Laibach on Joy Division's album, Atmosphere, in an interview with Quiteus.
"After we discovered Kraftwerk, it was very difficult to go back and listen to guitar-based, drum and bass rock music again, but we were still young and curious and soaked it up like sponges. Punk emerged in the second half of the 70s, and with a little help from Margaret Thatcher, it exploded on the independent music scene and became one of the most liberating moments in cultural history.
"I think we can easily say that the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War were a direct result of the social and political changes provoked by punk and new wave. Everyone was listening to the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Dead Kennedys and every other punk band we could get our hands on in the late 1970s, but also The Stranglers, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Iggy and the Stooges, Patti Smith, Bauhaus, The Pop Group, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle…
“It was very uplifting and inspiring music, but then Joy Division released Unknown Pleasures and things got serious again. That album was the cornerstone of the 80s, and Joy Division were a synthesis of punk and new wave bands. They had simplicity, elegance, style and magic. Unknown Pleasures was the last big, meaningful album we listened to before we finally decided to form Laibach, directly inspired by it.”
