Killing Joke

For other uses, see The Killing Joke (disambiguation).

Killing Joke are an English rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1978 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (bass).

Killing Joke
Killing Joke performing at the 2009 Ilosaarirock Festival. From left to right: Ferguson (background), Walker, Coleman, Youth
Background information
Origin	Notting Hill, London, England
Genres	Post-punk industrial rock gothic rock new wave
Years active	1978–1996 2002–present
Labels	Malicious Damage Island E.G. Polydor Virgin Noise Zoo Butterfly Big Life Zuma Cooking Vinyl Spinefarm
Members	Jaz Coleman Paul Ferguson Geordie Walker Youth
Past members	Paul Raven Martin Atkins Dave "Taif" Ball Geoff Dugmore Ben Calvert
Website	killingjoke.co.uk

Their first album, Killing Joke, was released in 1980. After the release of Revelations in 1982, bassist Youth was replaced by Paul Raven. The band achieved mainstream success in 1985 with both the album Night Time and the single "Love Like Blood".

The band's musical style emerged from the post-punk scene, but stood out due to their heavier approach, and has been cited as a key influence on industrial rock.^[1] Their style evolved over many years, at times incorporating elements of gothic rock,^[2] synth-pop and electronic music, often bearing Walker's prominent guitar and Coleman's "savagely strident vocals".^[1] Killing Joke have influenced many later bands and artists, such as Metallica, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden. Coleman and Walker have been the only constant members of the band, but the current line-up features all four original members.

History

Formative years (1978–1982)

Paul Ferguson was the drummer in the band Matt Stagger when he met Jaz Coleman (from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) in Notting Hill, London in late 1978. Coleman was briefly the keyboard player in that band. He and Ferguson then left to gradually piece together Killing Joke.^[3] In the following months, they placed advertisements in Melody Maker and other music papers. Guitarist Geordie Walker joined them in March 1979,^[4] followed by bassist Youth.^[5] The band was formed in June 1979.^[6] Coleman said their manifesto at the time was to "define the exquisite beauty of the atomic age in terms of style, sound and form".^[7] Coleman gave an explanation concerning their name: "The killing joke is like when people watch something like Monty Python on the television and laugh, when really they're laughing at themselves. It's like a soldier in the first world war. He's in the trench, he knows his life is gone and that within the next ten minutes he's gonna be dead ... and then suddenly he realises that some cunt back in Westminster's got him sussed - 'What am I doing this for? I don't want to kill anyone, I'm just being controlled'."^[8] The band played their debut gig on 4 August 1979 at Brockworth, Whitcombe Lodge supporting the Ruts and The Selecter.^[9]

By September 1979, shortly before the release of their debut EP, Turn to Red, they started the Malicious Damage record label with graphic artist Mike Coles as a way to press and sell their music.^[10] Island Records distributed the records (and released their debut single "Nervous System"), until Malicious Damage switched to E.G. Records with distribution through Polydor from 1980.^[5] Killing Joke's early material "fused together elements of punk, funk and dub reggae".^[11] Turn to Red came to the attention of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who was keen to champion the band's urgent new sound and gave them extensive airplay. In October 1979, the band recorded their first session for Peel's radio show. An NME concert review said that "their sound is a bit like early [Siouxsie and the] Banshees without the thrilling, amoral imagination".^[12] Concerning their live performances, it was said that "the only animation on stage is provided by Jaz who crouches behind his synthesizer, making forays like a Neanderthal man gripped by a gesturing, gibbering fury".^[12] The songs on the 1980 "Wardance/Pssyche" single were described as "heavy dance music" by the press.^[5] The band had changed their sound into something denser, more aggressive and more akin to heavy metal. Their debut album, Killing Joke, was released in October 1980; the band had considered calling it Tomorrow's World.^[5] The press started to criticize them for the lack of new material appearing on the B-sides of singles, which often featured different mixes.^[13] The group preferred to carry on working in the studio and released What's THIS For...! just eight months after Killing Joke, in June 1981. For this second album, they hired sound engineer Nick Launay, who had previously recorded with Public Image Ltd.^[14] They toured extensively throughout the UK during this time, with fans of post-punk and heavy metal taking interest in Killing Joke via singles such as "Follow the Leaders".^[7]

