Search - Killing Joke :: Laugh I Nearly Bought One

MUSICAL JUGGERNAUT FROM THE MOST UNUSUAL BAND EVER...

B. G. Shultz | Rockwall, TX USA | 12/03/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Killing Joke has to be the most uncompromising band to have ever signed a record contract. Their albums, especially the first four, are so dissonant that they're almost unlistenable. Of course, that's the Joke's charm. They've remained themselves and continued to influence bands as huge as Nirvana, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, and Soundgarden, to name a few. This CD is an ideal introduction for anyone not familiar with the Joke. A few of the tracks are rare gems that one would be hard pressed to find elsewhere (Pssyche, Sun Goes Down, Turn To Red). The rest of the songs give the listener a fairly sweeping example of this band's wonderful career. Give the songs "Requiem" and "Follow The Leaders" a spin and then marvel over the fact that these pulsating quasi-industrial pieces were written as long ago as 1980 and 1981, respectively. As a bonus, the cover of the CD is a famous photo of a Catholic priest fraternizing with Nazis. Killing Joke put this picture on a flyer for a show in Glasgow- and were consequently banned from playing the gig by the furious club owner. Don't hesitate on this one- Killing Joke was and is a musical phenomenon. This disc will reaffirm that notion."

Brilliant overview of the band's earlier period.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 04/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!" is a superb compilation of material from Killing Joke's work from 1979 through 1990, with a track listing that I probably could have picked myself. It covers the band's history, but rather than making any attempt at evenness between releases, it picks tracks based on value and importance.



Admittedly, there's substitutions I'd make, but any fan would say this of any compilation-- you've got the essentials on this one and get a good vision of the bands evolution, from its early days as a post-punk genre blending monster singing about the coming armaggedon scenerios ("Wardance", "Unspeakable") to the later, smoother, more disenfranchised with the modern era feel of the later material ("Sun Goes Down", "Eighties"). To top it off, you even get a blazing live version fo "Pssyche" from the long unavailable "Ha!" EP.



As an introduction to the band, this is probably the way to go-- for fans, this is less essential (barring the aformentioned "Pssyche")."

Excellent introduction to a classic band

Barbara Streisands Love Slave | 08/25/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No other band so perfectly epitomized the dark, brutal power of rock better than Killing Joke. This anthology traces their career from their beginnings as primal dance rockers to arty, proto-industrial pioneers. Their earliest works-"Wardance", "Empire Song", "Follow the Leaders"-pack a brutal wallop, courtesy of original bassist Youth, who gave the band both grooves and dynamics. After he left, the later tracks-"Love Like Blood", "Eighties"-still have power but are more conventional. Still, conventional by KJ standards is uncompromisingly intense by any others. If there are any flaws with this record, they are of omission-"The Wait" (covered by Metallica on their "Garage" releases) was inexplicably left out, as were any tracks from their worthy 1983 album "Fire Dances". (Omissions from their disastrous 1988 album "Outside the Gate" are, by contrast, wholly warranted-that album had not a single memorable track on it.) Die-hards may also appreciate the 2 rare early tracks that start the album. As impressive a body of work as any band of any time period."