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Joy Division's 'Eternal (Live)' Boxset: 14 CDs, 2 DVDs, and a Wolfgang Tillmans Cover

publication · 2026-09-24

Warner Music will release 'Eternal (Live)', a Joy Division boxset, on 25 September. The collection includes 14 CDs documenting 16 gigs, two DVDs of filmed performances, and a booklet with photography and text. The audio was mastered at Abbey Road Studios. The cover features a 2023 Wolfgang Tillmans photograph titled 'Sirius through a Defocused Telescope', chosen by Warren Jackson. Peter Saville, the band's longtime designer, describes it as a bookend to the 'Unknown Pleasures' cover, which depicted a pulsar. The booklet includes an essay by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and 16 pages of portraits and reportage by Anton Corbijn, Kevin Cummins, and Jill Furmanovsky. Bassist Peter Hook reflects on the band's legacy, noting the difficult circumstances under which the music was made. Drummer Stephen Morris recalls early gigs, including at Bowdon Vale Youth Club and Eric's in Liverpool. Corbijn shares memories of photographing the band, including a 15-minute shoot at Lancaster Gate Tube station and the Rainbow Theatre gig on 4 April 1980, where Ian Curtis had a seizure onstage. The boxset captures the band's short, intense onstage existence before Curtis's death by suicide in 1980 at age 23.

Key facts

  • 'Eternal (Live)' is a Joy Division boxset comprising 14 CDs, 16 gigs, and two DVDs.
  • It will be released on 25 September via Warner Music.
  • The cover image is a 2023 Wolfgang Tillmans photograph titled 'Sirius through a Defocused Telescope'.
  • Peter Saville, longtime Joy Division and New Order artwork designer, calls the cover a bookend to 'Unknown Pleasures'.
  • The boxset includes an essay by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and 16 pages of photography by Anton Corbijn, Kevin Cummins, and Jill Furmanovsky.
  • Audio was mastered at Abbey Road Studios.
  • Ian Curtis died by suicide in 1980 at age 23.
  • The boxset documents gigs from 1979 and 1980, including at London's Hope and Anchor pub and YMCA, and Bowdon Vale Youth Club in Altrincham.

Entities

Artists

Institutions

  • Joy Division
  • New Order
  • The Light
  • Abbey Road Studios
  • Warner Music
  • Factory Records
  • Ikon
  • hmv.com

Locations

  • California
  • San Francisco
  • Manchester
  • London
  • Altrincham
  • Liverpool
  • Paris
  • Lancaster Gate Tube station
  • Hope and Anchor
  • YMCA
  • Bowdon Vale Youth Club
  • Eric's
  • Rainbow Theatre

Sources