New Order are one of my favourite British bands, and their music has left a lasting mark on modern music. Rising from the ashes of Joy Division in the early 1980s, they reinvented themselves and became one of the most influential bands of the decade. As pioneers of synth pop, post-punk, and electronic dance music, New Order created a sound that was both innovative and timeless. Blending the dark intensity of post-punk with the energy of acid house, the rhythms of disco, and the accessibility of alternative rock, they defined what it meant to push boundaries in popular music. Their catalogue is filled with iconic tracks, from club anthems to introspective ballads, making them one of the most celebrated British bands of all time.
The band's only Number One Single, 'World in Motion', was released as the official England World Cup Song of the 1990 World Cup.
In 1990, English Football was a far cry from what it is today. These were the wilderness years before the Premier League, just one year after the Hillsborough disaster, and just five years after the Bradford Fire and Heysel.
English Football was in a dark place. The confidence in the national team was also at an all-time low. Bobby Robson announced he was resigning as England Manager after the tournament, before a ball was even kicked at Italia '90, which caused a media storm.
The FA decided on England having a song for the tournament, and with the help of Factory Records owner Tony Wilson, drafted in New Order. A rather surprising pick, they had more in common with the nightclubs of the Balearics than the terraces of Barnsley. Drafting in New Order wasn’t the most obvious choice, and yet, that’s what makes the idea brilliant.
Most football songs are trying to be football songs ‘World In Motion’ is a great song in its own right. It’s a New Order song first and foremost. With brilliant synths and drum machines, as well as one of the band's very best choruses. Alongside a now iconic rap by John Barnes, something he has dined out on for the last 35 years.
New Order have admitted that they weren’t huge football fans, and therefore they drafted in some help from actor, comedian, and musician Keith Allen to shape the lyrics. His original idea, however, was quickly scrapped after concerns from both the record label and the FA. They worried that his cheeky lines — “E is for the England / England starts with an E / We’ll all be smiling when we’re in Italy” — could be interpreted as a reference to ecstasy, a drug heavily associated with rave culture in the late 1980s.
The band managed to get some lyrics down, and even then, that caused a few issues with the FA. When they heard “love’s got the world in motion”, they asked the band to replace “love’s” with “we’ve”. The band refused. “It’s an anti-hooligan song”, they said. Too right.
It also proved to be the final straw for many Joy Division fans. New Order had risen out of the ashes of Joy Division 10 years earlier, and ‘World in Motion’ is a far cry from the post-punk of Joy Division. It’s hard to believe that ‘Transmission’ and ‘World in Motion’ were written by the same musicians.
New Order, The FA, and English football all benefited from this song; it’s a truly brilliant piece of 90s pop music. To this day, it’s the greatest football song of all time.
The chorus is infectious, and the rap sung by John Barnes is so memorable. The video is brilliant. It still gets played whenever England play at a major tournament. 35 years later, it still sounds as good. A song that never should have worked.
Recorded by a band who aren’t the biggest football fans, sung by an England team who didn’t really want to be there. For a tournament, everyone thought England would struggle, with a team managed by a manager who was leaving. The circumstances dictated that it would never be a success. Yet it was a massive success. It was New Order's first and only Number One single. It started an upward trajectory for English football.
English football had something to celebrate, after a few years rife with violence, hooliganism and tragedy. It marked a time of change. Fans felt a connection with the National team again. This song brought fans closer to the players.
English teams were allowed to rejoin European competitions in November 1990, after a 5 year ban. Following the events at Heysel. Two years later, in 1992, Sky Sports founded the Premier League, and the rest is history. Its impact on British football cannot be denied.
New Order’s back catalogue isn’t particularly known for acoustic ballads, yet ‘As It Is When It Was’, a hidden gem from their 1986 album ‘Brotherhood’, shows just how effective the band could be when stripping things back. Gentle, melodic, and emotionally resonant, it stands as one of the most understated highlights of the record, offering a moment of intimacy amid the album’s mix of guitar-driven post-punk and synth-led experimentation. The song’s soft, contemplative tone contrasts beautifully with the more upbeat and dance-oriented tracks on the album, revealing a quieter, more introspective side of New Order that often goes overlooked.
The song also took on a new life in live performance. A slightly rockier version appears on the ‘Pumped Full of Drugs’ concert video, recorded in Tokyo, where the band injects more edge and urgency into the track. One of the most memorable aspects of that performance is Gillian Gilbert’s effortlessly cool stage presence. She plays the guitar and keyboards with her back to the audience for the entirety of the song, a gesture that only amplifies New Order’s enigmatic aura. The live rendition also emphasises the band’s chemistry and subtle interplay, highlighting the delicate balance between melody and rhythm that defines much of their work.