Killing Joke also became notorious largely due to the controversies that arose from their imagery. The images that appeared on their records and stage set were often bizarre and potentially shocking and inflammatory. Critics noted the band's black humour and the use of musical and visual shock tactics to create a reaction.^[13] The "Wardance" sleeve had already depicted Fred Astaire dancing in a war field.^[15] One promotional poster featured an original photo, erroneously believed to be of Pope Pius XI. The picture was of German abbot Alban Schachleiter walking among rows of Nazi brownshirts offering Hitler salutes and appearing to return the salute; it was later used for the cover of the band's compilation album Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!.

Revelations was recorded in 1982 in Germany near Cologne with producer Conny Plank, who had previously worked for Neu! and Kraftwerk.^[16] The album was supported by a pair of performances on BBC Radio's "The John Peel Show" and a slot on UK TV show Top of the Pops for "Empire Song". It was the first time that one of their albums had entered the top 20 of the UK Albums Chart: Revelations peaked at No. 12 at its release.^[17] Members of the band, especially Coleman, had become immersed in the occult, particularly the works of occultist Aleister Crowley. In February of that year, Coleman, with Walker following shortly after, moved to Iceland to survive the Apocalypse, which Coleman predicted was coming soon. While in Iceland, Coleman and Walker worked with musicians from the band Þeyr in the project Niceland. Youth, who had stayed in England, left the band after a few months.^[18] He then began the band Brilliant with Ferguson, but the latter defected and travelled to Iceland to rejoin Killing Joke with new bassist Paul Raven.

Paul Raven joins and new direction (1982–1988)

The new Killing Joke line-up recorded again with Plank, yielding the single "Birds of a Feather" and a six-track 10" EP Ha!, recorded live at Larry's Hideaway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in August. In 1983 the band released Fire Dances and its single, "Let's All Go (to the Fire Dances)", the first Killing Joke single to be promoted with a music video.^[19] Another non-album single, "Me or You?", was released in October.

The following year brought the arrival of producer Chris Kimsey, who had previously worked with the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. The first releases with Kimsey were "Eighties" (April 1984) and "A New Day" (July 1984).^[7] The band achieved mainstream success in January 1985 with the single "Love Like Blood", which blended goth and new wave to pop and rock;^[20] it peaked at No. 16 in the UK charts.^[21] In Europe, it reached the No. 5 position in the Netherlands and No. 8 in Belgium.^[22] This song and the earlier single "Eighties" were both included on their fifth album, Night Time, released later that year. The album took the band's songwriting in a more melodic, "anthemic" direction^[20][23] and reached No. 11 in the UK albums chart, their highest position to date.^[17] Night Time also became an international success, staying in the Dutch charts for nine weeks, reaching the top 10, and peaking at No. 8 in New Zealand during a 14-week stay.^[24] The band, still on the E.G. label, then quit their distribution deal with Polydor and signed a new one with Virgin Records.

The following album, Brighter than a Thousand Suns (1986) was also produced by Kimsey and saw the band's style develop further. The label rejected Kimsey's original mixes and had the album re-mixed against the wishes of the band, in an attempt to achieve more commercial success. The results have been retrospectively described as over-produced.^[20] Despite the intentions of the label, the album was a commercial failure compared to Night Time, failing to reach the top 50 in the UK charts.^[21] Its two singles fared little better: "Adorations" narrowly missed the UK Top 40 and "Sanity" peaked at number 70.^[25] However, the band continued touring successfully until the end of the year.^[7] Kimsey's original mixes of "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" were eventually restored on the 2008 re-release, to much more favourable response.^[20]

