Killing Joke - Classic Or Dud, Search And Destroy

Sounds insane that some don't really rate this album but perhaps I'll know why when I hear the earlier ones.

It was Justin Broadrick's Baker's Dozen that got me to jump on Fire Dances.

thought this revive was cos of this article that an ex-ilm'r posted yesterday :

https://uk.lush.com/article/join-youth-club-why-killing-joke-deserve-kudos-post-punk-innovators

Honour the pie-er

https://piecaramba.bigcartel.com/product/official-jaz-coleman-killing-joke-pies

I can't tell if that's a piss-take or not...

No maggot option...

you know i think alex may have been onto something all these years.
just played "Absolute Dissent" through.
possibly the first time since i bought it, and it's f&cking brilliant.
maybe the world just needed to become as f*cked up as it is for their apocalyptical excess to make more sense.

'the raven king' : chills all over.
as good, if not better, than anything on 'night time'.

My take on Absolute Dissent at the time. Like Napalm Death, I’ll take 00’s Joke over the 80s version

https://web.archive.org/web/20101119023723/http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6070

Really great take. Thanks for sharing. 'Absolute Dissent' is such a killer, fun listen. Pushing me to watch the documentary on BezosPrime - though I'm wondering if that will be a buzz kill take. Last two shows I had tix for, for their American tours were cancelled, but the one time I saw em is pretty burned on my brain.

But Killing Joke is a confusing enterprise.

indeed.
thanks for the pointer re the review bendy.
hits the nail on the head.

2 1/2 hours for a documentary on KJ is about 45-60 minutes too long, but I might have a look at that thing sometime this weekend anyway.

I’ve watched about half the doc, it’s pretty illuminating. Convincing as to how nuts the whole crew is.

It's been some time since their last album, gotta figure Jaz is in full conspiracy theory freak out mode so he should be full of wild lyrics...

The doc would be a solid 70 mins if you subtracted the 'mystical' stuff, Jaz's sketchy colleagues that have nearly nothing to do with the band, and the relentless tinfoil hat eschatology. His Mum is A+ though.

Cool, I did not know about the documentary.

Received wisdom is that the first 3 albums are best but I dont think the debut was anywhere near as good as Fire Dances.

I just started listening to What's THIS for...! after years of only knowing the debut and a couple of later tracks. It's got a relentlessly bleak energy, but compared to the debut, it also seems like nobody except the drummer prepared anything before they started recording. It fits the mood of our times well enough, though.

I enjoyed the documentary and didn't mind all the colleagues because it seemed like they were all important to what Jaz was doing. My only real problem are the jumps forward and back in time that seemed to make no sense at all.

Imdb reviews all complain of bad sound mix obscuring the interviews but I never had a problem with this, maybe it was fixed later?

I've started watching this in 20 minute bits here and there and felt the sound recording was often pretty bad and the mix wasn't helping

The editor has done a great job of papering over the seemingly quite limited footage, but at this stage I'm really wanting to see more of the band in full flight

I suppose that's what YouTube is for

Loving the second album. Hard to imagine any other classic punk band coming ahead of them in my heart.

Still very fond of that documentary aside from the weird timeline jumping

I got tired of waiting for a new album so I compiled a bakers dozen of 21st century Jaz guest appearances and collaborations and, as the kids say, it smacks:

Transformations - Proměny (with Čechomor)
Molten (Tribazik)
Human Smile (Les Tambours Du Bronx)
Freedom Song (Levee Walkers)
Tears For The West (Levee Walkers)
Party In The Chaos (with Deflore)
Sunset In The West (with Deflore)
Transhuman World (with Deflore)
The Day The Earth Went Mad (with Ondrej Smeykal)
Perversión (Liquidarlo Celuloide)
Remembrance Day (K÷93)
Giving Up The Ghost (K÷93)
Scrying (K÷93)

What's This For is a great album to play loudly. From cassette if possible.

Really enjoying the Alex Paterson bio. Lots of great stories and details around the formation of Killing Joke and sister(?) band Brilliant.

Lol at the early stretch of this thread.

"Unspeakable" is so awesome

the first four posts of the invasion are so so classic

is that the actual *first* alex in nyc post???

i love ilm stuff like that, batman's origin story type shit

I believe my first post was this one...

Tom chirped: "And is it just me or are they not anywhere near as heavy-sounding as they're made out to be." I dare say that without Killing Joke, most of your precious "heavy sounding" bands wouldn't even exist. Killing Joke have indulged in a myriad of different musical styles and sounds well beyond the monochromatic "heavy," yet when they choose to go that route, there is no one mightier. To judge Killing Joke by one or two tracks is an excercise in blind-sighted stupidity. Do your homework before submitting an opinion! Moreover, if you're put off by the conceptual/lyrical content of Killing Joke, why not toddle home and slap on a Pixies or Cheap Trick album and celebrate the meaningless and banal. At least Killing Joke have something to say. You may not like it, agree with it...or even understand it....but at least there something of substance there. Killing Joke credit their audience with higher standards and a modicum of intelligence. Try getting that from Korn.

Angry young man, and all that.

But not wrong.

Well, not wrong about Killing Joke (although why I chose to lambast Cheap Trick and the Pixies in the process is a mystery -- I actually like both bands), but the things I have been wrong about since are countless and indefensible.

We all grow and change while still honoring the fire.

Although I will say if Jaz goes full covidiot lyrics on his next album, that will be a hard pass.

Although I will say if Jaz goes full covidiot lyrics on his next album, that will be a hard pass.

Yeah I fear there's a great likelihood of this.

It seems really odd that no one in this 20 year old thread has ever mentioned "Eighties" which I've always assumed is their most popular song (it's easily my favorite - the riff is incredible). So.. "EIGHTIES!"

Yeah, "Night Time" was my entry and my favorite from the 80s, but this band has such an interesting development arc that there are albums from each decade that are outstanding and could be argued to be their best:
90s - "Extremities, Dirt And Various Repressed Emotions"
00s - "Killing Joke 2003"
10s - "Absolute Dissent"

...as well as stylistic outliers like the acoustic "Democracy", the metal "Pandemonium", and the sludgy "Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell".

both self-titled albums (1980 and 2003) are my favorites

i'm still upset that they cancelled the 1 tour where i would have had the chance to see them live

Although I will say if Jaz goes full covidiot lyrics on his next album, that will be a hard pass.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, July 8, 2021 5:55 PM

Didn't know he'd taken this direction. Sad to hear.

the opposite of surprising, there's crank-y stuff littered all over even the 03 s/t (it fucking bangs though)

I don't think he has but, let's be frank about it, it seems more likely than not likely that he will.

Oh, I thought he must have said something about covid, nothing I can find

He's got a video on his YouTube channel ranting about Microsoft vaccines.

and there we have it, was bound to happen.
think i would be more shocked if Jaz took the vax with a massive grin on his face and posted such an image to his social media to be honest.

I do sort of admire the front of a guy who fled to Iceland to await the coming of the end times in 1982 just being like "here are my latest insights on epidemiology"

I think Jaz won't be happy until the world actually ends so he can say "I told you sooooooooooo!!!"

Killing Joke has some filthy grooves. I have always loved that repeating triplet on the one on the main beat from "The Fall of Because".

Jaz claims to have experienced COVID first hand, but has also been wresting with a few other, non-COVID-related issues. He's allegedly on the mend at the moment, though.

In terms of what he has to say about the pandemic, his accounts are characteristically fueled by what he considers his precognitive insight into the duplicitous machinations of world governments. He first said he'd never accept a compulsory vaccine, although I do not know how he feels about it now.

Last track of What's THIS For is a great big assault. Listening to the third album, love how it has been escalating.

"Revelations" is OK, the best bits are side A, the first 4 tracks of which are even better from a Peel session. I can't even bring to mind side B looking at the tracklist.

Pylon (Super Deluxe) showed up on release radar today and reminded me how much I liked this album.

PYLON has some great moments, my favorite being "Star Spangled."