
I tried to get to you,
You treat me like this.
It's just second nature,
It's what we've been shown,
We're living by your rules,
That's all that we know.
I tried to get to you,
I tried to get to you,
I tried to get to you.
I tried to get to you.
04 Insight (04:29)
Guess the dream always end
They don't rise up just descend
But I don't care anymore
I've lost the will to want more
I'm not afraid, not at all
I watch them all as they fall
But I remember, when we were young
Those with habits of waste
The sense of style and the taste
Of making sure you were right
Hey, don't you know you were right
I'm not afraid anymore
I keep my eyes on the door
But I remember...
Tears and sadness for you
Awe of evil for you
Reflects a moment in time
A special moment in time
Yeah, we wasted our time
We didn't really have time
But we remember - when we were young
And all God's angels beware
And all you judges beware
Sons of chance take good care
For all the people out there
I'm not afraid anymore
I'm not afraid anymore
I'm not afraid anymore
I'm not afraid anymore
05 New Dawn Fades (04:47)
Change of speed, a change of style
A change of scene, with no regrets
A chance to watch
admire the distance
Still occupied - though you forget
Different colours, different shades
Over each mistakes were made
I took the blame
Directionless, so plain to see
A loaded gun won't set you free
So you say
We'll share a drink and step outside
An angry voice and one who cried
We'll give you everything and more
The strain's too much,
can't take much more
Oh I've walked on water,
run through fire
Can't seem to feel it anymore
It was me - waiting for me
Hoping for something more
Me - see me in this time -
Hoping for something else
06 She's Lost Control (03:57)
Confusion in her eyes that says it all -
She's lost control
And she's clinging to the nearest passer-by
She's lost control
And she gave away the secrets of her past
And said "I've lost control again."
And a voice that told her when and where to act,
She said I've lost control again.
And she turned to me
and took me by the hand
and said "I've lost control again"
and how I'll never know just why
or understand
She said "I've lost control again"
And she screamed out, kicking on her side
And seized up on the floor -
I thought she'd died
She said "I've lost control again"
She's lost control again -
she's lost control
Well I had to phone her friend
to state her case and say
she's lost control again
And she showed up all the errors
and mistakes
and said "I've lost control again"
But she expressed herself in many
different ways
until she'd control again
And walked upon the edge of no escape
and laughed "I've lost control again"
She's lost control again,
she's lost control
she's lost control
07 Shadowplay (03:55)
To the centre of the city where all roads meet
waiting for you
To the depths of the ocean
where all hopes sank searching for you
moving through the silence without motion
waiting for you
In a room with no window in the corner,
I found truth
In the shadowplay, acting out your
own death, knowing no more
As the assassins all grouped
in four lines,
Dancing on the floor,
And with cold steel, odour on their bodies,
made a move to connect
I could only stare in disbelief
as the crowds all left
I did everything, everything I wanted to
I let them use you -
for their own ends
To the centre of the city at night
waiting for you
waiting for you
08 Wilderness (02:38)
I traveled far and wide through many
different times
What did you see there?
I saw all knowledge destroyed
I traveled far and wide to prisons
of the cross
What did you see there?
The power and glory of sin
What did you see there?
The blood of Christ on their skins
I traveled far and wide through many
different times
I traveled far and wide where
unknown martyrs died
I saw the one-sided trials
What did you see there?
I saw the tears as they cried
They had tears in their eyes!
Tears in their eyes!
Tears in their eyes!
Tears in their eyes!
09 Interzone (02:16)
I walked through city limits
Someone took me by the hand in the blue
Attracted by some force within it
If I could close my eyes,
I could get used to it
Around the corner where a puppet lay
Saw the place where she had a room to stay
A wire fence
where children play
Saw them dance where the body lay
And I was looking for a friend of mine
The car screeched in the sand
and dust
Feel encouraged -
just a car on it's side
Metallic blue turned red with rust
Pulled it close by the buildin's side
In a room for forgotten youth
I could think
or let my senses slide
Turned on to a night with you
Find the place where my friends, won't go
And I was looking for a friend of mine
and I had no time to lose
Yeah looking for some friends of mine
Down the dark street,
the houses looked the same
Stopped and turned around,
held me to a game
I walked round and round,
you nailed me to a tree
Trying to find a way,
trying to find a way, to get out
For twelve windows stand in a row
Behind a wall
where a room to go
The light shined like a neon show
See the deep mellow warmth
of the glow
No place to stop,
no place to go
No time to lose,
have to keep on going
I guess they died some time ago
I guess they died some time ago
And I was looking for a friend of mine
And I have no time to lose
Yeah, I was looking for a friend of mine
10 I Remember Nothing (05:52)
We were strangers, we were strangers,
Away too long,
away too long
We were violent strangers,
away too long,
Get weak all the time,
we just passed the time
Me in my own world, yeah you there beside
The gaps only moment,
we stared from each side
We were strangers, away too long
Violent, more violent his hand
cracks the chair
Moves on reaction, then slumps,
in despair
Trapped in a cage and surrendered
too soon
Me in my own world
Away too long
We were strangers, We were strangers
Away too long, away too long
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Altre recensioni
Di emily
Pochi dischi ho sentito che, come questo, abbiano l’intensità e l’effetto del disperante abbandono con cui si sorbisce l’ultimo sorso alcolico prima di crollare preda dei fantasmi della mente.
Ian Curtis quasi non canta, “è”, grida, dichiara se stesso ed il suo lucido tormento in un modo disperato e crudo, eppure al contempo così intensamente, dannatamente umano.
Di Sgt Pepper
"Unknown Pleasures parla esplicitamente del desiderio di farla finita, con una lucidità inquietante."
"Curtis canta come fosse stato privato della sua essenza vitale, delle sue emozioni."
Di darkfall
I Remember Nothing... because She Lost Control and i lost myself in a whirlwind of dark thoughts, playing a Shadowplay...
i can hear the Disorder... i can hear the Lords; i'm waiting for the Day Of The Lords... hearth and soul one will burn...
Di lovetojour
"Joy Division ci hanno risposto facendo implodere una stella in una stanza."
"E' così che comincia un disco di Rock. Da Fuori. A Manchester è il 1979."
Di Daedal
La prima gemma nera estratta dalla miniera di Macclesfield dai Joy Division...
"Unknown Pleasures" è il passo precedente, l’interrogativo che gravita nel cervello e pesa sul cuore...
