Killing Joke, anyone..?

[Master Ray]

A friend of mine recommended me KJ's most recent album, 'Pylon', which I'm listening to at the moment and is just superb.  I really need to investigate this band further.

Now, I'm not a complete KJ newbie (I've previously owned 'Brighter Than A Thousand Suns', 'Pandemonium', 'Killing Joke (2003)' and 'Democracy') and am aware of other stuff they've done.  But they seem to be a band that I've somehow muchly skipped over when I should have been delving deep into their oeuvre.  I love to hear great music that is new to me.  These days, as an old bugger, I struggle to find 'new' acts that tickle my fancy, so 'acts that I've overlooked' it is!   

Sidenote.  I did once see KJ live, Finsbury Park 1991 (?) when they were third on the bill behind The Mission and NMA (Henry Rollins played fourth) but I was so immensely, heroically drunk that I remember nothing about it!   

So.  Any of you lovely lot got any favourite albums / songs / opinions?  Love or hate Killing Joke?  Anything?  I'm always looking to fall in love with some music and Killing Joke might just be my new ticket...   

[Pol]

Last l.p. I heard was pandemonium n didn't like it, If memory serves me right it was too fast n full on for me , so didn't bother with them after that

[dilla]

Absolute Dissent is brilliant IMHO

[Raven]

Absolutely Killing Joke are probably my favourite band after NMA. But like NMA there's a vast back catalogue with some sketchy releases. I've given up buying their stuff at least twice only to discover they've gone and released something that becomes one of my favourite albums.

must have albums...

the first album self titled Killing Joke
What's This For...!
Night Time
Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions (Martin Atkins on drums)
another self titled album Killing Joke 2003 (With Dave Grohl on drums - this is epic)

the last three albums are sort of a trilogy
and in my opinion just get better

Absolute Dissent
MMXII
Pylon

Other albums are good in part I like  Revelations, Pandemonium, Brighter Than A Thousand Suns, Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell.

avoid...
Outside The Gate

Hope this helps and you enjoy discovering some of this. Like I say I put them right up there with NMA.

Oh by the way there's an excellent documentary about the band called The Death And Resurrection Show that gives a great insight into the band ethos and history that I'd recommend.

[Whirlwind]

If you want to hear the greatest Killing Joke song of all time, cue up "The Wait" -- the version done by Metallica!!!

[Rusco]

What can you say? They're excellent. A top band. I have Firedances and Brighter Than Thousand Suns albums. Personally I prefer more early stuff like songs such as Eighties, Wait and probably Firedances album. But there's also some nice, soft things on Brighter than album too.

I've heard Pandemonium was a top album and they're maybe  quite tough sounding nowadays compared to 80's neoromantic disco thing.

We had to go see them at a gig and paid the tix in early 2000's. They cancelled the gig as their vocalist was having issues and went to hospital. But glad to hear they're doing well now and still kicking.

[Raven]

If you want to hear the greatest Killing Joke song of all time, cue up "The Wait" -- the version done by Metallica!!!

opinion not valid

[Master Ray]

If you want to hear the greatest Killing Joke song of all time, cue up "The Wait" -- the version done by Metallica!!!

Still here, Space?   

[Master Ray]

Thanks for your posts, I now know I need to delve deep into the Killing Joke universe... keep any recommendations coming!

 

[Whirlwind]

Even though the best Killing Joke song is done by Metallica, Killing Joke is still a top band.

They had a very distinct sound. You'd hear a song and instantly say, "Man, that's Killing Joke." It was Geordie the guitarist. He had a very unique tone. Big Gibson hollow body guitar played with a hell of a lot of reverb and chorus....he definitely had a signature sound.

They had some great songs. Two that kind of encapsulate the band quite well and two I really loved were:
"Fire Dances" - a mad rush of excitement
"Birds Of A Feather" - tribal rhythms with that signature Geordie tone along with a catchy chorus

And the band does have one hell of an iconic song. Killing Joke sure hit it out of the ballpark with their masterpiece "Eighties."

[Isaac(Black Eagle Rising)]

KJ is a great band.I owe Brighter Than A Thousand Suns L.P and reading here I realized I have a great archieve of Killing Joke on flac but really not listened enough and decided to revisit them all now.So thanks to Master Ray.Yes The Wait is a great song and good cover by Metallica but in my opinion Love Like Blood is also a very very fascinating song.

[Red]

Listened to the early stuff back in the day, seems as though I need to trawl Ebay and Discogs for more

[Darkness]

I've been listening to them since the early 80's, love the first 4 or 5 albums, Wardance and Empire song are probably my fave songs.

[Guillaume]

So.  Any of you lovely lot got any favourite albums / songs / opinions?  Love or hate Killing Joke?

I'm a bit mixed about this band, sometimes too agressive sounding (the guitars) to my tastes!
There are still songs that i like, this one for example:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9TxkrdPPx0

Also "love like blood" great song! "Eighties", "Millenium", "the wait", "tomorrow's world", "european super state"...

NMA has often been compared to Killing Joke but i tend to like more Justin's songrwriting, not always on the agressive/heavy mood...Justin is a big fan of Killing Joke, i remember reading it many times through the interviews.

[Tony S]

Sidenote.  I did once see KJ live, Finsbury Park 1991 (?) when they were third on the bill behind The Mission and NMA (Henry Rollins played fourth) but I was so immensely, heroically drunk that I remember nothing about it!   

So.  Any of you lovely lot got any favourite albums / songs / opinions?  Love or hate Killing Joke?  Anything?  I'm always looking to fall in love with some music and Killing Joke might just be my new ticket...   

Hey Master Ray, I was at Finsbury Park too ! That was actually the first time I saw NMA live, even though I'd liked them since the first album. There was also another band called Bleach who opened things up. I do remember Henry Rollins as he certainly had presence shall we say. Oddly I don't remember much about Killing Joke's set either, and I wasn't drunk !
You can find the setlists for The Mission and New Model Army here - the Army's set was fantastic (but look what the first song was    )

I've only got one Killing Joke album, the LP version of Eighties which is superb. I've often thought I ought to check out more of their stuff too, so this is an interesting thread