Lyrically, ‘As It Is When It Was’ is evocative without being overt, allowing listeners to project their own emotions onto the song. Its restrained arrangement, combined with Bernard Sumner’s intimate vocal delivery, creates a haunting sense of nostalgia and longing, making it feel timeless. While it may not have been a commercial hit, the track has become a fan-favourite deep cut, celebrated for its emotional honesty and the way it showcases New Order’s versatility as a band capable of both euphoric dance tracks and quietly powerful ballads.
'Blue Monday' was a real watershed moment for British music, the genre-defining track not only revolutionised dance music but also left an indelible mark on pop culture. It’s a song that continues to resonate decades after its release, standing as a timeless testament to the band’s innovation and a symbol of the changing tides in the music industry.
After their first album 'Movement', the band began to experiment more and more with synthesisers and sequencers alongside a growing interest in the electronic music of the time by acts like Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder. With 'Blue Monday', the band fused their post-punk roots with this innovation to create something unique.
At first listen, 'Blue Monday' stands out for its minimalist, mechanical beats, which were groundbreaking at the time. This is dance music in its most skeletal form, written and recorded by a band who weren't sure what exactly they were doing. The iconic opening is driven by the relentless thud of a drum machine, soon followed by layers of pulsating synthesisers, a deep bassline, and Bernard Sumner's detached, almost robotic vocals.
What makes the song remarkable is that it defies conventional song structures. With a length of over seven minutes, it lacks a typical chorus, building instead around a hypnotic progression that gradually unfolds. Despite this non-standard formula for creating a song, the song became a hit at the time and has become one of the most important records of its era.
It remains the best-selling 12-inch single of all time, a format choice that emphasised the song’s dance-floor appeal. The single gained immense popularity in clubs, helping to blur the lines between rock, dance, and electronic music.
The song’s influence extended beyond the music scene. Its iconic floppy-disc-inspired cover design, created by Peter Saville, became a visual symbol of the 1980s, representing the intersection of technology and art. The design featured no band name or song title, just a cryptic set of colored code blocks, which many fans didn’t immediately realise was an encoding of the title and catalogue number. Catalogue numbers were used by Factory Records to add meaning to items. 'Blue Monday' is catalogue number 'FAC-73'.
It has been said that due to the design of the sleeve, Factory Records lost money on every copy that was sold. The intricate design, with its die-cut holes and the use of custom colours and matte finishes, costs far more than a typical sleeve. Factory Records, the independent label to which New Order was signed, didn’t seem to anticipate just how much demand there would be for the single or how expensive that demand would become.
Despite the loss of money, the sleeve for this record remains one of the most iconic pieces of album art ever, it symbolises not only an important musical moment, but an important moment in design and pop culture. This song still sounds fresh and modern, and it paved the way for New Order's career. The band left Joy Division behind and took a huge step into uncharted territory.
Released as the first single from the band's sixth studio album 'Republic'. An album that was made in difficult circumstances.
According to bassist Peter Hook, the band were forced to make the album in order to save The Haçienda, a Manchester club partially owned by the band that was losing a great deal of money. The band were also told that if they did not produce another album, Factory Records would go bankrupt, and the band members, who had guaranteed loans for Factory and the club, would be ruined financially.
At the same time, Hook and Bernard Sumner were "at that point in the relationship where you hate each other's stinking guts," and the band members were "all off our heads on various things," which made for a stressful working environment. While Bernard Sumner was off recording with Electronic, Hook, Morris, and Gilbert wrote a whole instrumental album that would be shelved at the request of Sumner when he came back. Disputes over the music and publishing rights created further acrimony that caused the band to break up for the first time.
Despite the circumstances in which it was recorded, the song was a critical and commercial success. Reaching the top 10 in Canada, Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom. It peaked at number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100, New Order's highest placement on that chart and reached number one on two other Billboard charts.
'Regret' is a quintessential New Order track, seamlessly blending melancholic guitar riffs with upbeat synths, capturing the band's signature sound. The distinctive guitar sound in 'Regret' is attributed to Johnny Marr, the legendary guitarist known for his work with The Smiths. Marr lent his equipment to the band for the recording of the track. He mentioned in an interview with Guitar Magazine, "You can hear the [Fender] Pro really well on New Order's 'Regret'. Bernard [Sumner] borrowed my Les Paul and Pro for that, so he owes me some money as well." This collaboration added a unique texture to the song, blending Marr's jangly guitar tones with New Order's electronic elements.
Peter Hook described 'Regret' as the "last good New Order song" and I have to say I'm inclined to agree, I began to lose interest after 'Republic''
‘True Faith’ is the song that The Guardian ranked as the best New Order song, though in my personal list it lands at number six. The track was written alongside its B-side, ‘1963’, during an intense 10-day studio session with producer Stephen Hague for the band’s compilation album ‘Substance 1987’. Bernard Sumner had been challenged to write a hit single, and the result was a song that perfectly balanced New Order’s electronic club sensibilities with their rock roots.
Blending shimmering synths, propulsive drum programming, and Peter Hook’s signature melodic basslines, ‘True Faith’ captures the euphoric yet melancholic tension that defines so much of New Order’s work. Lyrically, Sumner navigates themes of desire, self-reflection, and the passage of time with his usual understated sophistication, making the song feel both personal and universally relatable.
Released as a single in 1987, ‘True Faith’ became one of New Order’s most commercially successful tracks, peaking at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and remaining a staple of their live performances. Its enduring popularity lies in its seamless fusion of dancefloor energy and emotional depth, showcasing the band at the height of their creative powers and proving why it remains a defining moment in the history of 1980s British synth pop.
'Ceremony' is a song written by Joy Division and first released as New Order's debut single in 1981. The track and its B-side, 'In a Lonely Place', were recorded as Joy Division before the death of their lead singer, Ian Curtis. Both were re-recorded and carried over to Joy Division's reformation as New Order.
According to guitarist Bernard Sumner, the group wrote the song a few weeks before Ian Curtis died "to try and heal him through music" and keep him "involved in the band and involved in music and remind him of what ... a great future he had". Sumner concluded, "Unfortunately, it didn't work"
At the time, the group felt that the song represented a major step forward and had the potential to be a major hit. Sumner characterised the song as "a very uplifting track, filled with and enhanced by Ian's lyrics"
There are three recorded versions by Joy Division in existence. The first is a live version, available on the Still album, from their final concert at High Hall, Birmingham University, on 2 May 1980. The second, available on the Heart and Soul four-disc box set, is from a studio session on 14 May 1980, four days before Curtis's suicide. It was the group's last recording. The third is a version recorded at the soundcheck on the afternoon of 2 May 1980 (along with 'Decades') and is only available via bootleg. In all recordings, the vocals are only partially audible.
Following the death of Curtis, the remaining members of Joy Division formed New Order and set to work recording 'Ceremony'. Because Curtis had never transcribed the lyrics to "Ceremony" and because his singing was muted to the point of near-inaudibility on all surviving recordings, Sumner said he had to put them through a graphic equaliser to approximate the lyrics. “To work out the lyrics we had to listen to them over and over again,” Hook wrote in his memoir Substance: Inside New Order, “and hearing Ian’s voice like that it was almost like he was back with us in [the studio] again. Weird. And then it hit you that he wasn’t.”
New Order released the song as a single twice, firstly in March 1981 and secondly in September 1981, featuring new member Gillian Gilbert; the latter recording appeared on the 1987 compilation album 'Substance'. Between these two versions, you can hear the new beginnings of New Order, the sound of a new band starting to set the wheels in motion.
It's one of the most important and unique debut singles ever written and recorded. Not only did it mark the start of New Order, it allowed Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner to grieve for their frontman and friend in a way that they felt best, by honouring his song.
A spectacular effort by a band who were coming to terms with the loss of a friend, sung by a frontman who'd never taken the lead before. One of the band's very best.
Released as a single from the band’s fourth studio album 'Brotherhood', 'Bizarre Love Triangle' went on to become one of New Order’s biggest international hits, particularly in the United States, where it reached the Top Five on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart. However, somewhat surprisingly, in the UK the song failed to break into the Top 40 on the Singles Chart. Despite this lack of chart success at home, Bizarre Love Triangle has endured as a fan favourite and is now considered one of the quintessential New Order songs, frequently appearing in “best of” lists and live setlists.
In typical New Order fashion, the song’s title has little to do with its lyrical content. The phrase “bizarre love triangle” never actually appears in the song, and even the word “love” is absent from the lyrics. Instead, the sense of romantic confusion and emotional conflict is conveyed abstractly through the combination of sonic textures and Bernard Sumner’s delivery. Much like an abstract painting, the meaning isn’t literal but is deeply felt, allowing listeners to interpret the tension and longing in their own way.
