Content
Substance compiles the four singles released by the band that did not appear on albums — "Transmission", "Komakino", "Love Will Tear Us Apart", and "Atmosphere" — as well as most of their B-sides. It also collects tracks released on various EPs, namely the band's first release, An Ideal for Living, and two samplers issued by Factory Records, A Factory Sample and Earcom 2: Contradiction.
Two of the album's tracks, "Glass" and "Dead Souls", were previously included on the 1981 compilation Still. Additionally, the single "Atmosphere" had been originally issued in France as "Licht und Blindheit" with "Dead Souls" on the B-side; following Ian Curtis's suicide, it was reissued as a posthumous B-side of the "She's Lost Control" 12-inch single. The vinyl version omits the single "Komakino" and does not include the complete titles from the EPs, due to the lower storage capacity of a vinyl record.
Later CD pressings issued by London Records contain a previously unreleased mix of "She's Lost Control" that is slightly different from the original single release. More guitar is mixed within the song, the synthesiser melody is shortened and starts at a later point, and the ending of the song is extended by 15 seconds and does not fade out.
Substance was digitally remastered in 2015, containing not only the alternative mix of "She's Lost Control", but also two additional tracks: "As You Said" (the second B-side of "Komakino") and the initial take of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (originally released on the B-side of the original single), dubbed the "Pennine Version" after the studio it was recorded at.