Joy Division were a gloomy and moody quartet that were formed in Manchester in 1976 and lasted and only until 1980 due to the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis which would lead the remaining members to form New Order.
So in that four years, they only released two albums, an EP and only a handful of singles. According to bassist Peter Hook in Punk Britannia: The Post Punk years, the band was only professional for nine months.
So its incredible to think that in that sort space of time a band like Joy Division has a song catalogue far superior to some bands that have been around for 20 years!
Joy Division were able to use the energy, anger and simplicity of punk music to help express complex human thoughts and emotions. This was reflected in their first album Unknown Pleasures.
After that master piece the band soon began to write songs with a danceable beat and even moved into a more electronic area in their second and final album Closer.
What Joy Division could show was that punk music could allow you to move into new areas of music and be revolutionary in your own way.
These songs on the list aren’t in a chronological order but more a list to show what songs showcased their strengths the best as a band.
1. Insight
The head of their label Factory Records Tony Wilson, mentioned in the 2007 Joy Division documentary that “punk had enabled you to say fuck you” but in his words post punk had enabled young people to say “I’m fucked”. That thought is expressed beautifully in this song.
The sound can also be attributed to their revolutionary producer Martin Hannett. His work is clear on this as the drums are given an electronic touch to help make them stand out more. The bass by Peter Hook does a great job by carrying the melody on the high end of the bass.
Curtis also expresses the complex human thoughts with lines like “I don’t care any more, I’ve lost the will to want more”. The way he delivers is chilling as you really do feel that he thinks like this. A great track.
2. Isolation
A step in a new direction for Joy Division as a new instrument had been started to be introduced during the past few months, the synthesiser.
Although used a bit on Unknown Pleasures it had really come to the forefront on Closer . What’s even more noticeable is that the band’s guitarist Bernard Sumner doesn’t even play any guitar on the track, instead he uses the synthesiser to great effect.
The synthesiser is then backed up by the solid rhythm section in Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.
Curtis also is at the forefront again with chilling lyrics like “Mother I tried please believe me, I’m doing the best that I can, I’m ashamed of the things I’ve been put through, I’m ashamed of the person I am.” Really rare to see a singer criticise himself so hard.
3. She’s Lost Control
She’s Lost Control is a track that makes the listener feel very uneasy once again.
A very dark song with a dance beat highlights the band as a whole. Once again Morris is there with the electronic sounding drums, coupled with Peter Hook’s high bass and Bernard Sumner’s simple but effective guitar.
The track has a profound effect on the listener, making them freeze as if the band is able to demand they stop and listen to this revolutionary song. Curtis calmly sings the unfortunate situation of a woman in need of some sort of support from anybody in “she’s clinging to the nearest passer by, she’s lost control , and she gave away the secrets of her past”.
The track was actually inspired by a woman that Curtis was helping when he was working at Department of Disabled Services in Manchester and he would witnessed a young woman collapse with an epileptic fit.
He would later learn that she would die from the fit, having a massive effect on him to pen such chilling lyrics.
4. Transmission
A song that instantly grabs the listener with some mysterious echoes before being hit over the head by the force that is the music.
Sumner really shines hear in what is probably his best Joy Division performance ever with some great guitar work.
Not to be outdone Curtis howls “and we would go on as though nothing was wrong, and hide from these days as we remained all alone.” It’s as if he is singing some sort of dystopian future or hellish future.
The chorus of “dance! dance! dance! dance! to the radio!” seems more like an order than a plea!. This track would also be a great as a live song for the band
5. The Eternal
Probably one of the most heartbreaking songs that Joy Division ever recorded. The moody and brooding track showcases Sumner on synthesiser as it swarms the listener.
The song continues for a minute before Curtis comes singing in such a heartbroken and delicate tone. The line “procession moves on, the shouting is over,” is very worrying as it foreshadows Curtis’s suicide only a month later as if he can already see what his own funeral is going to be like.
Hook also experiments on the track with a six string bass to help compliment his unique bass playing. The six string bass is something he’d continued to use in New Order.
A real fore shadower of the genre of ‘gothic rock‘. Really helped with the production of Hannett.
6. Komakino
An often overlooked track but ranks up there with their best. Released as a single in 1980 it didn’t receive much attention but has grown in the last few years.
It is probably only one of the rare songs that Curtis takes a back seat which you’d think hurts the track but, it allows the band to really take over and show what they’re about.
The song is held together by Morris’s primal jungle like drumming. The bass and guitar really compliment each other as well. Hook really stands out as he really lets himself go during the instrumental part and plays some awesome bass. Easily his best bass line in Joy Division.
One their best in my opinion.
7. Love Will Tear Us Apart
Everyone knows this song even if they’ve never heard of Joy Division. It’s really odd considering the band haven been known as a gloomy band come out with a stunning pop song.
Released as a single in 1980, it was their first and only chart hit as Joy Division.
The songs begins with it’s famous bass riff, followed by a hard acoustic guitar strum and then is uplifted by the famous synth strings by Sumner once again.
The song is able to let Curtis feel some real vulnerable emotions as he comments on a doomed relationship. Lines like “why is this bedroom so cold?, you’ve turned away on your side,” and “you cry out in your sleep, all my failings exposed” could show Curtis was capable of writing a love song albeit about a failing relationship.
A classic.
8. Disorder
The song that kicks off Unknown Pleasures really sets the tone for the whole album. It kicks off with a drum sound never heard before.
The whole show has a vibe of a sci-fi trip of Manchester gone horribly wrong.
The song represents the motto Tony Wilson’s view of “I’m fucked” for post punk as Curtis begins to sing the type of lyrics that he’d become known for.
He wails “I’ve been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand,” as if he’s been waiting his whole life to be in a band to say what he really felt. The line “could these sensations make me feel the pleasures of a normal man?” shows Curtis maybe feeling normal for the first time in his life and feeling content.
However this would be the only time where we would ever hear Curtis feeling content.
9. Atrocity Exhibition
One of the most angriest songs Joy Division ever recorded.
Kicking off Closer, Curtis sings off the position he finds himself as the front man of a band beginning to find fame and the pressure associated with it.
He sings “asylums with doors open wide, where people had paid to see inside, for entertainment they watch his body twist, behind his eyes he says, ‘I still exist.”. This shows a man thinking being a singer of a band isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
The track also sees Hook and Sumner swap instruments. Hook plays the guitar with effects that make it feel like a cat wailing at you. With a hypnotic rhythm played by Morris really helps the stand out as one of their finest.
10. Atmosphere
Released only as a single in France in 1980, this haunting is probably the best song Joy Division ever wrote.
Accompanied by some epic synth strings that really help to add some melody, some rumbling high end bass and hypnotic drums help to show that musically it could be their most innovative song.
The production by Hannett really helps the song to stand out helping it to sound epic and grand.
Curtis shows how he approaches his problems with depression and epilepsy by quietly sing “walk in silence” which shows how unhealthy his position and mental health has become. He also shows perhaps his jealousy towards those who have it easy in the line “people like you find it easy”, showing how big his depression is.
Their most emotional song.
Nostalgic Beat 