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Killing Joke

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Lead singer Jaz Coleman dominates the cover of Killing Joke's 1986 release Brighter Than A Thousand Suns.

Killing Joke are an influential UK post-punk rock band. Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman - who sings, performs keyboards and synthesizers, and composes and conducts strings and orchestral parts when used - fronts the band. Guitarist Kenneth "Geordie" Walker and Coleman have been the constant members.

Original drummer "Big Paul" Ferguson once described their music as "the sound of the earth vomiting". Essentially, Killing Joke's music consists of thick-sounding guitars, often down tuned a whole step, and often with plenty of distortion and chorus; drums and distorted electric bass pounding beats that are heavy, tribal, funky, and danceable, usually all at once; keyboards and synthesizers with sounds typical of New Wave music; and Coleman either singing in an aural voice, singing in a talk-sing style, or shouting in a malevolent-sounding growl.

1978-1982

Ferguson was in one Matt Stagger Band when he met Coleman. In late 1978, after Coleman was briefly in the band, he and Ferguson defected from the Matt Stagger Band and formed Killing Joke with Geordie and bassist/producer Martin "Youth" Glover. According to Coleman, their manifesto was to "define the exquisite beauty of the atomic age in terms of style, sound and form".

In late 1979, they began the Malicious Damage record label as a way to press and sell their music; Island Records distributed the records, until Malicious Damage switched to EG Records in 1980. The songs on Killing Joke's early singles were primitive punk rock sometimes mixed with funk (Nervous System) and dub/reggae (Turn to Red) styles. They quickly progressed this sound into something denser, more violent, and much akin to heavy metal, as heard on their first two albums, Killing Joke and What's THIS For...! (both in 1981). They gained infamy performing live throughout their native England during this time, and both fans of punk rock and fans of disco took interest in Killing Joke through singles such as Follow the Leaders (1981).

Killing Joke became notorious largely due to the controversies that arose from their imagery. The images that appeared on their records and on-stage while performing live were, typically, bizarre and potentially shocking and imflamatory. At one of their concerts, they displayed posters of photographs doctored to depict the Pope blessing legions of Nazis; shortly afterwards, the band was banned from performing a concert in Glasgow, Scotland.

Killing Joke's third album, Revelations, was issued in 1982, and supported by a pair of performances on the John Peel Show and by the singles Chop-Chop and Empire Song. Both a non-LP single, Birds of a Feather, and a limited EP of a brief live performance 10" Ep HA!, produced by Conny Plank recoded in Toronto, that appeared later that year.

By 1982, members of Killing Joke, especially Coleman, had become immersed in the occult. That year, Coleman and Geordie, Youth following shortly, relocated to Iceland to weather the apocalypse, which Coleman predicted was soon. While in Iceland, Coleman and Geordie performed in various Icelandic bands. After a few months, Youth decided there was no indication of the apocalypse, and decided to relocate back to England. Youth then began the band Brilliant with Big Paul, but the latter defected and traveled to Iceland to rejoin Killing Joke with new bassist Paul Raven in tow. After performing for some time in Iceland, Killing Joke returned to England.

1983-1989

Killing Joke's fourth album, Fire Dances (1983), contained music that, like that heard on the Birds of a Feather single, was artier and relatively calmer than the music Killing Joke had made previously, which in hindsight began a new direction for the band. They experiment with this variation of their sound on the singles Me or You (b/w Wilful Days) and A New Day (b/w a dub version of the same), both published in 1984, the latter promoted with a music video.

Mixing their sound with a slightly pop style, and Coleman singing and not growling, Killing Joke had developed a decidedly unique variation of new wave, which was heard on their fifth album, Night Time (1985). Killing Joke unexpectedly achieved mainstream success with the single Love like Blood (from Night Time), which became a big hit in the U.K. and an exceptional one in the U.S. Night Time was also supported with singles for Eighties (1984), Kings and Queens (1985) and Love like Blood (Gestalt mix) (1985).

The music on Killing Joke's sixth album, Brighter than a Thousand Suns (1986), was mostly similar in sound and mood to Love like Blood and was much less aggressive and heavy than their older work. Brighter than a Thousand Suns is controversial among listeners, owing to disagreements between fans and critics alike ranging from whether the band was conforming with pressures from EG Records to develop a more commercial sound to whether the songs were powerful enough.

In 1987, Coleman began plans for a solo record of unusual music, and he made demos of his songs, on which he performed with Geordie's assistance. When some from the record company heard the demos, however, they decided Coleman's songs would sell better if Killing Joke performed them. In spite of Coleman's objections, plans were made for the music to be soon released under the name "Killing Joke", which resulted in Coleman and Geordie hastily completing all the songs. The resulting album, Outside the Gate (1988), is Killing Joke's most controversial album, with opinions ranging from admiration to disgust, owing to its pop sound and disagreement over the quality of the songs (which by all accounts were underdeveloped).

Killing Joke was dormant in 1989, only with The Courtald Talks - a double LP of a speech Coleman gave in 1987 with Geordie and a percussionist performing background music - released under the band's moniker. It is commonly accepted that they disbanded shortly after Outside the Gate.

1990 and onward

A chance reaquaintence of Coleman and Geordie with Raven, and a chance acquaintance with Martin Atkins (who had gained notoriety as the drummer for Public Image Ltd. and then Ministry), resulted in a revival of Killing Joke. The new Killing Joke - Coleman, Geordie, Raven and Atkins - returned to the band's earlier, harsher sound. Killing Joke's eighth album, Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions (1990), included the heaviest, noisiest and harshest music to ever appear on any of Killing Joke's records.

