[kj] Killing Joke's career

[jpwhkj at aol.com]

Hi Brendan,

When I was writing my original post, I did hesitate slightly due to the massive leap in quality represented by Pandemonium.  But although I rate it highly in its own right, I don't think it measures up to early Killing Joke for the following reasons:

* Lyrically it's nothing special - lots of Jaz being vaguely mystical, but none of the raw potency of the early days.

* Musically it stands up well, but Geordie is chugging rather than chiming, and I don't think it stands out from the crowd the way the early albums did.

* As far as I can recall, interviews with Killing Joke post-1989 were basically with Jaz, with anyone else barely getting a word in edgeways.  Intellectually, KJ had become Jaz's backing band.

* Without Big Paul, there wasn't anyone to keep Jaz' ego in check.

You're right that there are some excellent tracks that came after that as well (I'd choose Aeon, Our Last Goodbye, and Lightbringer as my personal faves) but I believe that the points I make above hold true for all albums after Brighter Than A Thousand Suns.

Jamie



-----Original Message-----
From: Brendan Quinn <bq at soundgardener.co.nz>
To: 'A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)' <gathering at misera.net>
Sent: Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:44
Subject: [kj] Killing Joke's career




Yes I’m actually writing a post that I don’t have to preface with OT *bows*

Recent comments about Killing Joke being on a decline since their first 6 years. I’d have to disagree and cite, 
specifically, 1994’s Pandemonium. Quoting specific song titles on it is redundant to me, the entire album is totally, totally, solid. 2003 was also massive. And This Savage Freedom is one of the best songs ever recorded. Zennon is brilliant as well, Universe B, 4 Stations.

KJ over the last 2 years has occupied probably more than 50% of my listening time (often averaging 4-5+ hours a day), for long stretches 100%, hugely disproportional. I don’t really hold out hope of finding another treasure trove back catalog like Killing Joke…and at this rate, I just can’t see music returning to the form of the past. Can only hope. Current state of play is pretty awful, unless I’m missing some boat. 




_______________________________________________
athering mailing list
athering at misera.net
ttp://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering


________________________________________________________________________
AOL Email goes Mobile! You can now read your AOL Emails whilst on the move. Sign up for a free AOL Email account with unlimited storage today.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://four.pairlist.net/pipermail/gathering/attachments/20081221/d08156ac/attachment.htm>