New Order: Movement 12"

In 1981 New Order released their debut album, Movement, an LP which would go on to be viewed as one of the best album of the ‘80s. At the time of its release, however, it found the band between a rock and a hard place, trying to move forward while not dismissing the past, which proved to be a very difficult dance indeed. In the wake of Ian Curtis's suicide in May of 1980, the members of Joy Division had a decision to make: should they carry on without Curtis and continue using the same name or move forward as an all-new musical entity?

In the end, they chose the latter, renaming themselves New Order and continuing onward, but it was a strange time for Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris, to be sure, with many questions to be answered, first and foremost among them, "Who's going to be singing lead now?" All three gentlemen took their shot at the microphone, but it was Sumner who was ultimately chosen to step up and take over for Curtis. Offering the first glimpse of the pioneering hybrid sound which would go on to help redefine dance and rock music, the cathartic, Martin Hannett-produced Movement is highlighted by the darkly melodic stand-outs "Truth," "Denial" and "Dreams Never End."