On July 18, 1980, “Factory” label released “Closer”, the second and final Joy Division studio album.It was released following the May 1980 suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. “Closer” was recorded in March 1980, at “Britannia Row Studios” in London, and was produced by Martin Hannett. “NME” ranked the album at number 72 on its list of the “100 Greatest British Albums Ever”; “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked “Closer” at number 157 on its list of “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”; in 2006, “Q” magazine ranked the album at number 8 on its list of the “Best Albums of the 1980s”, and “Slant” magazine ranked it at number 7 on its list of the “Best Albums of the 1980s”.

Personnel:

• Ian Curtis– lead vocals, guitar, melodica
• Bernard Sumner – guitar, bass guitar, synthesizers
• Peter Hook– bass guitar, guitar, six-string bass guitar
• Stephen Morris– drums, electronic drums, percussion
• Martin Hannett– engineer
• John Caffery – engineering
• Michael Johnson – engineer assistant

Track listing:

All tracks by Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner.

1. Atrocity Exhibition
2. Isolation
3. Passover
4. Colony
5. A Means to an End
6. Heart and Soul
7. Twenty Four Hours
8. The Eternal
9. Decades