AMG Review of Still [Collector's Edition]

Jason Ankeny
All Music Guide

Still collects outtakes and rarities along with a live set recorded on May 2, 1980, just over two weeks prior to Ian Curtis' death. In addition to the atmospheric "Glass" and the haunting funeral march "Dead Souls," the studio sides include four leftover tracks from the sessions for Unknown Pleasures, while the concert set includes performances of seminal tracks such as "Transmission," "Isolation," and "A Means to an End." Although neither as cogent nor as indispensible as the band's two studio records or the Substance compilation, Still is nonetheless a valuable chronicle of Joy Division's remarkable evolution, a growth charted by the inclusion of an early live cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray" to the only recorded version of the hypnotic "Ceremony," the ultimate Ian Curtis composition which later resurfaced as the first single from New Order. [Rhino's 2007 Collector's Edition contains the album in remastered form on the first disc. A second disc features the band's February 20, 1980 appearance at ~High Wycombe Town Hall, including six songs from the soundcheck. Jill Furmanovsky's photos, Peter Saville's design, and Jon Wozencroft's liner notes make up the booklet.]