Well, it’s been a couple years since we last dipped our toes into our ongoing series of artist polls, but it feels as good a time as any to revive that practice, and ask the readers of Slicing Up Eyeballs to rank every song written and released by the legendary Joy Division.
By our count, Joy Division wrote and recorded 51 different songs between forming in 1976 and frontman Ian Curtis’s death in 1980, and we’re asking you to select your favorites from that list so that we may assemble a definitive ranking — like we’ve done already with the oeuvres of The Cure, The Smiths, R.E.M., Depeche Mode, New Order and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
VOTING: Below you’ll find a ballot listing those 51 songs released by Joy Division. You’re welcome to vote for as many as 10 of your favorite songs written and released by the band.
A few notes on all this:
- We’re fairly confident that our list of 51 songs is comprehensive, but if there are any missing, there is a write-in option at the bottom of the poll. You can also email info@slicingupeyeballs.com to alert us to any omissions, or if you’ve got any questions about song eligibility beyond the rules described here.
- This list is largely comprised of studio-recorded songs released by Joy Division via albums, singles or EPs, as has been our practice in past artist polls. But because Joy Division’s output is relatively limited, we’re including any officially released versions of songs by the band, including demos of two songs later recorded by New Order, an original song only ever recorded live, and material later released from sessions when the group was still called Warsaw. Not included: live versions, radio-session recordings, demos and remixes that duplicate songs already on this list, and no cover versions, either.
- While you can vote for up to 10 songs, they all will be weighed equally when the results are tallied. But if you’d like to share your ranked Top 10 lists with the rest of the Slicing Up Eyeballs readers, feel free to drop them in the comments below, and make your case.
- And if you’re wondering about the Best of the ’80s Redux poll for 1987, we’re still tabulating the results (those fill-in-your-own-choices polls take much longer than multiple-choice polls like this one).
DEADLINE: Voting ends 5 p.m. EDT Friday, May 15, and results will be posted at some point after that.
Sound good? Then vote away.
(If you have any difficulty using the form below, go directly to Crowdsignal to vote: poll.fm/10547110)
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees: All 176 songs ranked by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers
- The absolute best of New Order: All 157 songs ranked by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers
- The absolute best of Depeche Mode: All 209 songs ranked by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers
- The absolute best of R.E.M.: All 282 songs ranked by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers
- The absolute best of The Smiths: All 70 songs ranked by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers
- The absolute best of The Cure: All 225 songs ranked by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers
Top 10 Joy Division songs
So many good songs!
One of the most infulential bands that the UK ever produced.
Love them all–so hard to pick the top 10.
New dawn fades are my nr 1
Joy Division is one of my favorite bands.
No particular order:
Heart and Soul
Ice Age
Something Must Break
Day of the Lords
Shadow Play
Glass
Decades
I Remember Nothing
Colony
She’s Lost Control
#1 – No Love Lost
My #1 Isolation, #2 Disorder, #3 Digital
Thanks,
Love Will Tear Us Apart has been played out….
But it is still a great song.
and it drives some of us nuts that songs get left off others lists just because they heard them too much, rather than voting on the historical relevance. Not that we get to say how it’s done anyway… This is why I still voted A Forest when we did the Cure. So effing tired of that song, especially for 12 minutes live, but historically it needs to be included. LWTUA should be No 1 when we’re done. I’m hoping Dead Souls makes top five at least.
Personally speaking, I could never get tired of LWTUA. Yes, it annoys me when I run into people who know no other Joy Division songs other than it, but a great song is a great song. Certainly the whole trajectory of post-punk would have been very, very different had it not existed.
And footie matches would be far less enjoyable.
Giggs, Giggs is shagging a tart again…
Where is the master list of 51 songs? I don’t see it in this post.
…
N/C
A great excuse to listen to all the songs.
40th Anniversary of the passing of Ian Curtis on the 18th. Would be great to have a special Dark Wave dedication to Joy Division on the 17th. Also, an appropriate time to remind ourselves to be there for each other…especially now.
got into these guys working at a record store in Towson MD. 1982- never looked back.. started a band ( that sounded JUST like JD ) cut my hair short, wore the overcoat and slacks like Ian.. well I could go on… 38 years later… they are still my favorite band of all time ( Doors close 2nd )
Long live Record & Tape Traders and WTMD
A love of New Order led to listening to where they came from….a lightening bolt for me!
Amazing to think that this untouchable body of work came from a bunch of guys in their early twenties…
There really should be an exception made for She’s Lost Control. The remixed version as appeared on Substance is infinitely better than the original version on Unknown Pleasures, and I’d wager a fair number of your readers were familiar with the remix first. The remix would go in my top ten; the original does not.
Funny, I feel exactly the opposite. ;-)
I heard the album version first, which probably has something to do with it. For sure, they are very different. I feel like the album version has more groove/swing, whereas the remix is more precise and mechanical.
Ceremony, song beyond mind
Great idea.
A couple of nitpicking points though:
You’ve listed ‘Walked In Line’ and ‘They Walked In Line’. These are the same song. Different recordings, but definitely the same song.
