Permanent contains tracks from the band's two studio albums, Unknown Pleasures and Closer, as well as other tracks previously released on the compilations Substance and Still.[4][5][6]
The album contained one new track and one track that was previously unavailable on LP. The new track was a new mix of "
Love Will Tear Us Apart" titled "Permanent mix".[7] This version of the song features guitar throughout, balancing the synths and bass. The track that was previously unavailable on LP was the "Pennine version" of "Love Will Tear Us Apart", which was originally released as one of the B-sides on the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" single and was used in place of the regular version. The "Pennine version" label had not yet come into use at the time of the album's release (it would not do so until the release of the expanded edition of Substance in 2015), and the track is not listed as being an alternate version at all. The
liner notes (first on a Joy Division album) were provided by
Jon Savage.[citation needed]
Entertainment Weekly critic Josef Woodard deemed Permanent a "still-vital compilation" that showcases Joy Division's "cool, beyond-punk voltage beneath Curtis' murmurings."[9]Robert Christgau from The Village Voice said although others revered Ian Curtis' despair, he himself preferred how the band was showcased on the compilation, finding it complementary to 1995's The Best of New Order.[10]Stephen Thomas Erlewine was less enthusiastic in his review for
AllMusic, believing it was less useful than the 1988 compilation Substance and the studio albums it compiles tracks from, even though there is "a wealth of brilliant music".[1]
^CMJ New Music Monthly Jan 2000 N° 77 Page 50 "There are two basic kinds of live albums: the archival retrospective, which may or may not be taken from a single legendary ... Joy Division were once the only group that mattered to their fanatic fans — they were rumored to be the most bootlegged band in its day. ... further toward demonstrating the importance of the short-lived band than the 1997 greatest "hits" retrospective Permanent (Warner Bros.). "
^Dafydd Rees, Luke Crampton Rock stars Encyclopedia 1999 – Page 545 ".... UK #19 peak on 17 June the same year, an incomplete compilation Permanent : Joy Division 1995 reached UK #16 in its week of entry on 1 July also in 1995."
^Billboard – 5 August 1995 Vol. 107, n° 31- Page 107 "As was the case with the album "(the best of) New Order" (Billboard, 25 March), the U.S. version of "Permanent" follows the release of a U.K. compilation: The album was released on 8 May by London, the label that obtained the Joy Division ..."
^Billboard -Vol. 107, n° 31 5 August 1995 – Page 107 "The remix, which features a more prominent guitar sound, is dubbed the Permanent mix and closes the album. ... Although "Love Will Tear Us Apart" was rereleased as a single in the U.K., Qwest has no plans to issue a single from "Permanent."