My Top 1000 Songs #828: Isolation

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Barely two years after Joy Division supposedly scrapped the initial stab at the debut album that would evolve into Unknown Pleasures because they didn't like their punk sound being diluted by the post-production addition of synthesizers... and here they are, going full-fledged synth-pop. Or at least about as synth-pop as the Ian Curtis-helmed combo could go, meaning it's still pretty damn dark. 

Musically, "Isolation"--the third pick off 1980's Closer, which despite my slight preference for Unknown Pleasures is much more heavily represented on this list--is probably the closest the band came to approximating the keyboard-dominated sound that they'd explore as New Order after Curtis' death--is there even a guitar to be heard here? And talk about a testament to the wonder of Peter Hook's bass! 

Lyrically, of course, it's still firmly in Joy Division territory: "Mother, I tried, please believe me. I'm doing the best that I can. I'm ashamed of the things I've been put through. I'm ashamed of the person I am."

Yeah, not a lot of smiles here. But such sprightly music! And when the electronic drums, low in the mix, are double-tracked with an explosive snare in the final verse, it's pure catharsis.

Live 1980:

New Order spent their first decade or two ignoring the Joy Division catalog... but here they are taking on "Isolation" in 1998:

New Order 1998 Peel Session:

Peter Hook, here in San Francisco a couple years back:

Interesting, low-key cover from Carissa's Wierd (the band that would, in part, evolve into Band of Horses):

A more blistering take from Therapy:

Surprisingly faithful cover, with cool video, from The Tea Party: