Released 1980 Length 6:07 | Genre Post-punk Label Factory Records | |
Recorded 18–30 March 1980 at Britannia Row Studios, London Writer(s) Ian Curtis
Peter Hook
Bernard Sumner
Stephen Morris | ||
For other uses, see Atrocity Exhibition (disambiguation).
Contents
"Atrocity Exhibition" is a 1980 song by Joy Division, the opening track on their second and final album Closer. It was produced by Martin Hannett, and recorded at Pink Floyd's Britannia Row Studios, London.
The song describes Curtis' feelings and assumptions that the people coming to his shows viewed him as a performing attraction.
It was partially inspired by the 1970 J. G. Ballard collection of "condensed novels" of the same name, the track is lyrically and musically bleak. Ned Raggett of AllMusic described it as "one of the least likely opening songs from any album—even if the core chorus from Ian Curtis is 'This is the way, step inside'".
Writing and recording
The song was originally recorded at Pennine Studios for a Piccadilly Radio Session on the 4th of June 1979. It subsequently featured in live sets before being recorded for the 'Closer' sessions. As with most other Joy Division songs, it was written by jamming in their practice room. Bassist Peter Hook and guitarist Bernard Sumner swapped instruments when writing and recording the track; according to Hook, they "were bored writing on our instruments so we just thought let's swap. Barney played bass and I played guitar. I was nowhere as proficient a guitarist as him, mind you, but I liked the way it sounds. Great riff, Great bass too".
Hannett's production has been highly praised, with Pitchfork describing it as "sepulchral". However, as with their debut album Unknown Pleasures, both Hook and Sumner were unhappy with Hannett's work. Hook said that the track was mixed on one of his days off, and when he heard the final product was disappointed that the abrasiveness of his guitar part had been laden with effects and toned down. He wrote; "I was like, head in hands, oh fucking hell, its happening again. Unknown Pleasures number two...Martin [Hannett] had melted the guitar with his Marshall Time Waster. Made it sound like somebody strangling a cat, and to my mind, absolutely killed the song. I was so annoyed with him and went in and gave him a piece of my mind but he just turned around and told me to fuck off".
Song
The track, especially Stephen Morris's tribal drum pattern, seems influenced by krautrock band Can. According to Raggett, "Morris's drumming has more than a little off-kilter pound and swing to things, while instead of the dramatic foregrounding of those beats he so often does, Martin Hannett pushes them a bit back in the mix, strong but a bit subordinate".