The seminal record from the synthpop pioneers turns 39 today.

"Their nicest record ever"

~Robert Christgau

What's a band to do when it loses its primary writer/driving force? Do they carry on in an altered state? Start over in a new direction? A little of both? That's what the members of Joy Division faced following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis.

They went with option C, adding Gillian Gilbert on keyboards, renaming themselves new Order, and shifting from punk to a more electronic synth-infused sound.

If their first post-Joy Division record, Movement, was a statement of mourning, Power, Corruption, & Lies represents rebirth. In between the two, the band released 3 blindingly good singles: Everything's Gone Green, Temptation, and what would become the best-selling 12" record of all time, Blue Monday.

“Having done those previous singles on our own, that’s when we knew what we really wanted it to sound like...We then wanted to move it along in our own way rather than how a producer might want to. We were left alone and came up with our own sound.”

~Gilian Gilbert

What they came up with was unlike anything else at the time. The record opens with "Age of Consent," with its unforgettable riffs and a relentless drumbeat that may or may not have been knicked from a Joy Division song.

5-8-6 is a preview of what House Music would become. "Ecstasy" sounds as if Giorgio Moroder sat in for a session or two.

Christgau might've been playing cute when he described the album as "nice," but it truly is an excellent record to listen to and has earned its way onto countless "best of" lists, including Rolling Stone's Top 500 albums of all time.