In 1987, Coleman and Walker began working on a new project, which was presented by Coleman and Walker as a studio project to the rest of the band. Raven took part in the sessions but ultimately asked for his name to be removed from the album credits.^[26] Ferguson recorded drums in Berlin but, according to Coleman, was dismissed because he wasn't able to manage the precise timings. Raven denied this version of events, stating, "I know Paul and when he does something he does it properly. If it wasn't right he would have stayed there 'til it was".^[26] Session player Jimmy Copley was brought in to provide the drumming on the album, along with percussion player Jeff Scantlebury. Raven and Ferguson quit Killing Joke shortly afterwards, with Raven purportedly calling Coleman and Walker "a pair of ego-strokers".^[26] Coleman then delivered a lecture at London's Courtauld Institute about his method behind the songs, expounding on its origins in gematria and the occult, while Walker and Scantlebury provided a minimal acoustic musical backing. A recording of this event was released as The Courtauld Talks.^[27]

The resulting album, Outside the Gate, released the following June, is Killing Joke's most controversial work to date due to its complex synth instrumentation and stylistic departure.^[28] It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 92 and stayed for just one week.^[29] No gigs were played in support of the album and it was not released in the USA. Virgin dropped the band two months later, by which time Coleman and Walker had become embroiled in a lengthy legal battle to extricate themselves from their contract with E.G.

Revised line-up (1989–1991)

Towards the end of 1988, Coleman and Walker revived the band and began looking for full-time bass players and drummers. First on board was drummer Martin Atkins, who had gained notability in Public Image Ltd. A suitable bass player proved more difficult. Former Smiths member Andy Rourke was hired, then dismissed after only three days. Eventually the band settled on Welsh bass player Dave "Taif" Ball, and played their first gigs in almost two years in December 1988.^[30] Touring continued across the UK, Europe and the US until August 1989, when the band took a break to record new material in Germany and allow Coleman time to record Songs from the Victorious City with Anne Dudley of Art of Noise.

For reasons that remain unclear, the German sessions were shelved and bass player Taif left the band. He was replaced by former member Paul Raven and the revised line-up began recording again, this time in London. The result was Killing Joke's eighth album, Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions, released on the German Noise International label in 1990. It marked a return to a heavier sound.^[31][32] "Money Is Not Our God" was the lead single. The band toured Europe and North America until unexpectedly disbanding again in mid-1991. Coleman emigrated to New Zealand to live on a remote Pacific island, and Killing Joke entered a hiatus.

Atkins continued with Walker, Raven and the band's live keyboard player, John Bechdel, as the short-lived Murder, Inc., recruiting Scottish vocalist Chris Connelly and reuniting with Ferguson as second drummer.

Pandemonium–Democracy (1992–1996)

 

Youth and Coleman (1994)

A Killing Joke anthology, Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!, was released in 1992; during its production, Walker became reacquainted with Youth, who suggested that they reform the band with himself back on bass. That same year, two singles (on cassette and CD) appeared featuring the early songs "Change" and "Wardance" remixed by Youth, who was by then a successful producer.^[33]

Pandemonium was released in 1994 on Youth's Butterfly Recordings label, featuring a heavy and diverse new style. Tom Larkin, of New Zealand band Shihad, performed drums on the album. Coleman had earlier produced Shihad's 1993 debut album, but relations later soured due to a dispute over Coleman's producer's fee. Pandemonium also featured several Egyptian musicians that Coleman had previously worked with on Songs from the Victorious City, including percussionist Hossam Ramzy and violinist Aboud Abdel Al.,^[34][35] and earned Killing Joke a memorable Top of the Pops appearance for the single "Millennium", which was a UK Top 40 hit (the album itself made the Top 20). The title track was also released as a single and made the UK Top 30. The album itself became Killing Joke's best-selling work.^[36]

In 1995, the band recorded the song "Hollywood Babylon" for the Showgirls soundtrack of the Paul Verhoeven film of the same name.

