Month: October 2009

A greatest hits compilation. The only reason I bought it was to get the tracks “Turn to Red” and “Pssyche” on CD. Otherwise, nothing new here.

A great collection of singles and extended mixes from the EG years. I had a few of these on 7″ vinyl and it was nice to get clean versions on CD.

Killing Joke proves they can still crank up the angst on yet another “comeback” album. There’s no innovation here, but the songs are fast, loud, angry and everything you’d hope to get from Killing Joke after two decades of music. Dave Grohl provides the slightly-better-than-a-drum-machine guest drums.

Very much along the same lines as Pandemonium but something doesn’t quite click here. Maybe the cleaner production reveals the limitations of the session-cat rhythm section. Or maybe it’s that they haven’t added anything new to their songs. Up until now, each Killing Joke record seem to be a natural progression from the last. From this point on they are on auto pilot.

Having veered off course for a few records, this CD seems like the natural progression from Thousand Suns. The band is heavy as ever, but the songs are awash with synthesizers and house music elements. At times the production is just too messy and the guitars get lost, but, on the whole, a solid release.

It took Martin Atkins pounding drums to knock some sense back into Jaz Coleman. The band conscientiously returned to its more brutal side to atone for Outside the Gate. At the time of its release, this CD was ranked as one of the band’s best, but it hasn’t aged that well. There are a bit too many nods to the industrial rock bands that KJ inspired and the record seems dated. Still, if you were a fan of industrial, you will like this.

Okay, this is hands-down Killing Joke’s worst album. It’s not so much that it is a bad record, it is just not what you want from Killing Joke. Apparently it was originally supposed to be a Jaz Coleman solo record but the label made the band release it as a Killing Joke album. I remember liking a few of the songs, but a rap breakdown in the middle of a track? Truly cringe worthy.

Killing Joke took everything that was great about Nightime’s “Love Like Blood” and ran with it on this release. There’s a tinge of schmaltz here, and many hardcore fans lost interest in the band at this point, but I love this album. This is true metal music for the dance floor.