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Joy Division
Band

Joy Division

4.4 / 5 from 57 ratings across 4 albums
Albums
247
Members
4
Active
1978–1980
Origin
United Kingdom
Biography

Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis (vocals and occasional guitar), Bernard Sumner (guitar and keyboards), Peter Hook (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Stephen Morris (drums and percussion). Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences to develop a sound and style that pioneered the post-punk movement of the late 1970s. According to music critic Jon Savage, the band "were not punk but were directly inspired by its energy".

Their self-released 1978 debut EP, An Ideal for Living, caught the attention of the Manchester television personality Tony Wilson. Joy Division's debut album, Unknown Pleasures, was released in 1979 on Wilson's independent record label, Factory Records, and drew critical acclaim from the British press. Despite the band's growing success, vocalist Ian Curtis was beset with depression and personal difficulties, including a dissolving marriage and his diagnosis of epilepsy. Curtis found it increasingly difficult to perform at live concerts, and often had seizures during performances.

On the eve of the band's first American tour in May 1980, Curtis committed suicide. Joy Division's posthumously released second album, Closer (1980), and the single "Love Will Tear Us Apart" became the band's highest charting releases. After the death of Curtis, the remaining members continued as New Order, achieving critical and commercial success.

The Groove
Groove by decade

The Groove is music.nw’s own measure of renown — not an opinion, a fact computed from the record. It weighs reach (how many people engaged) against acclaim (how highly they rated it), balanced so a handful of votes can’t outshout a lasting favourite.

Computed the NeuraWeb way, across the whole record. The same yardstick for everyone — which is why the little-known can out-Groove the famous in their own corner.

The trajectory

How Joy Division moved

Genre belongs to the record, not to the artist. Every album’s Groove is shared out across the genres it actually is — by how the raters tagged it — so nobody is 100% one thing. Stack that by decade and a career draws itself.

Discography

1980‐05‐02: High Hall, Birmingham University, Birmingham, England, UK
Joy Division · —
A Means To An End (High Wycombe Live 1980)
Joy Division · —
An Interview With Ian Curtis
Joy Division · —
At A Later Date
Joy Division · —
Atmosphere
Joy Division · —
Atrocity Exhibition
Joy Division · —
Atrocity Exhibition
Joy Division · —
Autosuggestion
Joy Division · —
Box File
Joy Division · —
Candidate
Joy Division · —
Ceremony
Joy Division · —
Chance (Atmosphere)
Joy Division · —
Colony II
Joy Division · —
Colony - Live In Derby
Joy Division · —
Concert 18 Jan Effenaar
Joy Division · —
Day Of The Lords
Joy Division · —
Dead Souls
Joy Division · —
Decades
Joy Division · —
Digital
Joy Division · —
Digital (Eindhoven Tracks)
Joy Division · —
Disorder
Joy Division · —
Drawback
Joy Division · —
Eternal
Joy Division · —
Eternal III
Joy Division · —
Excellent
Joy Division · —
Excercise One
Joy Division · —
Girls Don't Count
Joy Division · —
Glass
Joy Division · —
Gruftgesänge
Joy Division · —
Gutz
Joy Division · —
Heart And Soul
Joy Division · —
Heart And Soul (Part Two)
Joy Division · —
Heartbeat
Joy Division · —
Ice Age
Joy Division · —
Incubation
Joy Division · —
Incubation
Joy Division · —
Inside The Line
Joy Division · —
Insight
Joy Division · —
Interzone
Joy Division · —
I Remember Nothing
Joy Division · —
Isolation
Joy Division · —
Live Altrincham
Joy Division · —
Live at the Rainbow Theatre
Joy Division · —
MP3 Collection
Joy Division · —
Novelty
Joy Division · —
Paradiso
Joy Division · —
Passover
Joy Division · —
Shadowplay
Joy Division · —
Shadowplay
Joy Division · —
Shadowplay (Live)
Joy Division · —
She's Lost Control
Joy Division · —
She's Lost Control Again
Joy Division · —
Singles 1978-1979
Joy Division · —
Singles 1979-1980
Joy Division · —
Sister Ray
Joy Division · —
Sister Ray 2
Joy Division · —
Something Must Break
Joy Division · —
The Kill
Joy Division · —
The Only Mistake
Joy Division · —
These Days
Joy Division · —

Credits

Ranked #6,548 of 14,615 producers — 191.08 career Groove across 3 records.

Education Entertainment Recreation
Writer · 2021
Album cover
Touching From a Distance: A Tribute to Joy Division
Writer · 2015
Album cover
3.5 Decades - A Joy Division Italian Tribute
Lyricist · 2014
Forgotten Treasuries
Lyricist · 2013
New Dawn Fades
Writer · 2013
Needles and Control
Writer · 2010
Album cover
+ − Singles 1978–80
Producer · 2010
The Atrocity Exhibition
Producer · 2009
Album cover
Forever Burned
Lyricist · 2003
Album cover
International
Writer · 2002
Album cover
Crystal
Writer · 2001
Inperspective / A Rose for the Dead
Writer · 2001
Album cover
Return to Central
Writer · 2001
Preston 28 February 1980
Writer · 1999
Album cover
Heart and Soul
Producer · 1997
Album cover
Karma to Burn
Writer · 1997
Album cover
Permanent: Joy Division 1995
Producer · 1995
When My Blue Moon Turns Red Again
Writer · 1995
Album cover
4songCDEP19:10
Writer · 1994
Album cover
Live in Amsterdam 1980
Writer · 1990
Something About Joy Division
Writer · 1990
A Conscious State
Writer · 1989
Album cover
Atmosphere
Producer · 1988
Album cover
Documento sonoro supplemento al N. 6 di Stampa Alternativa
Performer · 1988
Album cover
Substance
Producer · 1988
Album cover
Substance 1987
Writer · 1987
The Peel Sessions
Writer · 1987
The Peel Sessions
Writer · 1986
Album cover
Ceremony
Writer · 1981
Komackino
Producer · 1981
Album cover
Still
Writer · 1981
Album cover
Warsaw
Performer · 1981
Album cover
Atmosphere / She’s Lost Control
Producer · 1980
Album cover
Closer
Lyricist · 1980
Licht und Blindheit
Composer · 1980
Album cover
Love Will Tear Us Apart
Producer · 1980
Private Life / She’s Lost Control
Writer · 1980
Album cover
Transmission / Novelty
Producer · 1979
Album cover
Unknown Pleasures
Performer · 1979
Album cover
An Ideal for Living
Producer · 1978
1102 | 2011
Writer · —
511
Writer · —
A Collection
Writer · —
Alternate Unknown Pleasures
Lyricist · —
An Ideal For Killing
Recording · —
Ceremonial: A Tribute To Joy Division
Writer · —
Closer / Unknown Pleasures
Lyricist · —
Cold Diamonds
Writer · —
Come As You Are
Writer · —
Concert 18 Jan Effenaar
Lyricist · —
Control
Composer · —
CTRL EP
Writer · —
Death Trip
Producer · —
Decades
Writer · —
Diaframma 8183
Writer · —
Digital Glass
Producer · —
Fata Morgana
Composer · —
Hero
Writer · —
House Of Dolls
Lyricist · —
Ice Age / Walked In Line
Writer · —