''Revelations'' is the third studio album by English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

, released in July 1982 by

E.G. Eg or EG may refer to: In arts and media * ''E.G.'' (EP), an EP by Goodshirt * ''EG'' (magazine), a journal dedicated to chess endgame studies * Eg White (born 1966), a British musician, songwriter and producer * E.G. Records, a music record l ...

via

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

. It was recorded in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany and produced by

Conny Plank Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was invo ...

, making it their first album not to be self-produced. This is their last album to featured the original line-up, until their 2010's album ''

Absolute Dissent ''Absolute Dissent'' is the thirteenth studio album by English post-punk band Killing Joke, released on 27 September 2010 by Spinefarm Records, distributed worldwide by Universal Music Group. ''Absolute Dissent'' is Killing Joke's first studio ...

''.

Release

''Revelations'' was released in July 1982 by

E.G. Records E.G. Records was a British artist management company and independent record label, mostly active during the 1970s and 1980s. The initials stood for its founders, David Enthoven and John Gaydon. The pair signed on as managers of King Crimson in ...

. It reached number 12 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. Youth was disappointed the way the album turned out contributing to him leaving the band saying "It came out a bit dirgy". Two singles were released from the album: " Empire Song" and " Chop-Chop". "Empire Song" was performed on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', but without singer

Jaz Coleman Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman (born 26 February 1960) is an English singer and musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of post-punk group Killing Joke. Coleman is known for his unique raspy baritone voic ...

, who had recent departed for Iceland fearing

nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...

. A remastered version was released in 2005, including an alternate recording of "We Have Joy".

Reception

''Revelations'' has generally received mixed-to-favourable reception by critics. Nick Lancaster of

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

praised the album, calling it "a less individual work – record company pressures and an outside producer necessarily toning down the band's nihilistic excesses – but it's all the better for it." Christopher Gray of ''

Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' called it "faster" and "sleeker" than previous albums. ''

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'' put the album at no. 11 on their list titled "20 Best: Goth Records Ever Made". In negative retrospective reviews,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

believed the album had a "lack of cohesion and direction", while ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' wrote that it "suffers from an uninvolving lethargy".

Track listing

Personnel

; Killing Joke *

– vocals,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

* Kevin "Geordie" Walker – guitar * Martin "Youth" Glover – bass guitar *

Paul Ferguson Matthew Paul Ferguson (born 31 March 1958) is an English rock drummer, best known for his work in the post-punk/ industrial group Killing Joke and cult English punk band Pink Parts. Following a stint as the drummer with the London-based Matt St ...

– drums, vocals ; Technical *

– recording engineer, mixing,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Rob O'Connor ''Hollyoaks'' is a long-running Channel 4 soap opera in the United Kingdom. This is a list of characters who first appeared on the programme during 2010, listed in order of their first appearance. In January 2010, it was announced that Paul Marq ...

- sleeve design

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1982 albums Killing Joke albums Albums produced by Conny Plank E.G. Records albums