There are two completely different songs called ‘The Kill’. The first is a demo which appeared alongside ‘Gutz’, ‘Inside The Line’ etc. Then they recycled the name on a completely new song, which appeared on ‘Still’.
So, still 51 songs.
LWTUA, then Transmission or Ceremony in 2 and 3, because those two seem to have cult status though not favorites of mine. Just guessing. If it were my way: LWTUA, Dead Souls, 24 Hours vs New Dawn Fades for 3.
I wrote in “Transmission” and “She’s Lost Control”-Tracks 9 and 10 from “The Complete BBC Recordings”. They are phenomenal versions of already great songs. Recorded live on the “Something Else” TV show.
Opinions are like arseholes, everyone’s got one and most of them stink, so this top ten is null and void. Everyone’s top ten will be slightly different to everyone else’s, so as long as you enjoy it who gives a fuck?
Who was it that said “You’re entitled to an opinion but your opinion is shit”?………..
“Oh yeah? Well, that’s, like, your opinion, man.” — The Dude
Irony here that stating most opinions are shit is an opinion itself and therefore, also shit. Do continue feasting, Ouroboros.
Also of note…the song listed here on the survey as “You’re No Good To Me” , is actually titled “You’re No Good For Me”. That appears on the Warsaw Demo.
Thanks for the opportunity to vote! JD is such an amazing band. I’ll take any chance I get to talk about them or recognize them.
LWTUA it’s not just the best song of theirs, but one of the best songs of the music history.
I only chose 6 because I see them as transformational songs for my own personal journey through college in the mid 80’s and now life as we know it:
Passover(first time I heard this I was like WTF?)
Ceremony
Atmosphere
Transmission
Isolation
LWTUA
The ten songs I voted for, ranked in order:
1. Love Will Tear Us Apart
2. Atrocity Exhibition
3. Disorder
4. She’s Lost Control
5. New Dawn Faded
6. Isolation
7. Passover
8. Shadowplay
9. Heart And Soul
10. I Remember Nothing
I’ll be very surprised if LWTUA does not get the #1 spot. Hoping that Transmission is #2. The band’s most incredible song in my book.
I voted and “Disorder” made my list. If you would like to hear a different take on this song, my band covered it here:
https://silverscreams.bandcamp.com/album/defective-machines
1. Love Will Tear Us Apart
2. New Dawn Fades
3. Isolation
4. Transmission
5. Dead Souls
6. She’s Lost Control
7. Shadowplay
8. Warsaw
9. Digital
10. Walked In Line
Not many people can say they have listened to their favourite band a few times a week min for 40 years plus..proud to say I have..
And the band..
Joy Division.
Ps.. Age helps for sure..
New Dawn Fades #1!!!
Everybody else is listing theirs, so I’ll be a copycat. In relatively hierarchical order:
“Decades” (for the synth solo beginning at 4:02 to the end of the song ALONE, that’s at the top to me.)
“New Dawn Fades”
“Transmission”
“The Eternal”
“Shadowplay” (The version off Granada TV, though)
“In a Lonely Place”
“Disorder”
“No Love Lost”
“Exercise One”
“Insight”
In truth though, this is like trying to decide which child you kill and which one you spare.
If you’re saying no cover versions, then why is “Interzone” on here? It was their failed attempt to cover Nolan Porter’s “Keep On Keeping On.”
Ceremony. The song saved my life when I almost drew the curtain near the end of an abusive relationship. It scared me out of it. Ian Curtis may have ended his life, but his words saved mine.
Can’t believe there’s not more love for Atmosphere, it’s been my favourite song since I was 16, 40 years ago.And yes I saw them live
Well as a big New Order fan as well as Joy Division was very hard for me as well. Although their career was short obviously I think Ian Curtis was one of the most influential musician’s of our time. Even as a child of the 90’s he even beat out Kurt Cobain because I mean Ian Curtis’s DNA prints have been everywhere in pop music from 1980 to our present day 2020. Ah well just my thoughts you guys and gals.
Extremely difficult to get down to ten.
1 Ceremony
2 Atmosphere
3 New Dawn Fades
4 Twenty-Four Hours
5 Disorder
6 Transmission
7 Day of the Lords
8 Love Will Tear Us Apart
9 Passover
10 She’s Lost Control
11 Digital
12 Shadowplay
13 Warsaw
14 Decades
15 Exercise One
Heart and Soul
Transmission
Isolation
Disorder
No Love Lost
Shadowplay
New Dawn Fades
Atmosphere
She’s Lost Control
Love Will Tear Us Apart
Love Digital!!!
My top 10 favourite Joy Division songs
1 – Autosuggestion
2 – Twenty Four Hours
3 – Heart and Soul
4 – Passover
5 – The Eternal
6 – Ice Age
7 – Glass
8 – Shadowplay
9 – Insight
10 – Komakino
It’s been a while since I’ve listened to track after track of JD. Thanks for the excuse!
1-Love Will Tear Us Apart
2-Ceremony
3-Atmosphere
4-Transmission
5-Dead Souls
6-Disorder
7-Isolation
8-A Means to an End
9-Heart and Soul
10-Digital
Honorable mentions:
These Days
Twenty Four Hours
She’s Lost Control
Day of the Lords
New Dawn Fades