What are Joy Division’s greatest songs?

July 16, 2024, 01:43

Ian Curtis was born on July 15, 1956, but died in 1980 at the tragically young age of 23. Radio X looks back at the most played and viewed songs by Joy Division.

Joy Division: important information

• Educated: Manchester, England, 1976
• Members: Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris
• First single: An Ideal for Living EP (June 1978)
• Album discography: Unknown Pleasures (June 1979); Closer (July 1980); Still (October 1981); Substance 1977-1980 (July 1988); heart Soul (Box set, December 1997).

1. Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart: Release date June 13, 1980

   Released in the weeks following Ian Curtis’ suicide, Joy Division’s biggest hit is unbearably poignant. The lyrics deal with the breakdown of the singer’s marriage. The band had filmed a promo video for the song in April 1980, but a musicians’ union strike meant that the BBC chart show Top Of The Pops was cancelled when the single reached number 13 in the UK.

   The song returned to the charts in 1983 after being covered by then-star Paul Young and New Order enjoyed huge success with their song Blue Monday. Since then, Love Will Tear Us Apart has been certified double platinum by the BPI and has garnered over 420 million streams on Spotify and over 85 million views on YouTube for the official video.

   

   Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

   
   
   

2. Joy Division – Disorder: Release date June 15, 1979

   The opening track from Joy Division’s groundbreaking debut album, ‘Unknown Pleasures’, is one of the band’s catchiest tracks and has been streamed over 196 million times on Spotify and viewed over 18 million times on YouTube.

   

   
   
   

3. Joy Division – She’s Lost Control: Release date June 15, 1979

   Written about a woman he met while working at a local job centre, this harrowing song about epilepsy became even more personal for Ian Curtis when he was diagnosed with the disease in early 1979.

   This is the original recording of the song, which appeared as the first track on side two of the album Unknown Pleasures – the band re-recorded She’s Lost Control for a 12″ release in the spring of 1980. Since then, the track has been streamed over 60 million times on Spotify and viewed 1.1 million times on YouTube.

   

   Joy Division – She’s Lost Control (Official Re-Imagined Video)

   
   
   

4. Joy Division – Shadowplay: Release date June 15, 1979

   This Joy Division song is one of the standout tracks from the album Unknown Pleasures and was covered by The Killers for the soundtrack of the Ian Curtis biopic Control in 2007. The track has since been streamed over 58 million times and viewed over 1.8 million times on YouTube.

   

   Joy Division – Shadowplay (Official Reimagined Video)

   
   
   

5. Joy Division – Atmosphere: Release date March 18, 1980

   This track is one of Joy Division’s most beautiful songs. It was released alongside Dead Souls and issued as a strictly limited edition 7″ by French label Sordide Sentimental in March 1980. The song was re-released later that year after the death of Ian Curtis and again in 1988 as the opening track for the compilation Substance 1977-1980. The track has since been streamed over 57 million times on Spotify and the incredible video, directed by Anton Corbijn, has been viewed over 17 million times on YouTube.

   

   Joy Division – Atmosphere (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

   
   
   

6. Joy Division – Transmission: Release date October 7, 1979

   Leaving aside the EPs “Ideal For Living” and “Factory Sample”, this was Joy Division’s first official single, released shortly after the album “Unknown Pleasures” began to receive notable reviews.

   The song was originally recorded for the band’s unreleased album on RCA in 1978 and has since been streamed over 55 million times. The BBC clip of Joy Division singing the song on TV has been viewed over 31 million times.

   

   Joy Division – Transmission (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

   
   
   

7. Joy Division – New Dawn Fades: Release date June 15, 1979

   An incredible track that closes the first side of Joy Division’s debut album ‘Unknown Pleasures’. Since then, this song has garnered over 27 million Spotify streams and over 1.8 million video views.

   

   Joy Division – New Dawn Fades (Official Reimagined Video)

   
   
   

8. Joy Division – Isolation: Release date July 18, 1980

   Isolation is the second track from Joy Division’s second and final studio album Closer, and its synthesizer-heavy sound points the way to the band’s transformation into New Order following Ian Curtis’ death. The song has been streamed over 24 million times and viewed on video over 1.1 million times.

   

   Isolation (2007 Remaster)

   
   
   

9. Joy Division – Day Of The Lords: Release date 15 June 1979

   The second track from Joy Division’s stunning debut album, ‘Unknown Pleasures’, showcases the band’s powerful sound and has garnered over 21 million streams and over 677,000 views for the ‘reimagined’ video released to mark the album’s 40th anniversary.

   

   Joy Division – Day Of The Lords (Official Reinterpreted Video)

   
   
   

10. Joy Division – Digital: Release date February 2, 1979

    The very first track recorded and released for Factory Records, Digital and its sibling album Glass was Joy Division’s contribution to the double EP A Factory Sample.

    Digital was also the very last song Joy Division performed live on May 2, 1980 at the University of Birmingham, two weeks before Ian Curtis committed suicide. The song has since been streamed over 17 million times on Spotify and viewed over 932,000 times on YouTube.