The Return of the Durutti Column
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| The Return of the Durutti Column | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Original sandpaper sleeve by Tony Wilson | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 1980 | |||
| Recorded | August 1979 | |||
| Studio | Cargo, Rochdale, England | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 28:13 | |||
| Label | Factory | |||
| Producer | Martin Hannett | |||
| The Durutti Column chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
| Error creating thumbnail: File missing Second edition sleeve by Steve Horsfall | ||||
The Return of the Durutti Column is the debut studio album by English band The Durutti Column. It was released in January 1980, through record label Factory.
Background
[edit | edit source]The album was a collaboration between producer Martin Hannett and Vini Reilly. Hannett experimented with electronic sounds in the studio, creating the backing tracks to which Reilly's classical influenced guitar playing was added.[1]
The original 2000 LP sleeves were made of coarse sandpaper (an homage to the Situationist book Mémoires (1959) that similarly had a sandpaper cover) designed by Dave Rowbotham and Tony Wilson. The sleeves were assembled by members of the band and label-mates Joy Division. The initial two thousand copies also included a flexi-disc single with two tracks by producer Martin Hannett: "First Aspect of the Same Thing" and "Second Aspect of the Same Thing".[2]
A regular printed sleeve for later copies was designed by Steve Horsfall featuring paintings by Raoul Dufy in varying textured and non-textured sleeves. This release includes an additional mix of the album with less reverb and more phasing.[2]
"Sketch for Summer"/"Sketch for Winter" was released as a single (Gap Records SFA-491) in Australia, with a sleeve by Andrew Penhallow of Gap.[3]
In 2013, a modified version was issued as a vinyl album by Factory Benelux (FBN-114) with an 11-inch square sheet of coarse glasspaper attached to the inner sleeve, visible through a die-cut in the front cover. The die-cut was based on the 1978 Factory 'bar graph' logo designed by Peter Saville. On this edition, the Hannett tracks were included on a bonus 7-inch single on hard vinyl.[4]
The album was given the Factory Identifier FACT14 (Vinyl), or FACT14-C (Cassette).
Critical reception
[edit | edit source]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | StarStarStarStarHalf star[5] |
| Record Collector | StarStarStarStarStar[6] |
AllMusic called the album a "quietly stunning debut, as influential down the road as his labelmates in Joy Division's effort with Unknown Pleasures."[5]
Reviewing the 2013 reissue, Record Collector's Ian Shirley called it "arguably the most distinctive record in the Factory canon" and deemed it "a classic album".[6]
Track listing
[edit | edit source]All tracks written by Vini Reilly
- Side A
- "Sketch for Summer" - 2:58
- "Requiem for a Father" - 5:06
- "Katharine" - 5:26
- "Conduct" - 4:59
- Side B
- "Beginning" - 1:37
- "Jazz" - 1:35
- "Sketch for Winter" - 2:22
- "Collette" - 2:20
- "In 'D'" - 2:25
- Bonus flexi-disc
- "First Aspect of the Same Thing" - 3:42
- "Second Aspect of the Same Thing" - 2:59
Personnel
[edit | edit source]- The Durutti Column
- Vini Reilly – guitar
- Pete Crooks – bass guitar
- Toby Toman (credited as Toby) – drums
- Additional personnel
- Martin Hannett – production
- Chris Nagle – engineering
- John Brierley – engineering
- Anthony H. Wilson – sleeve artwork (uncredited)
Charts
[edit | edit source]| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[7] | 53 |
| UK Albums Sales (OCC)[8] | 36 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[9] | 8 |
References
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- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
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- ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
External links
[edit | edit source]- The Return of the Durutti Column at Discogs (list of releases)
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