Today we unveil the results of Round 5 of our Slicing Up Eyeballs readers’ poll series, a ranking of all 157 songs released by electronic-rock pioneers New Order, from their emergence in 1981 from the ashes of Joy Division up through the current post-Peter Hook era.
A little refresher: We asked readers to vote for up to 25 of their favorite songs recorded by New Order, choosing from a ballot that listed 157 singles, album tracks, compilation cuts and cover songs. We didn’t include live versions or most remixes, though we did allow voting on songs that were essentially mixes but carried distinct titles (“The Beach” and “Kiss of Death,” for example).
RELATED: Playlist of all 157 of New Order’s songs, ranked — minus 46 that aren’t on Spotify
Based on a total of about 50,000 votes, the full results are presented below. As you can see, the No. 1 selection — fittingly, a composition that was both one of the last Joy Division songs and one of the first New Order tracks — topped the list by nearly 100 votes. Songs No. 2 and 3 were much closer together.
PREVIOUS POLLS: Best of The Cure | Best of The Smiths | Best of R.E.M. | Best of Depeche Mode
As always, thank you all so much for participating.
And now, the results:
THE ABSOLUTE BEST OF NEW ORDER: ALL 157 SONGS, RANKED
1. “Ceremony”
Non-album single (1981) | 1,946 votes
2. “Bizarre Love Triangle”
Single; appears on Brotherhood (1986) | 1,854 votes
3. “Temptation”
Non-album single (1982) | 1,835 votes
4. “The Perfect Kiss”
Single; appears on Low-Life (1985) | 1,739 votes
5. “Age of Consent”
Appears on Power, Corruption & Lies (1983) | 1,709 votes
6. “True Faith”
Non-album single (1987) | 1,690 votes
7. “Regret”
Single; appears on Republic (1993) | 1,539 votes
8. “Blue Monday”
Single; appears on Power, Corruption & Lies [U.S.] (1983) | 1,536 votes
9. “Love Vigilantes”
Appears on Low-Life (1985) | 1,491 votes
10. “Thieves Like Us”
Non-album single (1984) | 1,311 votes
11. “Your Silent Face”
Appears on Power, Corruption & Lies (1983) | 1,310 votes
12. “Everything’s Gone Green”
B-side of “Procession” and non-album single (1981) | 1,140 votes
13. “Shellshock”
Non-album single (1986) | 1,086 votes
14. “1963”
B-side of “True Faith” (1987) | 1,061 votes
15. “Sub-culture”
Single; appears on Low-Life (1985) | 1,012 votes
16. “Round & Round”
Single; appears on Technique (1989) | 1,000 votes
17. “Confusion”
Non-album single (1983) | 947 votes
18. “Fine Time”
Single; appears on Technique (1989) | 884 votes
19. “Elegia”
Appears on Low-Life (1985) | 874 votes
20. “Crystal”
Single; appears on Get Ready (2001) | 849 votes
21. “Dreams Never End”
Appears on Movement (1981) | 845 votes
22. “Vanishing Point”
Appears on Technique (1989) | 828 votes
23. “Touched By the Hand of God”
Single; appears on “Salvation!” soundtrack (1987) | 745 votes
24. “Leave Me Alone”
Appears on Power, Corruption & Lies (1983) | 738 votes
25. “Procession”
Non-album single (1981) | 689 votes
26. “In a Lonely Place”
B-side of “Ceremony” (1981) | 572 votes
27. “Run”
Appears on Technique (1989) | 566 votes
28. “State of the Nation”
Single; appears on Brotherhood (1986) | 553 votes
29. “5 8 6”
Appears on Power, Corruption & Lies (1983) | 518 votes
30. “Mr. Disco”
Appears on Technique (1989) | 513 votes
31. “World in Motion”
Non-album single (1990) | 489 votes
32. “Dream Attack”
Appears on Technique (1989) | 487 votes
33. “Sunrise”
Appears on Low-Life (1985) | 419 votes
34. “All Day Long” (TIE)
Appears on Brotherhood (1986) | 417 votes
34. “Every Little Counts” (TIE)
Appears on Brotherhood (1986) | 417 votes
36. “Lonesome Tonight”
B-side of “Thieves Like Us” (1984) | 388 votes
37. “Face Up”
Appears on Low-Life (1985) | 381 votes
38. “Love Less”
Appears on Technique (1989) | 378 votes
39. “The Village”
Appears on Power, Corruption & Lies (1983) | 377 votes
40. “Blue Monday 1988”
Non-album single (1988) | 376 votes
41. “This Time of Night”
Appears on Low-Life (1985) | 346 votes
42. “All the Way”
Appears on Technique (1989) | 328 votes
43. “Here to Stay” (TIE)
Single; on “24 Hour Party People” soundtrack (2002) | 325 votes
43. “Ruined in a Day” (TIE)
Single; appears on Republic (1993) | 325 votes
45. “Unltraviolence”
Appears on Power, Corruption & Lies (1983) | 318 votes
46. “Sooner Than You Think”
Appears on Low-Life (1985) | 316 votes
47. “Weirdo” (TIE)
Appears on Brotherhood (1986) | 302 votes
47. “World (The Price of Love)” (TIE)
Single; appears on Republic (1993) | 302 votes
49. “Krafty”
Single; appears on Waiting for the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 299 votes
50. “Paradise”
Appears on Brotherhood (1986) | 281 votes
51. “Waiting for the Sirens’ Call”
Single; appears on Waiting for the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 270 votes
52. “Hurt”
B-side of “Temptation” (1982) | 268 votes
53. “Singularity”
Single; appears on Music Complete (2015) | 246 votes
54. “As It Is When It Was”
Appears on Brotherhood (1986) | 233 votes
55. “Doubts Even Here”
Appears on Movement (1981) | 219 votes
56. “Tutti Frutti”
Single; appears on Music Complete (2015) | 216 votes
57. “Guilty Partner” (TIE)
Appears on Technique (1989) | 209 votes
57. “ICB” (TIE)
Appears on Movement (1981) | 209 votes
59. “Plastic”
Appears on Music Complete (2015) | 208 votes
60. “60 Miles an Hour”
Single; appears on Get Ready (2001) | 206 votes
61. “Mesh”
B-side of “Everything’s Gone Green” (1981) | 202 votes
62. “The Beach”
B-side of “Blue Monday” (1983) | 200 votes
63. “Cries and Whispers” (TIE)
B-side of “Everything’s Gone Green” (1981) | 198 votes
63. “Ecstasy” (TIE)
Appears on Power, Corruption & Lies (1983) | 198 votes
65. “Truth”
Appears on Movement (1981) | 192 votes
66. “Temptation ’98”
Non-album single (1998) | 179 votes
67. “Angel Dust”
Appears on Brotherhood (1986) | 170 votes
68. “Run 2”
Single; appears on Technique (1989) | 163 votes
69. “The Him”
Appears on Movement (1981) | 159 votes
70. “Chosen Time”
Appears on Movement (1981) | 155 votes
71. “We All Stand”
Appears on Power, Corruption & Lies (1983) | 153 votes
72. “New Dawn Fades”
Appears on “24 Hour Party People” soundtrack (2002) | 148 votes
73. “Restless”
Single; appears on Music Complete (2015) | 145 votes
74. “True Faith-94”
Non-album single (1994) | 143 votes
75. “Denial”
Appears on Movement (1981) | 142 votes
76. “Murder” (TIE)
Non-album single (1984) | 141 votes
76. “Spooky” (TIE)
Single; appears on Republic (1993) | 141 votes
78. “Way of Life”
Appears on Brotherhood (1986) | 138 votes
79. “Kiss of Death”
B-side of “The Perfect Kiss” (1985) | 132 votes
80. “Let’s Go”
Appears on “Salvation!” soundtrack (1987) | 125 votes
81. “Turn”
Appears on Waiting For the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 124 votes
82. “Senses” (TIE)
Appears on Movement (1981) | 122 votes
82. “Turn the Heater On” (TIE)
Appears on Peel Sessions (1986) | 122 votes
84. “Special”
Appears on Republic (1993) | 117 votes
85. “Broken Promise”
Appears on Brotherhood (1986) | 112 votes
86. “Jetstream”
Single; appears on Waiting For the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 108 votes
87. “Academic”
Appears on Music Complete (2015) | 103 votes
88. “Guilt is a Useless Emotion”
Single; appears on Waiting For the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 101 votes
89. “Turn My Way”
Appears on Get Ready (2001) | 96 votes
90. “Someone Like You”
Single; appears on Get Ready (2001) | 95 votes
91. “Nothing But a Fool” (TIE)
Appears on Music Complete (2015) | 90 votes
91. “Superheated” (TIE)
Appears on Music Complete (2005) | 90 votes
93. “Blue Monday-95”
Non-album single (1995) | 82 votes
94. “Everyone Everywhere”
Appears on Republic (1993) | 79 votes
95. “Who’s Joe?”
