It was Killing Joke's first album in seven years, following Democracy in 1996, and their second self-titled album, following their debut in 1980. With John Robb of Playlouder wrote that the album "may well be the best rock record you'll hear all year".
This album is considered a landmark recording: its innovative combination of bass led rhythm and angular guitar with motorik drums played mostly on toms, made it a pioneering work of the post-punk genre.
Closer, the band's 1980 sophomore album released two months after the death of lead singer Ian Curtis, continued where the first album left off, with "Heart And Soul", "Isolation", and "Twenty Four Hours".
This record preserves a live Joy Division gig in High Wycombe from Feb 1980 (the Mancunian band being supported by a slot of cult heroes like Killing Joke, A Certain Ratio and Section 25).