The song’s lyrics are often regarded as some of the most underrated in the New Order catalogue. Its opening line, “Every time I think of you / I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue,” perfectly captures the mix of desire, vulnerability, and pain that runs through the track. Bernard Sumner has rarely been praised as a great lyricist in the same way as his contemporaries, yet lines like these reveal a poetic sensitivity beneath the band’s electronic sheen. Combined with the track’s pulsating synths, layered melodies, and Peter Hook’s distinctive basslines, 'Bizarre Love Triangle' epitomises the sound of 1980s synth pop while also pushing beyond it, making it one of the most enduring and influential songs of the decade.
‘Technique’ is the album where New Order fully embraced the Balearic Beat and Acid House sound of the late 1980s. Partly recorded in Ibiza, it soaked up the atmosphere of the island’s club scene and reflected the explosion of electronic dance music happening across Europe at the time. Unlike many of their earlier records, which leaned heavily on post-punk and synth pop, 'Technique' blends euphoric dance beats with the band’s trademark melancholy and sharp lyricism. The result is an album that feels both of its time and timeless, and it stands out as one of the very best New Order albums, reaching the number one spot on the UK Albums Chart in 1989.
‘Run’ was released as the album’s final single and is often seen as a more traditional New Order track compared to the pulsating hedonism of Fine Time or the shimmering electronic drive of Round & Round. With its jangly guitar lines and heartfelt delivery, ‘Run’ bridges the gap between the band’s post-punk roots and their late ’80s embrace of dance culture, showing that New Order were still masters of melody even as they pushed deeper into electronic territory. The song has a reflective, bittersweet quality that stands in contrast to the more hedonistic singles from Technique, almost serving as a reminder of the band’s emotional core beneath the layers of electronic experimentation. Its chiming guitars and melancholic lyrics give it a timeless feel, making it one of the most underrated New Order songs of the late 1980s.
In 1990, John Denver's publishing company, Cherry Hill Music, filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Publishing, alleging that the guitar break in 'Run' too closely resembled Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane". Denver was allegedly unaware of the lawsuit while it took place. The case was settled out of court, with their agreement stating that New Order should never re-release 'Run ' in its original form. The song has since been credited to New Order and John Denver.
The fourth single released by the band it's the first time we hear the band transition from their post punk roots fully and embrace pop. It's the band's first great pop song. Bernard Sumner finally finds his voice, settling into his own singing style, and the guitars and synths intertwine.
The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau described the original version of 'Temptation' as being "where Manchester's finest stop hearing ghosts and stake their claim to a danceable pop of unprecedented grimness and power," noting that it was "the first real song this sharp-cornered sound-and-groove band has ever come up with."
Without 'Temptation', New Order never get to 'Blue Monday' in terms of the band's career; it is arguably their most important single. Not only did it mark a new beginning for a band lost at sea, but it also laid the foundation for a whole era of British dance music, establishing Manchester as an unlikely incubator of UK rave culture.
‘Temptation’ wouldn’t have existed without two important influences: Martin Hannett and New York club culture. Hannett had shown New Order how to use studio technology, allowing them to craft their increasingly synth-dominated songs without the need for a producer. This new knowledge coincided with a trip to America in 1981, during which the band were introduced to the synthetic beats of Italian disco pioneers like Giorgio Moroder.
At this time, dance music producers were developing an affinity with drum machines and sequencers, using them to create impossible metrical beats. Inspired by the intoxicatingly inhuman sound of clubland, Morris began teaching himself drum programming and applying what he’d learned to New Order tracks like ‘Everything’s Gone Green’ and, of course, ‘Temptation.’
The opening track to the band's second album, 'Power, Corruption & Lies'. New Order's first major statement, and arguably the band's most important and pivotal album. It's the record where the band began to seamlessly integrate electronica and the cutting-edge dancefloor sounds of the day into their trademark, guitar-driven post-punk sound. As Stephen Morris told the NME, the record marked the point when the group “stopped being Joy Division and found a new direction through the means of technology and dance music”.
'Age Of Consent' is the album's opening statement, introduced by Peter Hook's swooping bassline. The song embraces the old and the new; it sees the band step out of the shadows of Joy Division, but also makes reference to the band that started it all for them. Stephen Morris's drumming sounds very post-punk, the hi-hat-heavy drum beat, which was sampled from 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'.
Gillian Gilbert's lush keyboard refrain moves New Order into new territories.
In another post, I describe this song as the sound of Manchester. It feels industrial, melancholic yet also punchy, anthemic and life-affirming. For a city that has faced its hardship, written by a band that had also faced their own difficulties, it's an anthem of defiance and the ideal opener for their magnum opus.