Ky-Fi

Despite that fact that Jaz Coleman is certifiably insane, and they sometimes veer a little too close to industrial/metal for my liking, they always seem to have at least a few songs I love on every album. I'm liking a lot of the sound of the new album, Absolute Dissent---harkens back to their great mid-80's sound. Geordie is an amazingly underrated guitar player. I'll be seeing them in Boston in a few weeks. New stuff:

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Numanoid

One of my favorite bands.

I agree with everything you've written. Their '80s work is by far their best. I think that Brighter Than A Thousand Suns is their best album, though I know that's sacrilege in the Killing Joke community.

Ky-Fi

Not sacrilege to me. My favorite era is the Fire Dances/Night Time/Brighter than a Thousand Suns mid-80's stuff---and I also think BTATS is their best. I think Jaz has a great voice, and Geordie is a great guitar player---and I prefer their music when Jaz sings instead of growls, and when you can hear the tone of Geordie's guitar instead of a wall of distortion. I do love their use of keyboards during that era, too.

Phodg

The new album is brilliant IMO. It's like a mix of their early stuff and their more recent stuff. Great to have Big Paul back on drums, too. Going to see them both nights in Chicago in December. Been listening to them and going to see them since way back when they started out (I grew up in England).
But saying BTATS is their best album IS sacrilege.

atlantamoi

This is one of the best albums they've released. Amazing a band can do that 30 years on.

inri222

I will be seeing them in NYC December 3. Looking forward to it. Caught them twice last year when they did 2 shows in NYC. First show was great, they played the first 2 albums back to back plus some extra material. The second show was also great performance wise, but not as good as the first material wise. For the second show they performed the Pandemonium album plus some singles.

Numanoid

Did you happen to get the BTATS remaster that came out a few years ago, with the slight remixing so that it sounds a bit more "raw"?

Ky-Fi

I do not have that---and actually, I think all I've got is my home-recorded CD of the BTATS cassette I had. Probably time to upgrade to that new one!

rider555

I checked out some YouTube clips of this last night and all I can say is..Finally!!I can not tell you how happy I am that Jaz has gone back to singing.After using that damn growl for the last 20 years or so,I didn't think he was capable of singing anymore.
BTATS,Outside the Gate and Extremeties are 3 of my favorite albums of all time.

rider555

KY-FI,whatever version of BTATS you get,make sure that it includes the bonus track,Goodbye To The Village;one of the best songs I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.

Ky-Fi

Yep, love that song.

Just found clips from an 85 concert on youtube---holy cow, what a great audio mix:



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rider555

You are correct sir,that is their best album.
If it was not for me hearing Adorations 20something years a go,who knows if these guys would have ever become one of my favorite bands.

rider555

I saw them on the Pandemonium tour and was greatly disappointed that the bulk of the set list consisted of songs from same album.
Nothing from BTATS,OTG,or Extremeities was played.They didn't even play Eighties!
Come to think of it,when is the last time that they performed that song live?

atlantamoi

I may have mentioned this before, but I only saw Killing Joke live one time (Kansas City 1990). It was great, but I remember thinking I was seeing a band on the wane, at least in popularity. I never would have guessed they'd still be knocking out very good albums this long.

ResIpsa

Wow, wow, wow. Those three links sound f'in great, 30 years in or not. Thanks for the heads up too, I had no idea they had a new album out.

Maybe it's just the youtube sound quality, but the production seems a lot rawer than previous releases. I'm not sure I like the drum sound (sounds totally unprocessed and a bit too out front for my taste), but I'm loving the signature Geordie sheets of sound guitar and Jaz's voice is remarkably clean sounding.

And anyone who doesn't recognize that their first self-titled album is the best (followed closely by "what's THIS for...?") is just being sacrilegious.

Ky-Fi

I saw them in either late 03/early 04 in support of the self-titled release of that time. That album was a bit too heavy for my liking, but the well-crafted songs made up for it. It was a really good live show--they did play "Eighties".

Yeah, Pandemonium is probably my least favorite release by them. That one just sounded too heavy and over-produced for me, to the point that is just felt cold and completely devoid of any fun. I also couldn't get into Revelations---interesting, but just too discordant for me. I did like the Democracy album quite a bit.

One that seems to go under the radar that I really love is Fire Dances---especially Geordie's guitar playing on that one:

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inri222

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I'm really loving this new stuff.
Especially this song.

RIP Paul Raven

Phodg

Brilliant song. Brilliant album. It might even be their best yet - it's a great mix of the old and the new. Not a bad song on it.

rider555

Was that when they played The Shadow..near Westport?I won a free pass to that show from KKFI,but couldn't make it,due to the fact that it was 21 and over.

Supermallet

Well, somehow this band completely flew under my radar all these years. But thanks to this thread, I'm going to check them out, starting with their debut album.

atlantamoi

I don't remember the name of the club, but it was in the Westport area. Couldn't have been more than 100 people there.

Supermallet

I went ahead and purchased their first album from Amazon MP3 (2005 remaster). "Requiem" was a good song but "Wardance" is absolutely phenomenal. If the band keeps up this level of brilliance...they could become one of my favorites. This track is stunning.

Edit: OK, by about track six I went ahead and purchased Fire Dances (their second album was more expensive). How could I not have known about these guys before? So good.

inri222

You wont regret it. Fire Dances is an amazing album from beginning to end.

ResIpsa

Good picks. That Amazon MP3 for "Fire Dances" even includes a bunch of bonus tracks, including my favorite non-album KJ track, "Wilful Days."

Not sure why the second album is more expensive. It's not as immediately likable as their first album or "Fire Dances" (although it does contain their "disco" song, "Follow The Leaders"). Overall, the second album seems darker to me and the songs are longer, more groove-oriented.

"Night Time" is another good one, although a couple of the songs on it have been played to death. Great guitar sound on it.

Ky-Fi

When I get this cd, this song will most certainly be cranked on the car stereo.