Joy Division – Closer

I’ve got the brown one :)

Sounds ok to my old ears, although I wish I had kept hold of my original pressing. I vividly hearing the DJ on Radio One announcing Ian’s death. Such a sad waste of talent. Often wonder how things would have panned out if he had overcame his demons. Would JD have ended up treading similar water to U2 or the Bunnymen ? I imagine a clutch of albums post Closer up there with the first batch of Simple Minds releases : from Life In A Day through to Sparkle. Or maybe they would have continued on the dance vibe that New Order embraced and influenced.
Either way, we lost a great talent that day.

Finally I've got UK A1/B1 Old Blue? cut so I compared it with my US pressing. And A1/B1 Old Blue? obviously won this contest.

Generally I think that Factus 6 pressing sounds quite good, with good sounstage and clarity but it's noticeably lacks of bass (especially on over). And I can say that all US RTI pressings of Joy Division and New Order suffers from this cutted bass. Also Factus 6 pressing quiet and sounds without decent power or punch. UK cut more louder, punchy, has better presence and bears freshness of original master tape. So UK A1/B1 Old Blue? THE PRESSING of this album

UPD. Well after many listenings I can only add that...well maybe Factus sounds a bit more dynamic and a bit cleaner but it loses in every other . British pressing massive sounding, warm and smooth. Totally different bass, very powerful, fat but delicate in the same time. I think that british pressing has more frequencies in midrange, so warm and smooth sounding one! Also I heard more details in arrangements. So guys do not waste your time and money with US pressing. I think only cover of FACTUS VI is better there special textured (but still cheap looking) paper applied to the standard cardboard sleeve

What an awesome pressing. So dynamic and punchy sound. Mine looks brown translucent, but at the end it seems to depend on the light source.

Absolutely brilliant. Great pressing of some groundbreaking music released shortly after the death of Ian Curtis. Translucent vinyl of course.

Just got a NM copy on translucent reddish/greenish vinyl when held to light. Color depends on the light really. It sounds spectacular. What a phenomenal cut…it’s a truly special listening experience.

My copy has the flat edged inner sleeve but vinyl is brown translucent when held to light. Intermediate pressing?

Tue. 6th aug. 2022:
I just received this version with the dinosaur’s (or monster’s?) head cartoon matrix, initially presuming I had paid a whopping $78 sub-total for an almost near-minty copy w VG++ jacket & inner sleeve of the UK pressing. Not! Instead I had apparently won a US first pressing, w translucent purple (or is it brown?) vinyl, perfectly pressed, typical of the quality of the era. Despite that I did not nab a UK, this US still sounds mighty fine. Very punchy, very dynamic with defined lows and crystal clear upper mids. I’m not disappointed, although I would liked to have paid a bit less. Has anyone compared this with an original, 1980 UK disc w “OLD BLUE” matrices?

Purple dinosaur head version I bought new in Tampa Florida. Still my favorite vinyl version, but that may just be because it's the one I've been listening to for almost 40 years... It's more open sounding than the more recent vinyl versions, like there's more air around the instruments. Just played this back-to-back with the Rhino version, and to my ears it is the original vinyl version that wins out... The more recent version is perfectly serviceable though, except it's an extremely noisy pressing... Sounds more compressed and less atmospheric than the original US pressing... It's strange to me to realize how OCD vinyl geeks are about Joy Division! Not a criticism just an observation... I didn't even know there was such thing as a purple dinosaur head version until just now.

The cold nocturnal funereal sounds & lyrics of JD as they throb thru another doom-laden post-punk-goth droning landscape of nihilistic & disturbing material all enhanced by beautiful cover art. What’s not to like?
Incredibly it works like a charm – sing-along as you trip thru the daisies.

Concerning the colour variations: when putting the light of my smartphone under the vinyl, the wax looks green translucent. When I put it under the light of my working desk, it looks red translucent. So, in my opinion, these so called colour variations depend on what kind of light (blue, red, yellow) you use. So maybe there's only one variant: translucent and not opaque and all is due to the quality/thickness of the vinyl that was used at the time.