I’m going to adopt a “no firm opinion” stance on whether Joy Division or New Order were more original or influential.
Not least because they are essentially the same band.
I recall watching something a while back (maybe a year ago) where there was a comment that stuck with me, I think it might have been Stephen Morris talking about a comment somebody made to him, where it was commented that Joy Division “sound like Manchester”. There was a reply “That’s stupid, how can music sound like Manchester?” But the comment sunk in with him and he started to see how, yes, Joy Division sounded like Manchester.
I think Joy Division might be the most influential group of all in British music. You can see their influence so obviously in a direct musical sense in The Cure, U2, Simple Minds etc.
But then New Order might be the most influential British group of all time because they were at the very heart of bringing electronic dance music into the mainstream in this part of the world both through making it themselves and through opening the most influential club there has ever been and ever will be on earth.
The period between 1989 and 1991 when dance was fusing with rock and indie and whatever you’re having yourself were perhaps the peak years in all of music history. You had several key albums released in that period. Screamadelica, Loveless, Achtung Baby, Pills N Thrills N Bellyaches, and some of the Stone Roses non-album output. Maybe a few songs The Cure did around then too. All of these were essentially attempts to fuse the style of Joy Division with the style of New Order.
New Order were better because they have more great songs because they were around for longer.
But again, it’s the same band.
Johan Cruyff might not have been the greatest footballer ever, but he’s probably the most influential football man. You could make a similar argument for Joy Division/New Order in terms of influence.