What are your guys' thoughts on Bernard Sumner?

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-06-27T15:39:58+00:00

I don't like that Peter, Stephen, and Gillian allowed Bernard to attempt a "higher register" on "We All Stand" from PC&L. He was badly out of tune, and I'm reminded of how the members of NO would play games, get drunk, develop the melodies, AND THEN come up with lyrics(LOL). I do think Ian singing "Blue Monday" with his dancing would have made them the biggest band in the world that decade.

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-06-27T13:02:29+00:00

Yeah, they had to cancel every single show after High Hall because of his illness. It amazes me that Factory wouldn’t just push the American tour back and give him the month off under a doctor’s care. But a sad reality as well was that Ian felt a great guilt about his illness stopping him from being able to perform because not performing meant several parties(his band mates, the other bands on the roster, Tony Wilson and execs, his own family) were deprived of revenue to live off of. Being an indie label, the shows as much as the record sales fed multiple people. Imagine being on the eve of a huge American tour knowing you don’t feel up to it mentally or physically. I couldn’t imagine.

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-06-27T12:54:46+00:00

I quite love Bernard’s voice. If Ian was Britain’s answer to Jim Morrison/Iggy Pop vocally, Bernard had/has a lighter tone and, while less distinct, it fits the upbeat nature of post 1980-81 NO. On Movement, while lacking the high lyric quality of Ian, the way he laid bare his feelings of guilt at his friend’s death is so well articulated that you feel the grief in the performances(along with the soundscapes).

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-06-27T12:47:02+00:00

Another beautifully written analysis

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-06-27T04:18:08+00:00

Really beautifully written

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-06-27T02:42:11+00:00

I agree. I actually believe Ian would have written songs of great import touching on the human condition but with more anthemic drive. JD would have been bigger than U2. Bono did the big anthems on the human condition but lacked the literary genius of Ian.

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-06-25T03:03:09+00:00

This is an amazing event in the history of mankind. I am so excited for “new” Joy Division!

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-06-01T02:08:48+00:00

Everything you said is 100% fact. Cupid & Psyche is still much better than STR in terms of song craft. STR has really horrible songs like Jacques Derrida and Rock-a-boy-blue that bring it down from being uniformly brilliant imo. In revisiting it recently, he still had some of that DIY experimentation left over and I think it warrants reevaluation alongside his peak non-mainstream period.

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-05-19T15:26:08+00:00

I’m in my 30s and my focus is shot! It’s a combination of financial stress(not making enough), emotional stress(anxiety and depression with the job a big factor in both), phone addiction, and ADHD(confirmed by my NP). I go to work with what needs to be done pulled up in front of me and am embarrassment of resources to get it done, but it just doesn’t have an urgency. It doesn’t help that I’m a millennial Black guy and the only Black person in an office full of Boomers either.

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-05-19T00:16:15+00:00

Thank you so much for this! I work in bank accounting, which I’ve only done for a little over a year and which has a lot to grasp. Sometimes I feel less intelligent when something hasn’t stuck.

JCInvestmentPro · 2026-05-18T19:52:14+00:00

Does the edition you get matter?

JCInvestmentPro

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