POSTHUMOUS ALBUMS: History's Most Ironic Band Name

It is often said there's no better way to stay famous than dying. Death can intensify your legend, especially if it follows an extraordinary career, like that of John Lennon or Keith Moon. But sometimes, tragically, an artist will leave us at such an early stage in his or her career that their death becomes indistinguishable from their life. They're gone as soon as they've arrived.

Listening to the music of Joy Division, it's impossible not to think of the suicide of frontman Ian Curtis. Curtis suffered from epilepsy and depression, as well as a failing marriage. He hanged himself at the age of 24, soon before the group was to tour the U.S. The group's sophomore album, Closer, debuted in July of 1980.

Curtis and bandmates Stephen Morris, Peter Hook, and Bernard Sumner burst onto England's exploding punk scene in the late 1970s. The group released their first album, Unknown Pleasures, on an independent label in 1979. Curtis' voice, an off-putting combination of David Bowie and the HAL 9000 computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey, was the most striking component of their dark, brooding sound. Vocally, Curtis resembled his contemporary Tom Verlaine of the band Television, only much sadder.

Joy Division weren't exactly punk. Their music wasn't loud or nasty enough. But they were also too strange and glum to fit in with the New Wave. They were hugely influential to the goth-rock movement of the 1990s, for better or worse. Their work is somewhat reminiscent of the Doors, but far more despairing and minus the rock star sheen of Jim Morrison.

Even without traditional rock star charisma, there is something immensely moving about Curtis' performances, especially when you consider his fate. As critic Robert Christgau said, "It's his passionate gravity that makes the clumsy, disquieting music so convincing."

For a slightly fictionalized look at Curtis' life, check out Control, a highly acclaimed 2007 film by Anton Corbijn. Corbijn has some experience with depressed rock stars, having directed music videos for the likes of Nirvana. But more on them later in the week.

TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION: "Passover" by Joy Division
AVAILABLE ON: Closer; iTunes