"You cry out in your sleep, all my failings exposed, and there's a taste in my mouth as desperation takes hold."
Attempting to cover songs as intensely personal as Ian Curtis' Joy Division swansong, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a risky business, and though Michael Gira more or less disowned this release some years back, it has considerable charms that make it worth seeking out. While Gira does as well as can be expected with the title track (two versions no less), the real gem here is "Our Love Lies," on which Gira, flush with a gospel-style chorus of over-dubbed Jarboes, sounds like an even more wrecked and messianic version of Mark Lanegan. Unfortunately, the CD version of this release did not include the "Black Version" of "Love Will Tear Us Apart," which featured Jarboe on lead vocal. This version is generally thought to be even better than Gira's "Red Version."
