A dream release for the Killing Joke faithful, this 2008 compilation collects the first four sessions the band did for the legendary BBC Radio DJ John Peel plus a bonus session recorded for Richard Skinner's program. The years covered are 1979 to 1981, so this isn't the usual career-spanning Peel comp, but it does follow the band as they evolve from a tribal post-punk unit that could have been signed to the esoteric Factory to an apocalyptic metal group that often landed in the pages of metal mag Kerrang!. Raw versions of the big, important numbers from the time -- "Wardance," "Complication," "The Fall of Because," and "Tension" -- are all here to illustrate the change. These under-produced alternatives either equal or better their official album counterparts but what's revelatory are the rare numbers like "Malicious Boogie" where the band play cowbell-driven, no wave funk as if they were Medium Medium or Liquid Liquid. Liner notes from Alex Paterson, who was a Killing Joke roadie before he was the Orb, speak to these experimental years with stories of guitarist Geordie's Wall of Sound and bassist Youth playing the "Rapper's Delight" 12" repeatedly. While it's a sliver of the longstanding band's history, anyone with a taste for their early years will be thrilled by this thorough, well-presented set.
Killing Joke The Singles Collection 1979-2012 CD1/CD2/CD3
Saying that a Killing Joke best of album is going to be good is like saying that the sun is going to rise in the morning. It’s inevitable in both cases. On Spinefarm’s 3-disc The Singles Collection 1979-2012 fans of their earlier post-punk anthems can join together with fans of the heavier band the mid to late ’90’s saw them become. If you’re not a fan already then this is the perfect introduction because in addition to the 2-disc best of portion you also get a bonus disc of unreleased material and it’s definitely on par with some of the bands’ finest work.
For me, it’s a toss up between the main two discs. Disc one is all of the undeniable “classics” but disc two is the album that has the songs that made me a fan as “Millennium” was the song that enticed me almost 20 years ago. Can you really compare a song like “War Dance” and “Requiem” to “Pandemonium” or “European Super State”? Of course not. The beauty of the Killing Joke catalog though is that at its core, the same band exists no matter how much they’ve evolved over the years.
The perfect example would be taking a listen to the dub/reggae influence on Disc 1’s album opener “Nervous System” (Which is over 30 years old, mind you) and hearing the similarities between a recent song like “Ghost Of Ladbroke Grove” off 2010’s Absolute Dissent. If that’s not a clear testament of Killing Joke sticking to their roots no matter how much they’ve inevitably expanded their sound over the years then I don’t know what is.
For disc three’s gems there’s the throbbing “Drug” and “Hollywood Babylon” which came out of an era that saw KJ lean towards a more dance oriented sound and one of my all time favorites, “Zennon”, which came from the 2003 Killing Joke sessions which are the immediate standouts. There’s also the Burton Bell (Fear Factory) led “Our Last Goodbye” and some great Absolute Dissent outtakes (“Feast Of Fools” and “Timewave”)
Killing Joke’s second album builds on the style of their first. Heavy, tribal drums and gut-wrenching, deep-as-the-ocean, dub bass lines, combined with jagged guitars and the most melodically shouted vocals ever to grace any form of rock. The formula is the same but a higher production budget and / or more experience in the studio has led to a far more polished sound – but when I say polished, I don’t mean polished like a marble statue or a beach-washed pebble, oh no! this is polished like cut-glass; polished like a bayonet! To understand the impact of their first few albums, you really need an insight into the England of the times. Thatcherism was in its first flush. Unemployment was at an all-time high. The rich / poor divide was getting more pronounced by the hour. Add to this the fact that the cold war was still at its height; nuclear destruction a very real prospect to many. Killing Joke reflected the fear, anger and despair of society’s dispossessed better than anyone. The album opens with a bass drum beat. Inviting you to dance? Or to march? You choose. Geordie’s guitar joins the party with one of his sublime riffs; trebly, overdriven, edgy and discordant. To see him play live, nonchalantly strumming as he leans against a speaker stack, cigarette dangling from his mouth, it’s hard to understand how he plays with such cutting precision – such is genius I suppose. Youth’s bass slips in as the drumbeat goes tribal, so low that you feel it in your spine rather than hear it (sub-woofers were made for music like this), and we’re off into another KJ classic. Tension is even better, one of their finest tracks, non-stop pummelling drums, a swooping, fretless bass, chugging guitar and Jaz’s unmistakeable voice, “and the tension builds” – it certainly does. Unspeakable has almost Adam Ant style drumming and funky bass with a distorted guitar washing over everything. Butcher begins with the first noticeable synth on the album – a machine pulse that continues throughout the song. This song also illustrates one of KJ’s trademarks, the vocal free chorus.Follow the Leader is probably the most typical KJ song of the time – it also marked their first entry into the mainstream charts – reaching number 55 as a double A side with Tension. Madness has one of the best, most abrasive Geordie riffs on the album and anti-clown Jaz and drummer Paul Henderson (who provided quite a few backing vocals on the early albums) both shouting “This is Madness” throughout. Once again, an instrumental break replaces any true chorus. Who Told You How is the only piece of filler on the album (and the only reason it doesn’t get a 10) – it would have made an OK B-side to a single but lacks enough direction to work on the album – especially when you compare the tracks that it’s competing with – nice bass from Youth though. The album finishes with Exit, there are elements of the later single Eighties here and some nice offbeat stabs on guitar and bass in the verse. Once again, there is no real chorus, just a drawn out echo of the last line of the verse over an instrumental break.
After stalling a bit with their 1982 album Revelations, Killing Joke nearly split up, with lead singer Jaz Coleman disappearing to Iceland in order to "survive the apocalypse." By the time Coleman returned to the band, bassist Youth was gone and replaced by Paul Raven, a perfect fit who would stay on board as the band found its way up the charts over the next few releases. As a reaction to all these comings and goings, this is a decidedly tribal album that opens with a track called "The Gathering," follows it with the "join the mob" anthem "Fun & Games," and features words like "we" and "us" throughout the album. The ultimate communal moment, "Let's All Go (To the Fire Dances)," is also the key track, with guitarist Geordie Walker bouncing between crunching barre chords and a Duane Eddy-on-steroids riff while Raven and drummer Paul Ferguson throb like a veteran rhythm section. Even if Coleman's lyrics are filled with venom as always, he's rounding up allies to fight the system here and considering the idea of connecting with his audience rather than just confronting them. Fire Dances bridges Killing Joke's primal past with their more melodic, accessible future and without compromising any of their thunder
"Night Time" was when Killing Joke made the transition from their raw post-punk sound of the first four albums and entered the domain of new wave! One might assume that this move was made strictly on commercial basis, since the punk scene was almost completely crushed by 1985 while the new wave era was just entering its more mature state. Still, just as I mentioned in the review of the band's debut album, Killing Joke have rarely adopted foreign influences to their sound without being completely certain that they would be put to good use. The album's opening title track is easily one of my top 5 favorite Killing Joke compositions. It features a steady beat perfectly complemented by the bass and guitar sounds, which makes it seem like a not so distant relative of the brilliant David Bowie track "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)". The first 10 seconds of "Darkness Before Dawn" always reminds me of the Sparks track "Your Call's Very Important To Us. Please Hold." (from Lil' Beethoven) even though the rest of the composition is anything but a Sparks show! The track is very dark, slightly gothic while still keeping the rhythm surprisingly energetic all throughout its five minutes running time. I should probably mention that this album was one of the band's biggest hits and its popularity can pretty much be summed up by the song "Love Like Blood". This is as new wave as Killing Joke would get on this record and considering the overall high quality of all these eight compositions, it's only natural that this slightly softer track would appeal to the general audience at the time. I'm not really a huge fan of "Love Like Blood" but I can definitely see the appeal. "Kings And Queens" and especially "Tabazan" is where we once again get back to the heavy post-punk sound with the latter being very close to the industrial metal label that Killing Joke would be labeled under throughout the '90s and on. "Multitudes" and "Europe" continue the new wave sound of "Love Like Blood" but with more energy added to the mix. Even though I appreciate the effort, these two tracks end up not feeling as memorable as the rest of the material on "Night Time". "Eighties" ends the album on another upbeat note and it's pretty difficult for me to listen to this track without feeling like Killing Joke got a raw deal when Nirvana's "Come As You Are" became a huge hit, while this little gem remained a forgotten piece of '80s memorabilia. That's all I'm gonna say about this whole controversy. "Night Time" was my introduction to Killing Joke and I honestly could not have asked for a better start to this highly rewarding relationship! Unfortunately I cannot give this record the 5/5 rating due to the fact that 'the band' would only get better in the next few years