Pulling together myriad audio sources from audience recordings to sound desk tapes to international radio broadcasts, the set features 16 full audio concert recordings across 14 CDs, plus ca. 2 hours 20 mins of live video on a DVD, recorded between March 1979 through May 1980, just two weeks before Ian Curtis' tragic death.
Audio quality across these sources varies widely. Most of the audience recordings sound exactly like what they are - recorded by a fan in the crowd - and multiple concerts have been widely bootlegged. Although under normal circumstances this might make for a sub-optimal commercial offering, in this instance we have every confidence that Joy Division fans will revel in these official bootlegs, and be overjoyed by the higher quality recordings, especially with those that are previously unheard.
Following on from previous New Order Definitive Edition releases, Eternal will be presented in a 12" rigid box, with the 15 discs presented in 4x digipaks, with an additional softback 12" book featuring new liner notes by UK poet laureate and Joy Division fan Simon Armitage, as well as photography by band photographers Anton Corbijn and Kevin Cummins.
14 CDs - audio from 16 live performances, sourced from audience cassettes, soundboard tapes, and broadcast recordings, all mastered at Abbey Road Studios.
2 DVDs - over 2hrs 30mins of live footage, including the Plan K Brussels concert, two Apollo Theatre Manchester concerts, a soundcheck, and a new edit of Joy Division - A Malcolm Whitehead Film.
1 x 16-page booklet - with personal notes by Simon Armitage and photography by Anton Corbijn and Kevin Cummins.
12" x 12" lift-off lid box - artwork by Warren Jackson, Peter Saville, Howard Wakefield and Brett Wickens, with cover photography (Sirius Through a Defocused Telescope, 2023) by Wolfgang Tillmans.