Live At Leigh Rock Festival '79

This is what's known as "bootleg quality." Nobody who isn't a hardcore fan of Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, The Teardrop Explodes, or Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark should look twice. The sound is rough, highly compressed, and muddy, and the tracks were quite possibly recorded on a boombox. Yet it's a historical document capturing four top-notch British groups in their prime and earlier. The festival took place in August 1979 as a promotional event for bands on Factory and Zoo Records. Joy Division is fantastic here. The lo-fi recording quality adds to the gritty feel of these live tracks (primarily from Unknown Pleasures, though "Colony" from Closer is previewed). A Certain Ratio had yet to release anything official. OMD had just released the "Electricity/Almost" single and is performing most of its self-titled debut album. The Teardrop Explodes perform its first single, "Sleeping Gas," along with much of Kilimanjaro, which wouldn't be released for more than a year.