There's an inexplicable pattern in the fallout following the death or otherwise exit of a band's most influential contributor. The members that remain almost invariably move toward a more poppy, mass-appeal kind of sound. When Syd Barrett's mental condition declined to full-on disability in the late 1960's, Pink Floyd went on to make significantly more accessible music than they had with Barrett in the lead. After Kurt Cobain's suicide, Dave Grohl of Nirvana went on to form The Foo Fighters, who are arguably the exact kind of corporate rock that Cobain hated. It even happens in less high-profile shakeups, like when Connor Oberst left The Faint and the band subsequently embraced a much more dancey sound. Listening to New Order and comparing their work to their earlier iteration as Joy Division, it's often hard to remember that they are essentially the same band. There are still glimmers of Ian Curtis here and there, but pop's most iconic baritone certainly wouldn't have stood for what New Order eventually became.

• Ceremony

This is one of the few verifiable Curtis-penned songs that wound up on New Order's discography. The only proper recording of "Ceremony", unfortunately, has Bernard Sumner on vocals. I still think the New Order version of the song is excellent, one of their best actually, but the completist in me wants an Ian Curtis version better than the shoddily recorded live rendition that exists in Joy Division's lesser rarities.

• Crystal

I like to compare this track from 2001's rather good comeback album Get Ready to New Order's older music. Sure, it's a very slick, of-its-time recording, but strip away the layers of production and flourishes of electronica, what remains is maybe what Joy Division would have sounded like in the 21st century.

• ICB
• Leave Me Alone
• Doubts Even Here

Parts of Movement from 1981 are downright funereal and it's obvious that New Order hadn't quite found their new direction yet. Bernard Sumner is still doing his Ian Curtis impression and the overall sound is as dark as one might expect. It wasn't until the 1983 follow-up, Power, Corruption & Lies, that New Order landed on the style that would define most of their work.

• Procession
• Senses
• Sunrise
• The Him

I still don't think New Order ever totally kicked the underground habit, though. I absolutely adore this strange, atmospheric track, especially for the wild nightmare to which it builds in its final moments. The unusual drumming is disorienting and there's some excellent sound engineering here. It's one of the first examples of that signature New Order guitar jangle that, while it got significantly more upbeat in subsequent recordings, is nonetheless unmistakable.

• The Truth
• Turn My Way

By the time Get Ready came out, New Order had long cemented itself in the pop canon that inspired some of the better bands of the 90's. Here Billy Corgan plays guitar and contributes vocals. While I can't say it feels all that necessary, I like it anyway.

• Confusion (pump panel reconstruction mix)

This remix comes from (the rest of) New Order, a companion release to their Best Of compilation and, yes, was prominently featured in Blade. The original "Confusion" is a fairly standard recording from the band's middle period and has jack-all to do with this pulsing house track. Still, I enjoy the remix. New Order always had a foot in the club scene and a significant amount of money in one particular club, Factory Records' Hacienda.

I'll back later this week to look at the work New Order recorded in the mid-80's and early 90's when they departed from their Joy Division roots. Until then, listen well.