A follow-up album, Democracy, was released in 1996 and also produced by Youth. Democracy introduced acoustic guitar to several songs and featured more explicitly political lyrics. The title track was released as a single and made the UK Top 40. Much of Pandemonium and all of Democracy featured session drummer Geoff Dugmore, who also played live with the band during this era. Nick Holywell-Walker joined the band on keyboards and programming for 11 years from 1994 to 2005, notably on Democracy and XXV Gathering. Youth bowed out of live performance early in the Democracy tour and was replaced by Troy Gregory, previously of Prong.^[7]

After the Democracy tour, the band went on their longest hiatus to date. Coleman and Youth produced a string of orchestral rock albums based on the music of classic rock artists such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the Doors. Coleman became Composer in Residence for New Zealand and Czech symphony orchestras,^[37] and made his acting debut with the main role in the film Rok ďábla (Year of the Devil) by Czech filmmaker Petr Zelenka.

Reformation and the death of Paul Raven (2002–2007)

In 2002, Coleman, Walker and Youth recorded their second self-titled album with special guest Dave Grohl on drums. Produced by Andy Gill and released to much acclaim in 2003, it was heralded as a powerful addition to their earlier classics.^[38][39] In 2003, the band played at the biggest open air festival in Europe - Przystanek Woodstock^[40] in Poland. The War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq were cited as major factors in their reforming, reflected in the lyrical content of much of the album, based on themes of war, government control and Armageddon. The album, which fell just short of the UK Top 40 and spawned two singles, "Loose Cannon" (a UK Top 25 hit) and "Seeing Red". The songs were all credited to Coleman/Walker/Youth/Gill, although Raven's name is also on the list of musicians on the liner notes, marking his return to the band after more than a decade. The album was accompanied by a tour of the United States, Europe and Australia in 2003-2004, with ex-Prong drummer Ted Parsons on board.

In February 2005, now with young drummer Ben Calvert (Twin Zero, Sack Trick), Killing Joke played two consecutive shows at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire to commemorate their 25th anniversary. DVD and CD recordings from these concerts were released in the fall of the same year as XXV Gathering: The Band that Preys Together Stays Together. In June, remastered and expanded editions of Pandemonium and Democracy, were released by Cooking Vinyl. These were followed in July by remasters of their first four albums (Killing Joke to Ha!) on EMI, who by then owned the E.G. Records catalogue. The second batch of EMI remasters would not appear until January 2008. That year, Reza Udhin joined the band on keyboards when they supported Mötley Crüe's British tour; they then began work on their next album in Prague. Killing Joke's contribution to the world of rock was recognised when they were awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the 2005 Kerrang Awards.^[41] The band recorded the new album in "Hell", the basement rehearsal space of Studio Faust Records in Prague, opting for simplicity and raw energy through the use of live takes with a minimum of overdubs.^[42] The result was Hosannas from the Basements of Hell, released in April 2006, which made the UK Top 75.

During a European tour in April 2006, Paul Raven abruptly departed after a few dates to tour with Ministry, and was temporarily replaced by Kneill Brown. In October, it was announced that Coleman had been chosen as Composer in Residence for the European Union, to be commissioned to write music for special occasions.^[37]

Early in 2007, Killing Joke released three archival collections. The first, Inside Extremities, was a double album of material taken from the band's preparations for the Extremities album, including rehearsals, rare mixes, previously unheard track "The Fanatic" and a full live show from the Extremities tour.^[43] This was followed by two volumes of Bootleg Vinyl Archive, each consisting of a 3-CD box set of live bootleg recordings originally released on vinyl in the 1980s, plus the Astoria gig from the Pandemonium tour (which was voted one of the greatest gigs of all time by Kerrang).^[44] The 1990 album Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions, which had long been out of print, was reissued in remastered form.

On 20 October, Paul Raven died of heart failure prior to a recording session in Geneva, Switzerland.^[45] In his honour, Coleman composed the track "The Raven King", which appeared on the next album.^[46] In 2008, the second batch of albums, from Fire Dances to Outside the Gate, was reissued in remastered form with bonus tracks.

Reunion of the original line-up (2008–present)

 

Killing Joke plays live in Paris during the 2008 tour (Le Trabendo, 27 September 2008).

After the death of Raven, the original line-up of Coleman, Youth, Walker and Ferguson reunited. Coleman told Terrorizer magazine how the return of Ferguson came up after 20 years of absence:

Everything came together when we all met at...Raven's funeral. It was funny the unifying effect it had on all of us. It made us realise our mortality and how important Killing Joke is to all of us.^[47]

They assembled in Granada, Spain, to prepare a world tour consisting of two nights in various capital cities of the world, playing a programme of four complete albums. Recordings of the rehearsals were later released as Duende - The Spanish Sessions. The first night was dedicated to their first two albums, Killing Joke and What's THIS For...!, while the second night featured large parts of Pandemonium plus some early Island singles. The world tour began in September in Tokyo and concluded in Chicago in October.^[48]

An album of radio session recordings, The Peel Sessions 1979–1981, was released in September 2008. This was the second time all 17 tracks were released in their live session form.

The band then appeared at several festivals, including All Tomorrow's Parties, Sonisphere Festival,^[49] and Rebellion Festival, headlining the latter.^[50] They also performed in the Big Top Tent at the 2009 Isle of Wight Festival after being hand-picked by Tim Burgess, frontman for the Charlatans.^[51]

During October and November 2009, they recorded the album Absolute Dissent (2010), marking the band's 30th anniversary.^[52] It was preceded by the In Excelsis EP in June 2010. In November, the band received the "Innovator Award" at the 2010 Classic Rock Roll of Honour; the award was presented to Killing Joke by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, who stated, "I go back a long way with Jaz Coleman and the band. I used to go and see the band, and it was a band that really impressed me because Geordie's guitar sound was just really, really strong. And they were really tribal, the band, and it was really intense. It was just really good to hear something like that during the 80s, which sort of caved in a bit with haircuts and synthesizers".^[53] The band were also honoured by Metal Hammer at their annual awards, receiving the Album of the Year award for Absolute Dissent.^[54]

In 2012, the group released MMXII. It reached No. 44 upon its first week of release, the band's highest UK chart placement since their eponymous 2003 album,^[21] as well as charting across Europe.

In April 2015, two limited-edition Record Store Day double LPs, Live at the Hammersmith Apollo 16.10.2010 Volume 1 and Live at the Hammersmith Apollo 16.10.2010 Volume 2, were issued for independent record stores in the UK.

The band released their 15th studio album, Pylon, in October 2015. The deluxe edition contained five additional tracks. A nine-date British tour followed to promote the record.^[55] Pylon entered the UK albums chart at No. 16, becoming the band's first UK Top 20 album since 1994.^[21] In November 2016, the band played at the Brixton Academy in London, before embarking on a European tour, their longest to date. In 2018, the band did a worldwide tour to celebrate their 40th anniversary.^[56]

In March 2022 the band released a new EP, Lord Of Chaos, their first new material for seven years.^[57]

Style and influences

The band called their sound "tension music".^[58] Co-founder Ferguson described it as "the sound of the earth vomiting. I'm never quite sure whether to be offended by the question of 'are we punk' or not, because, I loved punk music, but we weren't. And I think our influences were beyond punk. Obviously before punk, there was Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and there was Yes even and King Crimson, and those had all influenced me as a player, and the other guys would say other things, but I'm sure they were all part of their history as well".^[59]

Coleman's "menacing"^[58] vocal style and "terrifying growl" have been compared to Motörhead's Lemmy.^[60] In the first part of their career, Coleman also played synth while singing, adding electronic atonal sounds to create a disturbing atmosphere.^[58]

Walker's guitar style is metallic and cold.^[60] Walker stated that "the guitar should convey some sort of emotion". He cited Siouxsie and the Banshees's original guitarist John McKay who "came out with these chord structures that I found very refreshing".^[61] According to critic Simon Reynolds, Walker took Keith Levene's guitar sound from PiL to another, almost inhuman and extreme level.^[58] Ferguson's tribal drum style has been compared to early Siouxsie and the Banshees.^[62] Coleman had stated in early 1980 that Ferguson listened to the Banshees.^[63]