Appears on Waiting For the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 77 votes
96. “Primitive Motion”
Appears on Get Ready (2001) | 75 votes
97. “People On the High Line”
Appears on Music Complete (2015) | 71 votes
98. “Vicious Streak”
Appears on Get Ready (2001) | 70 votes
99. “Bizarre Dub Triangle” (TIE)
B-side of “Bizarre Love Triangle” (1986) | 69 votes
99. “Young Offender” (TIE)
Appears on Republic (1993) | 69 votes
101. “Shame of the Nation”
B-side of “State of the Nation” (1986) | 67 votes
102. “Brutal”
Appears on “The Beach” soundtrack (2000) | 61 votes
103. “Chemical”
Appears on Republic (1993) | 60 votes
104. “Slow Jam”
Appears on Get Ready (2001) | 59 votes
105. “Run Wild”
Appears on Get Ready (2001) | 56 votes
106. “Dracula’s Castle”
Appears on Waiting For the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 54 votes
107. “Touched By the Hand of Dub”
B-side of “Touched By the Hand of God” (1987) | 49 votes
108. “Best & Marsh”
B-side of “Round & Round” (1989) | 47 votes
109. “I’ll Stay With You”
Appears on Lost Sirens (2013) | 45 votes
110. “Hellbent”
Single; appears on Lost Sirens (2013) | 44 votes
111. “Rock the Shack” (TIE)
Appears on Get Ready (2001) | 44 votes
111. “Shellcock” (TIE)
B-side of “Shellshock” (1986) | 44 votes
111. “Unlearn This Hatred” (TIE)
Appears on Music Complete (2015) | 44 votes
114. “Don’t Do It” (TIE)
B-side of “Fine Time” (1989) | 43 votes
114. “Video 5 8 6” aka “Prime 5 8 6” (TIE)
Non-album single (1997) | 43 votes
116. “Hey Now What You Doing”
Appears on Waiting For the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 41 votes
117. “Too Late”
Appears on Peel Sessions (1986) | 40 votes
118. “Avalanche”
Appears on Republic (1993) | 39 votes
119. “Stray Dog”
Appears on Music Complete (2015) | 37 votes
120. “Close Range” (TIE)
Appears on Get Ready (2001) | 35 votes
120. “Confused Instrumental” (TIE)
Appears on Substance (1987) | 35 votes
120. “Liar” (TIE)
Appears on Republic (1993) | 35 votes
123. “I Told You So”
Appears on Waiting For the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 33 votes
124. “Behind Closed Doors”
B-side of “Crystal” (2001) | 29 votes
125. “Evil Dust”
B-side of “True Faith” (1987) | 28 votes
126. “Times Change”
Appears on Republic (1993) | 27 votes
127. “Player in the League”
B-side of “Here to Stay” (2002) | 26 votes
128. “World (The Price of Dub)”
B-side of “Ruined in a Day” (1993) | 24 votes
129. “Morning Night and Day” (TIE)
Appears on Waiting For the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 23 votes
129. “Ode to Joy” (TIE)
Appears on Hacienda Christmas flexidisc (1982) | 23 votes
131. “Skullcrusher”
Appears on “Salvation!” soundtrack (1987) | 21 votes
132. “Haystack” (with Kevin Hewick) (TIE)
Appears on From Brussels With Love compilation (1980) | 20 votes
132. “Sabotage” (TIE)
B-side of “60 Miles an Hour” (2001) | 20 votes
134. “Sugarcane”
Appears on Lost Sirens (2013) | 18 votes
135. “Californian Grass”
Appears on Lost Sirens (2013) | 17 votes
136. “Fine Line” (TIE)
B-side of “Fine Time” (1989) | 16 votes
136. “Salvation Theme” (TIE)
Appears on “Salvation!” soundtrack (1987) | 16 votes
136. “The Game” (TIE)
Appears on Music Complete (2015) | 16 votes
139. “Dub-vulture” (TIE)
B-side of “Sub-culture” (1985) | 15 votes
139. “Exit” (TIE)
Appears on “Control” soundtrack (2007) | 15 votes
139. “Perfect Pit” (TIE)
B-side of “The Perfect Kiss” (1985) | 15 votes
139. “Recoil” (TIE)
Appears on Lost Sirens (2013) | 15 votes
143. “Get Out” (TIE)
Appears on “Control” soundtrack (2007) | 14 votes
143. “MTO” (TIE)
B-side of “Run 2” (1989) | 14 votes
145. “Beach Buggy” (TIE)
B-side of “Blue Monday 1988” (1988) | 13 votes
145. “Sputnik” (TIE)
Appears on “Salvation!” soundtrack (1987) | 13 votes
145. “True Dub” (TIE)
B-side of “True Faith” (1987) | 13 votes
148. “Confused Beats” (TIE)
B-side of “Confusion” (1983) | 12 votes
148. “Working Overtime” (TIE)
Appears on Waiting For the Sirens’ Call (2005) | 12 votes
150. “Shake It Up” (TIE)
Appears on Lost Sirens (2013) | 11 votes
150. “Such a Good Thing” (TIE)
B-side of “World in Motion” (1990) | 11 votes
152. “I’ve Got a Feeling” (TIE)
Appears on Lost Sirens (2013) | 10 votes
152. “Vicious Circle” (TIE)
B-side of “Ruined in a Day” (1993) | 10 votes
154. “Vietnam”
Appears on War Child: Hope compilation (2013) | 9 votes
156. “The Peter Saville Show Soundtrack”
Appears on The Peter Saville Show Soundtrack (2003) | 7 votes
156. “Hypnosis”
Appears on “Control” soundtrack (2007) | 5 votes
157. “Rocking Carol”
Appears on Hacienda Christmas flexidisc (1982) | 2 votes
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Thanks for the vote! I’m very surprised Blue Monday only came in at #8 and Ceremony #1. Obviously the die hard fans voted!
Blue Monday would’ve easily won the poll if you combined the votes for the original, Blue Monday ’98, Blue Monday ’95 and The Beach, which are all essentially the same song.
89 And 90 áre great songs, must be in higher Scale. O can’t Belive it.
I feel the same about Unlearn This Hatred at 111 and Avalanche at 118. Also Vietnam is 4 from the bottom of the list. I know it’s a cover version, but it’s a good song.
Wow, unexpected results for sure. Surprised Everyone, Everywhere is so low and that Rock The Shack was above so many others.
Really I nteresting results.
Pleased to see the real die-hards obviously voted (Ceremony, Temptation and TPK rating higher than Blue Monday etc.).
However, I would also like to see how things would’ve been different if remixes of tracks identified separately were combined.
Really pleased to see tracks such as Everything’s Gone Green, I’m A Lonely Place and Confusion placing so highly. Here’s hoping New Order see these lists and perhaps bring these two into their live sets (like they recently did with Ultraviolence, Shellshock, Sub-Culture etc.). Saw the band do Confusion and IALP live once and they were both superb. IIALP is magnificent. Especially love.
Many thanks for doing this.
So many typos. Sorry.
‘In A Lonely Place’.
‘Especially live’.
See my comments below (4.57 am today, US time) for the Top Ten if different versions of BM, TPK, TF, BLT, and Temptation were counted as one song each.
Wow! I was sure that “Bizarre Love Triangle” would finish first.
Me too. Also I refuse to come back as a bug or as a rabbit.
You know, you’re a real UP person…
Can you tell us about how many unique voters there were?
I’m sure we all have our “WTF?” arguments with where some of our favorites landed, but part of the fun is seeing how diverse tastes are. The lowest of my 25 was “Turn” at #82.
Kudos to another great list, Mr. Slice – thanks!
I like New Order and have all their albums. But honestly, everything after #31 on this list is pretty forgettable imo.
Numbers 99 and 100 both have 69 votes. Doesn’t that make them joint 99?
Yes, thanks for catching that…
Gee a lot of mine were lower down the order……..I must listen to New Order differently to most….
Will be spinning New Order this weekend on my show, Left of the Dial. 9-11pm EST. WMPG.org. Every Sunday night it’s 2 hours of classic alternative, punk, post-punk and new wave.
It’s a great poll. Thank you for all the effort involved.
True Dub needs to be released on CD.
Great to see Ceremony atop the list.
My thoughts are that the various iterations of Blue Monday could be counted as one track. Same for Temptation 98 + Temptation, the Regular and B side versions of The Perfect Kiss, True Faith + TF’94 and True Dub, BLT + Bizarre Dub Triangle. If you count all of those as one song each, you get a different top ten:
1) Blue Monday (2207 votes)
2) Temptation (2033 votes)
3) Ceremony (1946 votes)
4) BLT (1923 votes)
5) The Perfect Kiss (1886 votes)
6) True Faith (1846 votes)
7) Age of Consent (1709 votes)
8) Regret (1539 votes)
9) Love Vigilantes (1491 votes)
10) Thieves Like Us(1311 votes)
There must have been voters who picked more than one incarnation of their favourite song. So I don’t think it’s applicable to add up these figures to get a ‘truer’ result.
Well I guess we don’t know one way or another. But I do think it’s daft to list for e.g. Temptation and Temptation 98 as two different tracks. The ‘original’ Temptation itself has several different versions.
A very cursory glance at the raw results show there were people, for example, who voted for multiple versions of “Temptation” on the same ballot.
Also, only one version of Ceremony. Shouldn’t the 7″ version be counted too?
Thanks for doing that!
An album ranking, based on the average number of votes each album track has received:
1 – Low-Life (822)
2 – Power, Corruption and Lies* (665)
3 – Technique* (577)
4 – Brotherhood* (436)
5 – Movement (255)
6 – Republic (248)
7 – Get Ready (159)
8 – Music Complete (115)
9 – Waiting for the Sirens’ Call (104)
10 – Lost Sirens (23)
*original album tracks only, not counting votes for ‘Blue Monday’, ‘State of the Nation’ and ‘Run 2’
The five 1980s albums upfront, pretty natural for an 1980s music blog ;-)
A bit surprising for me: how well Technique has aged with the voters, and how unpopular Movement still is.
Yeah! I’m one of 18 that voted for ‘Sugarcane’. I agree with the first 4 albums. Maybe a Bashees poll next?
Ooh I’m up for that, I’d wager the poll would skew heavily towards Juju and Kaleidoscope with Dazzle and probably Dear Prudence up high as well.
Oh yes, Dazzle would definitely be top 10. One of the first 12″ records I bought. I once had the original Hyaena poster (new album, out now) but my mother accidentally threw it away when I moved out of the house. What a shame!
I love the SATB, there are few bands with that much colour in their sound.
Very amused at how high World in Motion placed. Is there really only 30 songs in the NO canon better than that one?
The track immediately below World in Motion is better than it for a start…
A lot of futbol fans on this site maybe!
I think it’s a great song, although the “behind the music” story in Peter Hook’s memoir is pretty funny: “The booze was disappearing fast and, Christ, I’ve seen some power-drinking in my time but the England World Cup squad took the biscuit….” Things go downhill from there.
Having anyone vote is pretty much the reason we got Donald Trump; I doubt even 5% of people voting have heard most of the b-sides and odd tracks; and of course most long-term fans wouldn’t even vote. That said, it’s pretty obvious that NO are a singles band, not an album band, and that despite moments of real genius, they have a lot of dross and an apparently very difficult time writing tunes. “Turn The Heater On” deserves much better and at least two members of the band would back me up on that.
I’m surprised by a lot of results. With that being said, my preferences have changed over the years as well. They’ve been my favorite band since the early 80’s and I’ve actually really been loving Lost Sirens. Most die-hards would claim sacrilege, but be that as it may…I’ve really enjoyed their progress throughout the years. Temptation has always had a soft spot in my heart…(and not the later versions).
No, Crystal is not better than Vanishing Point, c’mon.
Shellshock should be a lot lower too, but overall a great list.