[kj] Anniversaries - Brighter 86 / Democracy 96 / Hosannas 06

Tue Apr 12 17:37:25 EDT 2016

I do remember Raven saying on list that in his opinion, the band were at their peak with the BTATS gigs... "And that's when things started to get really boring."

I like a few tracks from BTATS (especially Chessboards), but the force and impact isn't there. Night time has a crystal clear production that still allows the bite and the edge to come through, but it wasn't there on BTATS.

Democracy simply sounds flat. The lack of a solid drummer, Youth's bizarre production decisions (possibly a personal attempt to keep his interest?) and his subsequent absence suggest that the newfound impetus of Pandemonium had disappeared. A very disappointing purchase.

Hosannas has a good, aggressive sound that I felt improved on Andy Gill's sludgy production on the previous album. However, the songs just weren't there. The good ones were too long and the bad ones dragged on interminably. Again, the subsequent chaos suggested that the impetus of KJ2003 (and their new found iconic status) had completely dissolved. Raven's death was a tragedy, but it did shake up the remaining members and renew their commitment, resulting in a period of consistent quality that is all but unequalled in the band's history.

Jim.

On Tue, 12/4/16, jpwhkj--- via Gathering <gathering at misera.net> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [kj] Anniversaries - Brighter 86 / Democracy 96 / Hosannas 06
 To: gathering at misera.net
 Cc: jpwhkj at aol.com
 Date: Tuesday, 12 April, 2016, 22:14

 Totally with Jamie on this.  The
 Brighter gigs were amazing - from Reading Festival through
 to the December Palais gig.  The band were incredibly
 tight, and the album tracks were far punchier live than the
 studio mixes might suggest.  That said, I'm still very
 fond of the studio versions.  OK, so they sound like
 something released in 1986 (unlike the timeless quality of
 the first two albums, for instance) but still bona fide
 eighties Joke.

 -----Original
 Message-----

 From: fatpotanga . <fatpotanga at gmail.com>

 To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)
 <gathering at misera.net>

 Sent: Tue, 12 Apr 2016 17:38

 Subject: Re: [kj] Anniversaries - Brighter 86 / Democracy 96
 / Hosannas 06

 Btats is a wonderful album. It was very good
 live. So there. I think the cd with what were B sides added
 (victory, ecstacy, goodbye to the village etc)  probably
 taints the experience a little.

 Democracy was a complete disappointment -
 would love to hear it with all the loops Youth removed but
 that ain't gonna happen.

 Ho's-Anus (as raven once referred to it on here) is
 killing joke at their most destructive. It's not a bad
 album (terrible mix - car speaker ffs?!) but for me
 epitomises the fat drunkenness of the time. If raven
 hadn't have passed it would have marked the beginning of
 the end. I didn't like the direction they were headed.
 The video to the title track is almost as embarrassing as
 the SOJA rap.

 On 12 Apr 2016 17:15,
 "wessidetempest ." <wessidetempest at hotmail.com>
 wrote:

 BTATS is the most consistent album of the three. My
 least favorite of that era and I like the songs more
 live. 

 Democracy has some solid songs with some filler and
 goofy production. You can tell everyone was burned out on
 each other and Killing Joke as a whole. 

 Hossannass is my least favorite even it had some of
 thee best Geordie riffs ever. It's a "could've
 been so much more" kind. Record. Songs are to long.
 Recording stinks. Jaz is probably at his worst vocally and
 lyrically. You can tell they blew all of the
  production money on cigars and brandy and whatever
 else. 

 On Apr 12, 2016, at 3:50 AM, C Jr <nomeanswhat at gmail.com>
 wrote:

 BTATS - a good album, some pretty solid
 songs, despite the 'poppier' sound, production and
 textures... its heart is in the right place, good lyrics and
 mood throughout... Neither their best, nor worst... A logic
 and understandable step in the
  band's evolution, I'd say.

 DEMOCRACY - one of my favorite KJ albums... I love
 almost everything about it, even the murky production... had
 Mass and Four Stations made the cut, it would probably be my
 favorite of the bunch.

 HFTBOH - I concur that most of the songs are a bit too
 long, still, I like the album... it's a step down from
 2003's return, but also a necessary transition into
 Absolut Dissent territory.

 Apart from OTG, KJ is yet to disappoint me.

 mvh

 -Jr.

 On Tue, Apr 12, 2016
 at 6:08 AM, T.B. <planetary at socal.rr.com>
 wrote:

 For me, Id rank these three from best to worst as:

 Democracy - I actually love about half this album.  The
 drums are kind of plodding and indistinct, buried in the
 wall of sound production (that reminds me of Steve
 Brown's work on The Cult's aborted "Peace"
 album) on most tracks but the title track, Absent
  Friends and Lanterns are standouts that I never get tired
 of hearing. If "Mass" and Four Stations Of The
 Sun" had made the album instead of a couple lesser
 tracks, this would rank much closer to Pandemonium.

 Hosannas - Probably the closest thing to hearing
 Geordie's raw demos.  It's far from a good album,
 but some songs have an almost hypnotic quality, "Judas
 Goat" being the best example.  I'd almost like to
 hear this album with no vocals, it would probably work
  better for me.

 Brighter Than A Thousand Suns - I actually went and pulled
 my original EG cd of this album today and attempted to give
 it a listen for the first time in several years....  I
 (still) really do not like anything about this album, the
 dated production, especially
  regarding the drums and the synth-heavy angle they took
 with this album utterly kill this one for me.  I never
 would have guessed Big Paul played on this album without
 looking at the credits.  For me, this album is in a dead
 heat with Outside The Gate as worst
  KJ album - I suppose it's no shock they are consecutive
 albums in the bands period of steep creative decline.

 _______________________________________________

 Gathering mailing list

 Gathering at misera.net

 https://pairlist4.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

 _______________________________________________

 Gathering mailing list

 Gathering at misera.net

 https://pairlist4.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

 _______________________________________________

 Gathering mailing list

 Gathering at misera.net

 https://pairlist4.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

 _______________________________________________

 Gathering mailing list

 Gathering at misera.net

 https://pairlist4.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

 -----Inline Attachment Follows-----

 _______________________________________________
 Gathering mailing list
 Gathering at misera.net
 https://pairlist4.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering