''Killing Joke'' is the debut 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 on 5 October 1980 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 la ...

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 debuted at number 41 on 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 ...

on 26 October 1980 and later peaked at number 39.

Background and recording

Singer and keyboardist

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 ...

met drummer

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 ...

in late 1978. In February 1979, they put an announcement in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' with the words: "Bass, lead, to tell the killing joke, we mean it man ! Total exploitation, no information, anonymity". They soon recruited guitarist

Geordie Walker Kevin "Geordie" Walker (born 18 December 1960) is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist of post-punk group Killing Joke. His unorthodox style of electric guitar playing is widely acclaimed. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin hailed Walk ...

and then bassist

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

. After releasing a few singles, they recorded ''Killing Joke'' in August 1980 at

Marquee Studios The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed wh ...

in London, shortly after a small tour promoting the ''

Almost Red ''Turn to Red'' (sometimes known as ''Almost Red'' or ''Nervous System'') is an EP and the debut release by English post-punk band Killing Joke. It was released as a 7-inch EP on 26 October 1979 by Malicious Damage and re-released as a 12-inch ...

'' EP. The album was self-produced by the band on purpose. They only wanted an engineer "who can put their technical knowledge into what we want, the way we want it. He's got to take us as we are". They recorded it live in the studio as "basic" as possible with "no overdubs to speak of"; Ferguson explained, "The mixing is where the difference is". Engineer Phil Harding reckons the recording of the album might have only taken two weeks. The album's lyrics were written by Coleman and Ferguson expressing their opinions on issues such as politics, death, hypocrisy, human nature, pollution and exile. The artwork was based on a photograph by

Don McCullin Sir Donald McCullin (born 9 October 1935) is a British photojournalist, particularly recognised for his war photography and images of urban strife. His career, which began in 1959, has specialised in examining the underside of society, and hi ...

of young rioters trying to escape from clouds of

CS gas The compound 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile (also called ''o''-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile; chemical formula: C10H5ClN2), a cyanocarbon, is the defining component of tear gas commonly referred to as CS gas, which is used as a riot control agent ...

released by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, Northern Ireland, on 8 July 1971 during the

Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

. The original picture was taken a few months before the day now known as

Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday may refer to: Historical events Canada * Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia * Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence agai ...

that took place in the same town in early 1972.

Release

''Killing Joke'' was released on 5 October 1980 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 ...

, who were distributed at the time by

. It entered the UK Albums Chart on 25 October 1980, and eventually reached number 39. The album produced two singles: " Wardance" and "

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

". The 2005 and 2008 reissues of ''Killing Joke'' featured several bonus tracks, such as previously released

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

and demo tracks. as it was in the original US release.

Reception

In his retrospective review, Bradley Torreano of

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 ...

praised the album, writing, "Since 1980, there have been a hundred bands who sound like this, but before

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

and

Al Jourgensen Alain David Jourgensen (born Alejandro Ramírez Casas; October 9, 1958) is a Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is be ...

made it hip, the cold metallic throb of Killing Joke was exciting and fresh", calling it an "underground classic" that "deserves better than its relative unknown status". In the band's biography it was called an "outstanding debut album which captured not only their defining sound, but also the chilling apocalyptic anguish about the world to come."Hämäläinen, Jyrki "Spider" (2020). ''Killing Joke: Are You Receiving?'', p. 32. Milton Keynes: New Haven Publishing. .

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

called it a "

masterpiece of tribal

funk-rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and Rock music, rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters (American band), The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the r ...

and grinding heavy metal with suitably doom-mongering lyrics and splenetic vocals". In 2019, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' placed the album at No. 9 on their "33 Best

Industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

Albums of All Time" list.

Legacy

The album has been called "an underground classic" for fans of "heavy music".

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

has cited it as one of his favorite albums. "The Wait" was covered by

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

on ''

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'' EP in 1987 and was later featured on ''

Garage Inc. ''Garage Inc.'' is a compilation album of cover songs by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on November 24, 1998, through Elektra Records. It includes cover songs, B-side covers, and ''The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited'' ...

'' "Primitive" was covered by

Helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

in 1993 as the A-side to their "Primitive" single, and later added to their '' Born Annoying'' compilation album. "Requiem" was covered by Foo Fighters in 1997 as a B-side to the "

Everlong "Everlong" is a song by American rock group Foo Fighters. It was released in August 1997 as the second single from their second studio album, ''The Colour and the Shape'' (1997). The song reached number three on the US ''Billboard'' Alternativ ...

" single. Japanese band

The Mad Capsule Markets The Mad Capsule Markets (originally known as The Mad Capsule Market's and Berrie) were a Japanese band that formed in 1985 and were active until 2006. The band became known for their experimental style, which melded various kinds of electronic m ...

covered "Wardance" on their 2001 album "

010 010 may refer to: * 10 (number) * 8 (number) in octal numeral notation * Motorola 68010, a microprocessor released by Motorola in 1982 * 010, the telephone area code of Beijing * 010, the Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the R ...

". The album was included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''.

Track listing

Personnel

; Killing Joke *

– lead vocals, synthesizer, production * Kevin "Geordie" Walker – guitar, production * Martin "Youth" Glover – bass guitar, production *

– drums, backing vocals, production ;Technical * Phil Harding - recording engineer, mixing (uncredited)Coleman, Jaz (2013). ''Letters from Cythera'', p. 272. Self-published. * Mike Coles - sleeve design (uncredited) *

- photography (uncredited)

Background and recording

Release

Reception

Legacy

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

References

External links