Ian's voice

I wish it would have been touched upon more, myself, but in the end it's a matter of opinion. I, personally, am not moved by Sumner's voice like I am by Ians. I find the emotion palpable when listening to Joy Division and New Order is more mainstream and sometimes dated due to the bouncy synth, but maybe that's just what Joy Division would have turned into if not for Ian's death.

You say you were never 'knocked out' by Ian's singing so I'm not sure if you're implying that you prefer New Order. Is this what you are implying or am I reading too much into that sentence? I'd like to know who you prefer and why.

I know the argument has been made by many that you can't compare the 2 bands but I feel there are enough similarities to do so and even if you don't feel right saying one is better than the other, then you at least know which one you find yourself listening to most often.

I understood Ian's comment that he was holding the band back was due to both the state his head was at (depressed), and how the epilepsy drugs had changed him.

Control highlights this more - about how he went off his drugs to get back into character.

Interesting to speculate how JD would have evolved if he was still around. New Order with deep, depressing vocals?

I think the fact is that Ian was not a "singer". Much like Jim Morrison was not a "singer". Not saying the two have anything in common or trying to compare the two, but the fact still stands that one doesn't have to be able to sing in the traditional sense to make rock music. It was the emotion and sincerity...the energy that Ian had... Combined the force that was the band that made them great. I think the important thing about Ian was that he gave you the impression that he actually believed in what he was saying. Look at Transmission. thats what its all about, you know? Sometimes a voice can be overlooked...that is ofcourse its just unlistenable...which he wasn't.

Years after the OP I find this thread. IMO Curtis' 'singing' is very powerful and conveys emotion. That's what its all about. I'm not that well versed in music that I can't tell if he's hitting the right notes or singing in tune, but I'd rather have a guy putting his soul into the music than someone perfectly hitting every note like a trained dog.

Love's turned to lust and blood's turned to dust in my heart.

I always found his voice to be rather weak. I think his dancing was better than his singing!

Its that man again!!

I'm a huge fan of Joy Division but can honestly say that Ian didn't have the best voice. But... Personally I don't think this necessarily affects the music negatively at all. One of my favourite bands in the entire world is Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor's voice is far from perfect but somehow it works. Ian Curtis was an amazing front man, absolutely superb. Quite possibly one of the best of all time <3

Milligan, Cleese, Everett... Sessions...

I loved Joy Division's overall "feel" from the moment I first heard them, but at first I didn't enjoy the vocals. I remember telling my brother (who introduced JD to me) that they sounded ridiculous; he didn't understand what I meant, which was e.g. how low in his register and how throaty Ian Curtis sings at the start of Transmission.

With the wisdom of being older and more traveled, I now know it's just a matter of what one is used to. Western mainstream music follows a de-facto standard (I'm still hoping autotune is just a transient gimmick...). That said, many of the most iconic vocalists of the 20th century are those that broke from this standard and added their own uniqueness, such as Ian Curtis. Louis Armstrong, Kim Gordon (of Sonic Youth) and Mike Patton are more examples that spring to mind of voices who are immediately identifiabe, but who assaulted my sensibilities at first.

But equally valid are other standards that sound awkward to western mainstream ears. It took me some time to get used to retro Bollywood female vocalists for much the opposite aesthetics to Ian Curtis - they sing in such a damn high register, with a very thin timbre. Perhaps in 1980s India, Pat Benatar and Madonna were seen as sounding outrageous (and perhaps Kate Bush sounded completely average)?

In the end, as others here have pointed out, Ian Curtis delivers a tremendous performance on stage (and please have a listen to their live-recorded stuff if you haven't already) irresepective of opinion about the timbre of his voice. Now, after years of being a JD fan, I really dig all aspects of his style and delivery.