As ive mentioned a few times before, killing Joke are one of my favorite bands.

One of the things i like about them is how they manage to incorporate elements of techno, tribal-ethnic, dance, post punk, dub, metal and industrial music into their sound. That along with Geordie's distinctive guitar playing and Jazes's futuristic, Political, apocalyptic and prophetic lyrics make KJ a pretty cool band.

Their music isn't for everyone but over their 30 plus year career they've managed to influenced a lot of bands.


This song is from their somewhat mainstream, dance period(86-89)

My Love of This Land:Outside The Gate(1988)





This is song is from their somewhat techno and synthisizer driven period(90-94)


Solitude:Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions(1990)






This is from their second wave of popularity. The metal and blatant aggression period(2003-2012).

Corporate Elect:MMXII(2012)

Edited for spelling and clarity. Oops

[Edited 5/14/13 20:58pm]

Killing Joke are great, I saw them live a few months ago. The power went out half way through the concert though!

I had ear protectors in, to my shame, but that's just an age thing. lol

I'd have posted Eighties, Kings And Queens, and Adoration as good examples of their work. Maybe even European Super State. All great tracks. They're the heaviest band I'm in to, but great for turning up the volume to!

Scotsman1999 said:

Killing Joke are great, I saw them live a few months ago. The power went out half way through the concert though!

I had ear protectors in, to my shame, but that's just an age thing. lol

I'd have posted Eighties, Kings And Queens, and Adoration as good examples of their work. Maybe even European Super State. All great tracks. They're the heaviest band I'm in to, but great for turning up the volume to!

Cool ! I'm always happy to meet another Killing Joke fan.

I seen them in concert in Seattle WA(USA) back in 2003 and they were Loud.

I didn't wear ear plugs but i probably should have.

Anyway the cool thing about seeing them then was i got a chance to see Raven(baas player) play before he died. I was up front and close to the stage and i think Raven and Jaz kinda tripped out(in a good way) because they had a black guy in the crowd(me). I was really getting into the whole vibe, it was a cool show.

They played in San francisco(close to my current location) a few days ago and im so mad that i couldnt make it.

Since I'm in the states i might never get a second chance to see all the original members play together.

Oh yeah, back in 2003 they were going through a very heavy sounding period - brutal drums and guitars. I hope you didn't get tinnitus after the gig.

I'd never seen them live until just there, so didn't know what to expect really. Thankfully alot of their fans are older now so there wasn't any mosh pit antics or people getting thrown around!!

When the power went, I was actually in the toilet and everything went dark! I bet if that had happened in the 80's, there'd have been a stage invasion. Nowadays no-one is capable of mounting the stage due to arthritis so it was just a shrug of the shoulders and away to catch the train.

It's great to see them still together. I really loved 'European Super State' and 'In Cythera'. They've still got it, and long may they be making their noise!

Nice to see some KJ love on here. Got into them through a friend via Pandemonium. At the time I wasn't aware that I'd actually heard them before then (Eighties, Love Like Blood). I've kept up with them and collected their back catalogue ever since. I find it interesting that they've grown harder in sound with age (certainly not typical of many, if any, bands). Been listening to Absolute Dissent and MMXII quite a bit lately. The original lineup back together on AD was/is fantastic. Love the harder sound of AD, The Great Cull, Depthcharge, the more toned down European Super State and even uplifting sound of In Excelsis. Not many 35-year-old bands can sound this good. I still think (and will always think) that Jaz is an absolutely nutcase in his views, conspiracy theories and lyrics (let's all move to Iceland for the end of the world), but it doesn't keep me from enjoying their music as a band. Favorites right now are Night Time, Pandemonium, Killing Joke (2003), Absolute Dissent and MMXII.

pzlyprk said:

Nice to see some KJ love on here. Got into them through a friend via Pandemonium. At the time I wasn't aware that I'd actually heard them before then (Eighties, Love Like Blood). I've kept up with them and collected their back catalogue ever since. I find it interesting that they've grown harder in sound with age (certainly not typical of many, if any, bands). Been listening to Absolute Dissent and MMXII quite a bit lately. The original lineup back together on AD was/is fantastic. Love the harder sound of AD, The Great Cull, Depthcharge, the more toned down European Super State and even uplifting sound of In Excelsis. Not many 35-year-old bands can sound this good. I still think (and will always think) that Jaz is an absolutely nutcase in his views, conspiracy theories and lyrics (let's all move to Iceland for the end of the world), but it doesn't keep me from enjoying their music as a band. Favorites right now are Night Time, Pandemonium, Killing Joke (2003), Absolute Dissent and MMXII.

