Warsaw [Joy Division]: Warsaw (1994)

As you may or may not know, Joy Division was originally known as Warsaw, a name the band borrowed from David Bowie and Brian Eno's composition Warszawa, from Bowie's Low album. Both are good names, but I think Joy Division is more ironic, given the nature of the music the band recorded.

Some of the tunes on this record date back to 1978. It was to be the planned debut record from the band, but the enterprise was abandoned. This version compiles those previous tracks and adds a few so-called bonus tracks (dating to 1977). Despite being an unofficial release, there is quite a lot of contact information on the record. One would think that this would lead Interpol straight to their door in the Netherlands, but I guess they have no concerns about that. The other odd thing for an unofficial release is that the sound is truly spectacular.

The record is an interesting look at early Joy Division. To my ears, the band sounds a little more punk than they did on the first Joy Division record. In any case, if you are a Joy Division fan, this record is a must-have.

An earlier version of this record, without the bonus tracks, was published on CD in Germany in 1989. This copy is from 2007 in an edition of only 1000 copies. I'd really like to know if there are really only 1000 copies. After all, more than 2000 people claim to own this exact version of the record on Discogs.

Warsaw [Joy Division]: An Ideal For Killing (2002)

This bootleg was released in 2002 and also, it seems, in later yers. The matrix runout on my copy indicate that is was manufactured by Eldorada Records inSpain. However, my exact copy is not listed on Discogs. The matrix on my copy is ELDORADO CMF1 - O 493-64 B DMM H.P. and ELDORADO CMF - O - 493-64 A DMM H.P., but my insert isn't printed on matte paper and there is no Made in Spain on the version of the jacket. Other pressings have a different matrix or no matrix listed. It may the one lacking matrix IDs in the listing. In any case, this LP contains:

1 Inside The Line 
2 Gutz 
3 At a Later Date 
4 The Kill 
5 You're No Good For Me 
6 At a Later Date (live) 
7 Novelty 

8 Warsaw

9 No Love Lost

10 Leaders of Men
11 Failures

12 Ice Age

13 Walked in Line

14 The Kill (2)

Tracks 1 - 5 from the Warsaw Demo session, 18th July 1977.

Track 6 Live: Electric Circus, Manchester. Taken from the Short Circuit LP.
Track 7 from RCA sessions 3rd / 4th May 1978
Track 8 - 11 from Ideal For Living session, December 1977
Tracks 12 - 13 from RCA sessions 3rd / 4th May 1978
Track 14 from Unknown Pleasures session April 1979

Discogs no longer permits sale of bootlegs on its site, so one has to look elsewhere for pricing. On eBay, there are a couple of copies, one for $42.34 (plus $21.35 shipping) and one for $64.73 (plus $63.29 shipping).

Here are the Warsaw Demo Sessions: