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Killing Joke (Remastered)

Killing Joke

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Album Review

Since 1980, there have been a hundred bands who sound like this; but before Steve Albini and Al Jourgensen made it hip, the cold metallic throb of Killing Joke was exciting and fresh. The harshly sung vocals riding over the pulsating synth lines of the opener "Requiem" have a vigor and passion that few imitators have managed to match. The precise riffs and tight rhythms found in songs like "Wardance" would influence a generation of hardcore musicians; yet "The Wait," with its thrashing guitars and angry vocals, would find itself covered on a Metallica album only six years later. That such a bleak and furious album could have such a widespread influence is a testament to its importance. Certain parts of the album have not dated well; the vocals and drums are mixed in such a way that they lose some of their effectiveness, and the fact that so many other bands have used this same formula does take some of the visceral feeling away. But this is an underground classic and deserves better than its relative unknown status. Fans of most kinds of heavy music will probably find something they like about this band, and this is a good a place as any to start the collection. [This U.K. version of the album contains bonus material.]

Customer Reviews

Where it all began

This is one of those albums that set the blueprint for much of what came after. Like The Velvet Underground and Nico, or The Stooges "Raw Power" or The Ramones, this album, and the band behind it, would influence countless who came after them. And much like The Stooges or VU, they were not, and still are not, regarded by the general public in a manner fitting them. In a perverted way, I am somewhat glad in that in the way that only a trainspotting muso like myself could. But the sound, the feel, the simply underlying menace of it all, should be heard by as many people as possible. When the kids say, "y'know, I don't think that I am getting full musical satisfaction from what MTV and Fuse are saying is good music. What should I listen to," I suggest this, and the scales fall from their eyes. Better this than the Grateful Dead, that's for sure.

hypnotic album

I was 20 years old when this album originally came out in 1980. I remember buying it not knowing what it sounded like but I thought the cover was interesting. This is a very hypnotic album meaning, I don't recommend listening to it while driving as you will lose your concentration and maybe wind up in a car accident. The pulse of this album is relentless throughout. I saw them live at the Whiskey a Go-Go club in Los Angeles right around the same time. They sounded just like the record. hypnotic. good album but I have to be in a certain mood to listen to it all the way through. Not exactly feel good music, a little dark and angry but still their is a place for that too.

An overlooked and influential classic.

Angry, cold, metallic, industrial, and even a little gothic, this classic stands as Killing Joke's finest manifesto and a truly original album.

Biography

Formed: 1978

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s

Heavy and slow, Killing Joke (at least early in their career) were a quasi-metal band dancing to a tune of doom and gloom. They eventually became less heavy and more arty (the latter seems almost impossible) — more danceable even — but early on they made some urgent slabs of molten dynamite that oozed with the power of thick guitars, thudding drums, and over the top singing. The origins of Killing Joke lie in the Matt Stagger Band. Paul Ferguson was drumming for the group when he met...
Full Bio

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