Legacy

Killing Joke have inspired artists of many genres. They have been namechecked by several heavy metal and rock bands such as Metallica and Soundgarden. Metallica covered "The Wait" and James Hetfield picked Coleman as one of his favourite singers.^[64] Soundgarden cited them as one of their main influences when they started playing.^[65] Helmet covered "Primitive" in 1993. Faith No More stated that all of their members liked the group, qualifying them as a "great band".^[66] Walker's style inspired Kurt Cobain's work with Nirvana, according to Bill Janovitz of AllMusic, with the use of a metallic sound mixed with a shimmering chorused effect.^[60] Foo Fighters, Nirvana drummer Grohl's subsequent band, covered "Requiem" in 1997. Metal band Fear Factory covered "Millennium" in 2005. Jane's Addiction said that the group was one of their influences; singer Perry Farrell was inspired by the percussive and tribal aspect of their music.^[67]

The band have inspired many industrial bands, including Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. They have been cited by Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails's leader, who mentioned his interest in their early material,^[68] and said that he studied their music.^[69] Al Jourgensen of Ministry described himself as a "big fan" of the group.^[70] Marilyn Manson listened to them during his formative years.^[71] Godflesh frontman Justin Broadrick was particularly influenced by their early releases containing dub versions.^[72]

The group has also been cited by alternative music acts such as My Bloody Valentine and LCD Soundsystem. Shoegazing guitarist and composer Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine mentioned the band and specifically praised Walker's touch, which he described as "this effortless playing producing a monstruous sound".^[73] In 2002, James Murphy of dance-punk band LCD Soundsystem sampled the music of "Change" on his debut single, "Losing My Edge".

Film

Killing Joke were the subject of a feature-length documentary film, The Death and Resurrection Show (2013), by filmmaker Shaun Pettigrew;^[74] its genesis came from an earlier video work financed by Coleman called Let Success Be Your Proof.^[75] The film was shown in various festivals between 2013 and 2014. Co-produced by Coleman, it combined archive footage of Killing Joke over the previous decades with tour footage, recording sessions and interviews with subjects including the members of the band, Jimmy Page, Dave Grohl, Peter Hook and Alex Paterson. The Death and Resurrection Show was broadcast on Sundance TV and was then released on DVD via the film's website in 2017.^[76] Uncut rated it 9 out of 10, saying "Shaun Pettigrew's film mixes outlandish anecdotes, arcane philosophy and blistering music".^[77]

Members

 

Killing Joke at Hellfest 2022

Current members Jaz Coleman – lead vocals, synthesizer, keyboards (1979–1996, 2002–present) Paul Ferguson – drums, backing vocals (1979–1987, 2008–present) Geordie Walker – guitars (1979–1996, 2002–present), bass (1987–1988, 1991–1992, 2002–2003, 2007–2008) Youth – bass, backing vocals (1979–1982, 1992–1996, 2002–2003, 2008–present), keyboards (2008–present) Former members Paul Raven – bass (1982–1987, 1990–1991, 2003–2007; died 2007) Martin Atkins – drums, backing vocals (1988–1991) Dave "Taif" Ball – bass (1988–1990) Geoff Dugmore – drums (1994–1996) Ben Calvert – drums (2005–2008)

Additional musicians Dave Kovacevic – keyboards (1984–1990) Jimmy Copley – drums (1987–88; died 2017) John Bechdel – keyboards, programming (1990–1991) Nick Holywell-Walker – keyboards, programming (1994–1996, 2002–2005) Troy Gregory – bass (1996) Dave Grohl – drums (2002–2003) Ted Parsons – drums (2003–2004) Reza Udhin – keyboards, programming (2005–2016) Roi Robertson – keyboards (2016–present)

Timeline

Discography

Main article: Killing Joke discography

Studio albums

• Killing Joke (1980)
• What's THIS For...! (1981)
• Revelations (1982)
• Fire Dances (1983)
• Night Time (1985)
• Brighter Than a Thousand Suns (1986)
• Outside the Gate (1988)
• Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions (1990)
• Pandemonium (1994)
• Democracy (1996)
• Killing Joke (2003)
• Hosannas from the Basements of Hell (2006)
• Absolute Dissent (2010)
• MMXII (2012)
• Pylon (2015)

References

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2. Reynolds, Simon (2005). "Chapter 22: 'Dark Things: Goth and the Return of Rock'". Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-21569-6. The fourth cornerstone of the Goth sound and sensibility were Killing Joke. [...] Goth's appeal to the irrational could sometimes stray into unwholesome territory. Killing Joke exemplified this
   Lewis, Luke."Release The Bats - It's The 20 Greatest Goth Tracks" 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine « 11. Killing Joke – Love Like Blood Aligning love and sex with blood is a standard goth trope, but Jaz Coleman's lyrics always cut deeper than the usual 'doomed romance' cliches. On this 1985 single, one of the few times KJ ever troubled 'Top of the Pops', he uses martial imagery to create a sense of apocalyptic struggle.
   Most gothic moment: "Strength and beauty destined to decay".»
   Murray, Robin. "Killing Joke 2010 Uk Shows". Clash. 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2018. « One of the first bands to be labelled 'gothic' Killing Joke helped inspire a movement that has travelled across the world. »
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43. "Rarities release for Killing Joke" (PHP). LATEST NEWS. SIDE-LINE.com. 21 March 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2008. Killing Joke just released the double album "Inside Extremities" via Candlelight Records. On this double CD you find Killing Joke material taken from the band's preparation for the "Extremities" album, rare mixes, a previously unheard track "The Fanatic" and a full live show from the Extremities tour. The track list displays a journey through the making of this album and beyond. The release contains 100% previously unreleased material with the exception of one track which was previously on a flexi disc only.
44. "A UK Heavy metal specialist publication". rocklist.net. Retrieved 15 February 2008. 70. Killing Joke ~ The Astoria, London 20 April 1994
45. "Killing Joke bassist Raven dies". BBC News. 22 October 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
46. "The Quietus | Features | Track-By-Track | Jaz Coleman's Guide To Killing Joke's Absolute Dissent". The Quietus.
47. Terrorizer, May 2008, Issue 170
48. "Killing Joke reform and tour" (PHP). LATEST NEWS. SIDE-LINE.com. 6 March 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
49. . BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Archived from the original (ASPX) on 6 April 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
50. "Bands – SUNDAY 9th AUGUST 2009" (PHP). Rebellion Festivals. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
51. "Horrors, Black Lips, Killing Joke for Isle of Wight" (XHTML). NME. 30 April 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
52. "Absolute Dissent > Overview". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
53. "Jimmy Page planning to play shows [and comment about Killing Joke ]". Hennemusic.com. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
54. "Rob Zombie wins metal'hammer golden god". Bbc.co.uk. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2015
55. "Killing Joke reveal Pylon and confirm UK tour". TeamRock. Future Publishing. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
56. "Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman talks 40th anniversary, next LP, UFOs, and more". Brooklynvegan. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
57. "KILLING JOKE Announces 'Lord Of Chaos' EP". 10 February 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
58. Reynolds, 2005, p. 433
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61. Kay, Max (June 1984). "Max Kay Interviews Geordie". Music U.K. I think the guitar should convey some sort of emotion. Incidentally, the only thing I've heard since Sabre Dance, the only thing I've ever come across that was similar, was the guy in the original Banshees on The Scream. Apparently that guy had just learnt to play, and he came out with these chord structures that I found very refreshing. The guy's been ripped off so much, he started that flanged chord thing."