An anthology, Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!, was released in 1992.

Also in 1992, two cassette singles appeared featuring the early songs Change and Wardance in several new versions, all Youth (who by then was a popular producer) remixed. At almost this time, Coleman and Geordie reformed Killing Joke as a trio with Youth, releasing two strong albums, Pandemonium (1994) and Democracy (1996).

After another break, Killing Joke reformed in 2002 to record their second eponymous album. They cited Bush's war on terror and the invasion of Iraq as major factors in their reforming and this is reflected in the lyrical content of much of the album, based on themes of war, government control and armageddon.

This album is their heaviest to date and spawned two singles 'Loose Cannon' and 'Seeing Red', Nirvana/Foo Fighters drummer Dave Grohl occupying the drum stool for some tracks on the album. The album release was accompanied by a tour of the United States and Europe in 2003/2004. In February 2005 they played two consecutive shows at London's Shepherds Bush Empire to commemorate their 25th anniversary. In summer 2005 they supported Motley Crue on the British leg of their world tour and recorded "Hossannas From The Basement Of Hell", with Tool-drummer Danny Carey handling the sticks, in Prague, which is due to be out in February 2006. A DVD is also scheduled, called "The Band That Preys Together Stays Together".

Discography / Videography

Albums


See also: list of musicians with multiple self-titled albums

Singles/EP's

  • Turn To Red EP (1979)
  • Wardance/Pssyche 7` (1980)
  • Requiem/Change 7` 12`(1980)Nice
  • Follow the leaders/Tension 7`10` (1981)
  • Empire Song/Brilliant 7`(1982)
  • Chop Chop/ Good samaritan 7`(1982)
  • Birds of a Feather EP (1982)
  • Ha! Killing Joke Live (1982)
  • Let`s all go/Dominator 7` 12`(1983)
  • Me or you/Wilful days 7´ 12`(1983)
  • Eighties/Eighties Common Mix 7` 12`(1984)
  • A new day/Dance day 7`12`(1984)
  • Love like blood/Blue feather 7`12`(1985)
  • Kings&Queens/The madding crowd /´12`(1985)
  • Addorations/Exile 7`12`(1986)
  • Sanity/Goodbye to the village 7`12`(1986)
  • America/Jihad 7`12`(1987)
  • My love of this land/Darkness before dawn 7`12`(1987)
  • Money is not our god CDs 12`(1991)
  • Change: The Youth Mixes (1992)
  • Change (1992)
  • Exorcism CDs 10` (1994)
  • Millennium CDs 7`12` (1994)
  • Pandemonium CDs (1994)
  • Pandemonium in Dub CDs (1994)
  • Jana CDs (1994)
  • Jana Live EP (1994)
  • Jana/Millennium Double CDs
  • Democracy CDs (1996)
  • Democracy dif. Mix CDs (1996)

Compilations

Videography

Side Projects

  • Murder Inc
  • The Damage Manual

Influence

  • In 1987, Metallica covered Killing Joke's The Wait for the former's E.P. Garage Days Re-Revisited.
  • In some early interviews (Sounds, 1989 May 13; Kerrang!, 1989 Apr. 8), the members of Soundgarden cited Killing Joke as one of the bands they listen to most.
  • The main riff of Nirvana's song Come As You Are bears a striking resemblance to the riff of Killing Joke's single, "Eighties". The band, however, did not file a copyright infringement lawsuit, which according to Rolling Stone was "due to personal and financial reasons." Some transcripts of Nirvana's songs (including commercially sold sheet music for Nevermind) have indicated that Nirvana's guitarist Kurt Cobain recorded the songs with his guitar detuned a whole step, which is the same tuning that Geordie is known to prefer. Nirvana's drummer, Dave Grohl, would later perform Killing Joke's "Requiem" as a member of the Foo Fighters and would play drums for Killing Joke in 2003.
  • In 1993, Helmet covered Killing Joke's "Primitive" for the B-side to the second single for the former's song "Born Annoying."
  • In 1993, Econoline Crush covered Killing Joke's "Pssyche" (a B-side from their "Wardance" single) for their first EP entitled Purge.
  • In 1997, the Foo Fighters covered Killing Joke's "Requiem" for the B-side to the single for the former's song "Everlong." A member of the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl, was Killing Joke's drummer for the recording sessions of the latter's second self-titled album.
  • In 2001, Amen covered Killing Joke's "Europe" during a session on BBC Radio One in 2001. The recording of this song was later the B-side for the former's single "Too Hard to Be Free."
  • In 2001, The Mad Capsule Markets covered Killing Joke's "Wardance" on their album 010.
  • In 2005, Fear Factory covered Killing Joke's "Millennium" on their album Transgression.
  • In 1989, German gothic band Love Like Blood covered the namegiving track on the "Love Like Blood EP" and on the "Snakekiller" album.
  • In 2004, Nouvelle Vague covered "Pssyche" on their self-titled debut album.
  • In 2003, German band Blackmail covered "Love Like Blood". It was released as a download track on their homepage and as a bonus track on the Japan edition of their album "Friend Or Foe?" as well.
  • In 2005, Swiss band MXD covered "Pandemonium" on thier album "Frustration Is Fuel".
  • Other professed fans of Killing Joke include memebers of Ministry, Front Line Assembly, Tool, SlipKnot, Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Primus, and Project 86.
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