Professional ratings
Retrospective reviews
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Christgau's Record Guide	A−
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
NME	10/10
Pitchfork	10/10
Q
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Select	5/5
Spin Alternative Record Guide	10/10
Uncut

Closer is the second and final studio album by the English rock band Joy Division. It was released on 18 July 1980 on Factory Records, following the May 1980 suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. The album was produced by Martin Hannett. After the posthumous release of Joy Division's non-album hit single "Love Will Tear Us Apart" in June 1980, the remaining members re-formed as New Order.

Today, Closer is widely recognised as a defining release of the post-punk era. According to critic Ned Raggett, "rock, however defined, rarely seems and sounds so important, so vital, and so impossible to resist or ignore as here."

The songs were drawn from two distinct periods. The earlier guitar driven compositions were written during the latter half of 1979: Atrocity Exhibition, Passover, Colony, A Means To An End and 24 Hours. All were played live in that year and some were recorded for various radio sessions. The other songs were written in early 1980 and made more prominent use of synthesisers: Isolation, Heart And Soul, The Eternal and Decades. Most songs were written by jamming in their practice room. Regarding the album's lyrical content, Bernard Sumner remarked, "We'd go to rehearsals and sit around and talk about really banal things. We'd do that until we couldn't talk about banal things any more, then we'd pick up our instruments and record into a little cassette player. We didn't talk about the music or the lyrics very much. We never analysed it."

Closer was produced by Martin Hannett. His production has been highly praised, with Pitchfork describing it as "sepulchral." However, as with their debut album, both Hook and Sumner were unhappy with Hannett's work. Peter Hook later complained that the track "Atrocity Exhibition" was mixed on one of his days off, and when he heard the final product was disappointed that the abrasiveness of his guitar part had been laden with effects and toned down. He wrote; "I was like, head in hands, oh fucking hell, it's happening again. Unknown Pleasures number two ... Martin [Hannett] had melted the guitar with his Marshall Time Waster. Made it sound like somebody strangling a cat, and to my mind, absolutely killed the song. I was so annoyed with him and went in and gave him a piece of my mind but he just turned around and told me to fuck off."

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