62. Reynolds, 2005, p. 435
63. Garcia, Jane. "If Joke Could Kill". New Music News. 14 June 1980
64. . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
65. "Kashmir". Sounds. Olympia, Wash: South Puget Sound Community College. 13 May 1989. OCLC 42326010. Kim: "When we started the band we were all listening to hardcore and new wave: The Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü, Joy Division, Wire, Killing Joke, Bauhaus. At that time, in Seattle, The Melvins were slowing down their music. Malfunkshun, Green River and Soundgarden, all the bands that had started playing fast, started to slow down. This is, like, 1984 and everyone was sick of trying to be Minor Threat. "
    "Haughty Culture". Kerrang!. 8 April 1989. The name Soundgarden ("Not intentionally meant to throw people off", laughs Kim) is supposed to represent the many roots of the group's style, a virtual plethora of cutting edge rock that spans Sabbath, Velvet Underground, Meat Puppets and Killing Joke. There's some Zep and some Metallica; Gothicism and sublime poetry. The almost ethereal flavour of the name betrays the brutality of the music but never pins Soundgarden in one corner.
66. "Faith no more interview". Metal Hammer. January 1995
67. Mullen, Brendan. "Whores:an oral biography by Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction". 2009.
68. Radio One Rock Show hosted by Trent Reznor, 5 April 2005
69. San Diego radio station 91X Xtra-FM interviews with Trent Reznor. 7 September 2005. Q: What were your influences? Were you listening to a lot of new stuff, or going back to the old stuff? A: Well as I've gotten older and a bit more jaded, I imagine, y'know [laughter] I've found myself, on this record, really getting back to some old records, rather than new stuff. Y'know, I'm not saying that there aren't any new bands that I find interesting, but I was much closer, I was studying, say, [...] old Killing Joke, um
70. Jourgensen, Al; Wiederhorn, Jon (9 July 2013). Ministry: The Lost Gospels According To Al Jourgensen (loan required). Boston, MA: Da Capo Press. pp. 239–240. ISBN 9780306822186. OCLC 811206550 – via the Internet Archive. Just as we were debating who would play bass on the Rio Grande Blood, Raven from Killing Joke contacted Angie and asked if she knew anyone who needed a bassist. I was a big Killing Joke fan for a long time, and Raven just happen to be e-mailing Angie right when I was thinking of doing a record.
71. Epstein, Dan (March 2012). Man That You Fear [interview]. Revolver. [Born Villain] sort of sounds like what I listened to before I made records - Killing Joke, Joy Division, Revolting Cocks, Bauhaus, Birthday Party.
72. Hennessy, Kate (3 October 2014). "Interview: Justin Broadrick". The Quietus. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
73. Deevoy, Adam (3 October 2013). "My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields: I play through the pain | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
74. "Killing Joke: The Death and Resurrection Show from ILC Productions and Coffee Films". Coffeefilms.com. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
75. Hämäläinen, Jyrki "Spider" (2020). Killing Joke: Are You Receiving?, p. 191-192. Milton Keynes: New Haven Publishing. ISBN 978-1912587407.
76. "The Death and Resurrection Show DVD". Killingjokemovie.com. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
    "The Death and Resurrection Show -official page news". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
77. Watts, Peter. "Music, Magic and all that Jaz [The Death and Resurrection Show review]". Uncut. No. October 2016. p. 113.

Bibliography

• Hämäläinen, Jyrki "Spider" (November 2020). Killing Joke: Are You Receiving?. New Haven Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1912587407.

Further reading

• George-Warren, Holly; Romanowski, Patricia; Pareles, Jon, eds. (2001). "Killing Joke". The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Third ed.). New York: Fireside Books. ISBN 0-7432-0120-5.
• Reynolds, Simon (2005). Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571215696.
• Smith, Iain (2003). "Killing Joke". In Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock. London: Rough Guides. pp. 554–555. ISBN 9781843531050.
• Taylor, Steve (27 September 2006). "Killing Joke". The A to X of Alternative Music. London: A & C Black. pp. 133–134. ISBN 9780826482174.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Killing Joke.

• Official Killing Joke website
• Killing Joke at AllMusic
• Killing Joke discography at Discogs  
• Killing Joke at IMDb