Editing Joy Division (section)

== Legacy ==
Despite their short career, Joy Division have exerted a wide-reaching influence and achieved widespread critical acclaim. John Bush of [[AllMusic]] argues that Joy Division "became the first band in the post-punk movement by&nbsp;... emphasizing not anger and energy but mood and expression, pointing ahead to the rise of melancholy [[Alternative rock|alternative music]] in the '80s."<ref name=AllMuBush/>

The band's dark and gloomy sound, which Martin Hannett described in 1979 as "dancing music with Gothic overtones", has been considered by many to be the first encapsulation of the [[gothic rock]] style.<ref name=Starkey>{{cite web |last1=Starkey |first1=Arun |title='The Scream': the album Robert Smith called the 'forerunner' of the Joy Division sound |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/album-robert-smith-called-forerunner-of-joy-division/ |website=[[Far Out (website)|Far Out Magazine]] |date=15 November 2024 |quote = Many consider Joy Division, the Manchester-based post-punk pioneers, to be the first band to encapsulate the gothic sound, particularly with their seminal 1979 debut album, ''[[Unknown Pleasures]]''. |access-date=10 April 2025}}</ref> While the term "gothic" originally described a "doomy atmosphere" in music of the late 1970s, the term was soon applied to specific bands like [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]] that followed in the wake of Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=352}} Standard musical fixtures of early gothic rock bands included "high-pitched post-Joy Division basslines usurp[ing] the melodic role" and "vocals that were either near operatic and Teutonic or deep, droning alloys of Jim Morrison and Ian Curtis."{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=353}}

Joy Division have been dramatised in two biopics. ''[[24 Hour Party People]]'' (2002) is a fictionalised account of Factory Records in which members of the band appear as supporting characters — Ian Curtis portrayed by [[Sean Harris]], Bernard Sumner by [[John Simm]], and Peter Hook by [[Ralf Little]]. Tony Wilson said of the film, "It's all true, it's all not true. It's not a fucking documentary," and that he favoured the "myth" over the truth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/mar/03/tonywilson |title=Tony Wilson: It Was the Best Party... Ever |last=O'Hagan |first=Sean |date=3 March 2002 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> The 2007 film ''[[Control (2007 film)|Control]]'', directed by [[Anton Corbijn]], is a biography of Ian Curtis (portrayed by [[Sam Riley]]) that uses Deborah Curtis's biography of her late husband, ''[[Touching from a Distance]]'' (1995), as its basis.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Corbijn |first1=Anton |author-link1=Anton Corbijn |last2=Wise |first2=Damon |date=November 2007 |title=Joy Division |magazine=Mojo}}</ref> ''Control'' had its international premiere on the opening night of Director's Fortnight at the [[2007 Cannes Film Festival]], where it was critically well received.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6667197.stm |title=Critics Applaud Joy Division Film |last=Robb |first=Stephen |date=17 May 2007 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> That year [[Grant Gee]] directed the band documentary ''[[Joy Division (2007 film)|Joy Division]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/toronto-film-festival-07-day-five-1798212336 |title=Toronto Film Festival '07: Day Five |last=Murray |first=Noel |date=11 September 2007 |website=[[The A.V. Club]]}}</ref>

Joy Division have influenced many bands, including their contemporaries [[U2]], [[the Cure]] and [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]].<ref name="nyt">{{cite web |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Reynolds |date=7 October 2007 |title=Music to Brood By, Desolate and Stark |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/movies/07reyn.html |access-date=20 July 2013 |website=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708041847/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/movies/07reyn.html |archive-date=8 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/omd|title=OMD|last=Wilson|first=Lois|date=30 September 2019|website=[[Record Collector]]|access-date=28 May 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201207072647/https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/omd|archive-date=7 December 2020}}</ref> In 1980, U2 singer [[Bono]] said that Joy Division were "one of the most important bands of the last four or five years".{{cn|date=March 2025}} Other acts that cite Joy Division as an influence include [[Tears for Fears]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tears-for-fears-haunting-debut-album-gets-a-second-look/ |title=Tears For Fears' haunting debut album gets a second look |author=David Chiu |date=26 October 2013 |publisher=cbsnews.com }}</ref> [[Soundgarden]],<ref name="Grunge is Dead">{{cite book | last=Prato | first=Greg | title=Grunge is Dead. The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTg4whS9ClUC | year=2009 | publisher=[[ECW Press]] | location=Toronto | isbn=978-1-55490-347-4}}</ref> [[the Proclaimers]],<ref name="tc">{{cite news |last1=Blake |first1=Joseph |title=Would you walk 500 miles for this band? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/508328010 |access-date=7 October 2020 |work=Times Colonist |date=21 July 1994}}</ref> [[Mogwai]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burch |first=Justin |date=August 13, 2004 |title=MOGWAI – AUGUST 2004 |url=https://www.slugmag.com/music/interviews/music-interviews/mogwai-august-2004/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525154604/https://www.slugmag.com/music/interviews/music-interviews/mogwai-august-2004/ |archive-date=May 25, 2022 |access-date=June 28, 2024 |website=Slugmag}}</ref> [[Hüsker Dü]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woods |first=Austin |date=April 2004 |title=GREG NORTON - On Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade and his new band Ultrabomb |url=https://www.furious.com/perfect/huskerdugregnorton.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528174615/https://www.furious.com/perfect/huskerdugregnorton.html |archive-date=May 28, 2024 |access-date=June 12, 2024 |website=Perfect Sound Forever |quote=Joy Division was a big influence on us.}}</ref> and [[Future Islands]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scherer |first=James |date=2016 |title=Defining fame with Future Islands |url=https://www.smilepolitely.com/music/defining_fame_with_future_islands/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529114045/https://www.smilepolitely.com/music/defining_fame_with_future_islands/ |archive-date=May 29, 2023 |access-date=June 29, 2024 |website=Smile Politely}}</ref> Rapper [[Danny Brown]] named his album ''[[Atrocity Exhibition (album)|Atrocity Exhibition]]'' after the Joy Division song, whose title was partially inspired by the 1970 J. G. Ballard collection of [[The Atrocity Exhibition|condensed novels of the same name]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Pearce |first=Sheldon |title=Unknown pleasures: why rappers like Danny Brown love Joy Division  |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/sep/29/joy-division-rap-danny-brown-odd-future-vince-staples |newspaper=The Guardian |date=29 September 2016 |access-date=2 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Dowling |first=Stephen |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8008277.stm |title=What pop music tells us about JG Ballard |work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=20 April 2009 |access-date=6 May 2016}}</ref> In 2005 both New Order and Joy Division were inducted into the [[UK Music Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nme.com/news/new-order/21281 |title=More Names Join UK Music Hall of Fame |date=18 October 2005 |website=NME |access-date=20 July 2013 |archive-date=7 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107222051/http://www.nme.com/news/new-order/21281 |url-status=live }}</ref>