I like The Smiths and the lyrics are so bittersweet yet their music doesn't come close to the feelings I get when I listen to JD.

JD are one of the few bands that take me somewhere else with their music. I'm not quite sure where but it's a place that's their own and that's all that I can ask for. Day Of The Lords makes me want to delete over 3,500 albums and just put that song on repeat. It's that good.

The Smiths, simply because Morrissey was a huge influence on my favorite modern lyricist, Jesse Lacey.

Is that the only reason?

As much as I like Joy Division (and rt's description of them as "dealing in industrial misery"), the Smiths are my favourite band so it's obvious where my loyalties lie. I'm not going to present any great exposition on them as I feel it would degenerate into sheer fanboyism. So I'll simply say that they've played a massive part in my life in the last few years, I still obsessively listen to them, and to this day I'm stunned that fate could bring together four musicians so fantastic and give them such chemistry. Oh, and Andy Rourke is my bassist idol.

It's clips like this that make you realise the Smiths were one of a kind. They did their own thing and I love them for it.

No, of course not. I find Morrissey's voice a lot more pleasing than Curtis'. Also, though I dig the lyrics on most Joy Division songs, I find that listening to the instrumental side of their music is almost a chore. It's really boring.

I've been corrupted by Modern (00's onward) music :(

I like the Smiths, but I virtually never listen to them these days. Same with Joy Division, although they do get a little more airtime with me. If I could only have one song on my iTunes though it'd be Dead Souls, so Joy Division win for me.

Like both bands, but not a big fan.
I have to give a nod to Division.

Joy Division by a long way.

Not a fan of either, but I'd listen to the whole Smiths discography before I'd go through one Joy Division album.

JD had that hollow, deprived, cold and disaffected sound. Morrissey just whines over awesome reverbrrant electric folk cuz he doesn't sleep with anybody. That said they both wrote great songs about alienation and loneliness but their sounds were so different (despite JD being a major predecessor) that hailing one band over the other seems silly.

For participations sake (and this wasn't easy), I think I like JD more.