The most critically acclaimed post-punk song of the 1980s, according to science
Safety pins, buzzsaw guitars, and a snarling attitude of anti-authority, punk rock exploded onto the musical landscape during the mid-1970s, but its shimmering flame only burned for a short while. Inevitably, there are only so many songs you can create with a manifesto of ‘here’s three chords, now form a band’, so by the end of 1977, many first-wave punks had moved on from the unsuspectingly tight confines of the genre.
Rising from those ashes came the expansive world of post-punk, marked by an equally subversive anything-goes attitude but with an innovative sense of musical experimentation to back that attitude up.
One of the most diffuse genre identifiers out there, post-punk has no real musical parameters. In one way or another, any style influenced by punk could, to some degree, be considered post-punk. However, that criteria could apply to everything from the 2 Tone ska of The Specials to the pioneering pop of Madonna. Generally, the music that is accepted under the post-punk umbrella perpetuated the DIY ethos and grassroots nature of punk while incorporating much more experimental, wide-reaching sounds.
Bands like Joy Division, The Slits, Gang Of Four, and Wire tend to define the first age of post-punk, despite all boasting vastly different sounds themselves. Together, these groups reflected one of the most inventive and exciting periods British grassroots music has ever witnessed, and their profound influence continues to be felt in the current crop of post-punk, indie, and alternative outfits carrying on the torch.
Despite their pioneering quality, however, these groups routinely evaded any degree of mainstream or commercial success. Just like the punk movement which preceded it, post-punk existed in direct opposition to the musical mainstream; a band like The Slits was never going to pander to the wants and desires of the music industry, and an appearance on Top of the Pops might as well have been an act of treason.
In many cases, in fact, the most iconic and beloved post-punk bands were almost completely ignored during their initial tenure. Joy Division, for instance, never made it beyond sparse crowds at small, dingy clubs around the north of England, yet Unknown Pleasures is now hailed around the world as being one of the most important, influential, and iconic albums to ever grace the airwaves. During its peak, post-punk was the reserve of true musical obsessives and underground heroes, but select tracks have since been adopted by the mainstream.
Even science must now bow down to the dominance of post-punk’s enduring impact, as data analysed by Acclaimed Music suggests that Joy Division’s defining track ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ it the most critically acclaimed post-punk song of the 1980s, and only falls one place behind Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ as the most acclaimed song of the decade in general.
Originally released in 1980, shortly after the tragic suicide of frontman and songwriter Ian Curtis, ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ quickly became an anthem of remembrance for Curtis, as well as a defining moment in the post-punk landscape. The single topped the indie charts of the time, and even managed to reach 13 in the UK singles chart, their first and only song to break into the charts during the lifetime of the band.
More than its commercial success, however, the song has also been lauded by virtually every music critic and fan under the sun, and rightly so. It captures everything that was so exciting, subversive, and innovative about the post-punk boom, and reflects the unique Martin Hannett sound of Joy Division during those Factory Records years. It is no surprise, therefore, that science and data analysis have deemed it the most critically acclaimed post-punk song of the 1980s.
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