During the mid-1970s in England, the musical landscape was saturated with the aggressive sounds of punk. Although, while some individuals found the frenetic energy associated with the style of music inspiring, they were nonplussed with the musicianship that was typically tied to the genre. In a vie to create something new and wholly original, four guys from the Manchester area of England decided to form the group Joy Division in 1976 and create music that pulled heavily from different genres including gothic and avant-garde. The quartet recorded its debut album, Unknown Pleasures, with the legendary eccentric producer Martin Hannett, and the album proceeded to lay the framework that would give rise to the post punk genre in England. While the band was experiencing a good deal of laudation for its innovative sound, lead singer Ian Curtis was experiencing a number of personal problems; his marriage was falling apart and he would frequently suffer epileptic fits, sometimes while performing on stage. Feeling that the pressures of life were insurmountable, Curtis took his own life when he hung himself on May 18, 1980. Already having recorded an album, Joy Division released its sophomore LP, its masterpiece and epitaph Closer, posthumously, a few months after Curtis's death. The remaining three members of Joy Division would go on to make music as New Order, a band that would go on to achieve noted success in its own right.
