With New Order set to release their first album in eight years, the band's precursor, the short-lived but highly influential Joy Division, will get the box set treatment from Rhino Records. The four-disc set Heartandsoul will finally see a U.S. release on August 7th; it has been available in the U.K. since 1998.

Discs One and Two feature the band's two albums, respectively: 1979's Unknown Pleasures and the band's second and final album, 1980's Closer, which was released three months after lead singer Ian Curtis' suicide. Both discs feature outtakes, singles, compilation cuts and rarities from both of those studio recordings. Disc Three includes the band's first EP, Ideal for Living, demos, Peel Session takes and radio sessions cuts, while Disc Four features live tracks culled from four different concerts.

The box set, put together with surviving Joy Division and current New Order members Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner, will go for $64.98 and features a track-by-track commentary, band history, photos and liner notes penned by British music writer and punk historian Jon Savage.

Meanwhile New Order's NewOrderGetReady is due on October 16th. The band will play select dates this summer, including the West Coast dates on Moby's Area: One tour with Billy Corgan on guitar.

CHRISTINA SARACENO
(July 16, 2001)