As i mentioned before, its a pleasure to meet a fellow Jokester so cheers !


I got into the Joke after hearing the song Frenzy. There was this radio station in San Francisco that used to play all kinds of cool music and one day they played some Killing Joke. They played Frenzy, and because it was so different than the music that i had heard up until that point i was like, 'who is this' ? I had been into rock, punk, new wave, soul, funk and rap music but as i said, i had never really heard a band that sounded like KJ. After hearing frenzy i went looking for the album that it was on(Fire Dances) but the record store didn't have it. They only had the album What's THIS For!, so i bought it and honestly i didn't like it a first. I was expecting to hear some heavy, punk(ish) songs like Frenzy so i wasn't prepared for the tribal, dance, post punk of What's This. WT is definitely an aggressive and intense album but it was so different that i didn't know what to make of it all. The tom tom based tribal rhythms, the funky(ish) in your face bass, the wall of noise guitar, the distorted vocals and the crazy synth sounds and effects. The whole thing didn't make sense to my ears.


Anyway after listening to it for a few days i started to hear the different nuances in the songs and shortly thereafter WTF became one of my favorite albums of all time.




One thing about KJ that i noticed from the get go was the bass. I grew up on soul and funk music so i was automatically attracted to the deep, up front bass that was in their songs. Up until that point most of the guitar based rock music that i listened to usually had the bass in the background and the guitar up front. In KJ the bass was damn near up there with the guitar. That along with the dub, reggae and funk influenced bass playing and the tribal drumming really made KJ stand out.

Youth and Raven are(were) two of the best bass players that came out of that whole punk and post punk movement

As far as Jaz, he definitely has some interesting beliefs. He's kinda mellowed out in his old(er) age but he's still somewhat nuts. Ill give him one thing though, he does write some really intelligent and thoughtful lyrics...
He's really perceptive.

I guess in closing. KJ Kinda been on a roll since 2003 and im glad that they got a second wave of popularity and are making some cash. As long as they've been around and how many bands they influenced they deserve it.

I like all the newer stuff but i would like to see them go back to the 1980 to 86 sound period. Like they did with the song Depthcharge(Absolute Dissent, 2010). Man i love that song and that old kj sound.

[Edited 5/19/13 22:56pm]

Sorry I'm very out of touch with keeping up with threads I post in!

I first heard of Killing Joke when I saw the video for 'Eighties' on an old music show called '120 Minutes' on MTV that was hosted by Mark King (who was a pop singer called 'King' who had a hit with 'Love And Pride'..but I digress). This back when MTV was actually a music station!!

That song obsessed me, and I then saw the video for 'Adorations' and I bought 'Night Time' which is such a great album. I wouldn't say I have an encylopaedic knowledge of KJ, and the earlier albums I've only heard a handful of times, but certain tracks really grab me.

I was very impressed by 'Asteroid' and 'Walking With Gods'. Those are two amazingly powerful tracks!

I think alot of people stick to one genre of music, so it's good to hear from others who are similarly open minded. I also feel lucky to know so much music that I love.

Wow, never thought i'd see this here of all places, kudos!

Jaz is a lifelong close friend of mine - his Mom taught me in junior high, (I remember her scarring many children for life one morning by playing their (then) new album "Revelations" in class assembly!) Hell, i'm "family" according to Jaz. I've known Youth for many, many years and have sat in on mamny recording sessions - the most memorable being getting completely stoned on Youth's weed whilst Jaz was in the booth recording vocals for "Pilgrimage" on the Democracy album.

Shame I didn't know of your interests a few months ago, I sold a load of handwritten bits and pieces i'd been given over the years!


My friend Shaun has just completed this documentary.

Watch for it. Honor the fire.

You were taught by his mother? That's so cool!

I'm also glad that she was obviously very proud of her son and presumably liked the music. Being so close to the recording process must be a very strange experience for those (like me) who've never been in a studio. You're lucky to be in the inner gatherers circle!

Love like Blood...is just...timeless...