One of the things that people love about The Killing Joke is that it offers an origin story for the Joker, who never gets a definitive origin story. Maybe that’s what’s so scary about him. The Joker is so insane, and so obsessed with driving other people nuts, and we don’t know why. And the book also focuses on the Joker’s idea that sanity is this tenuous, that we’re all “one bad day” away from becoming homicidal lunatics. Except, of course, Batman has “one bad day” and it turns him into Batman (lunatic, yes, homicidal, no) and, in the course of the story, Jim Gordon has “one bad day” and it strengthens his resolve to be Jim Gordon: “ You have to go after him! I want him brought in…and I want him brought in by the book!” Geordie Walker died in Prague on November 25, 2023, aged 64, after suffering a stroke. [59] [60] Style and influences [ edit ] Tension' does what it says, and does it through a chugging, staccato guitar riff that feels like a baseball bat landing on your head. The bizarre imagery in the lyrics ("Sitting in my armchair thinking again and again and again/Going round in a circle I can't get out") can suggest manys a thing: 9 to 5 conformity, LSD paranoia, mental disintegration. The free flowing imagery, combined with the stable music, is almost psychedelic in it's outcome, especially the guitar line during the chorus. trying to break into the Freemasons headquarters and ended up in Chelsea police station wearing a kimono and swimming trunks. Unsurprisingly, he was placed in a mental home, leading to a tour being postponed. He later said: The band members continued writing songs for the album upon returning to Notting Hill in a rehearsal studio they shared with two other fast-rising groups, Motörhead and The Clash. "We were definitely influenced by both bands to a degree," Youth says. "The Clash were starting to use dub influences at the same time we were but in a different way, and we always wanted to sound louder than Motörhead."

Grant, Steven; Sheridan, David; Fasolino, Greg; Robbins, Ira. "TrouserPress.com:: Killing Joke". Trouser Press . Retrieved 25 February 2015.

Track listing

The resulting album, Outside the Gate, released the following June, is Killing Joke's most controversial work to date due to its complex synth instrumentation and stylistic departure. [29] It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 92 and stayed for just one week. [30] No gigs were played in support of the album and it was not released in the USA. Virgin dropped the band two months later, by which time Coleman and Walker had become embroiled in a lengthy legal battle to extricate themselves from their contract with E.G. Revised line-up (1989–1991) [ edit ] Oh, we're getting used to that now," Youth jokes. "We are all challenging people to work with. Jaz is a very individually unique character that does crazy things quite frequently. As much as it can be frustrating and embarrassing at times, I'm sure it's the same for what I get up to sometimes. Often in hindsight, it all works out for the best." Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker has died". Kerrang!. 26 November 2023 . Retrieved 26 November 2023. At the time of release, UK unemployment was over 2 million, Nazi skinheads regularly clashed with anti fascists, rioting had broken out in South London and the country was still reeling from the Yorkshire Ripper murders. In the North of Ireland, republicans died on hunger strike (fully encouraged by their 'leaders' for political gain) and riots in nationalist areas were daily occurrences. And, while the album was being recorded, rioting broke out in Brixton (not far from the band's squat in Ladbroke Grove). E.G. also released a 7" limited-edition double vinyl single exclusively in the UK featuring the remix of "Adorations" as the A-side, "Exile" as the B-side, "Ecstasy" as the C-side, and "Adorations (Instrumental Mix)" as the D-side. A cassette maxi single was also released.

So without consigning them to a dusty past Killing Joke have left a legacy of excellence. There are also some great compilations to try. Laugh? I Nearly Bought One! is pretty well definitive for those who want to hear album cuts while Wilful Days (1995) is mostly a set of non-album singles, remixes and rare b-sides. Killing Joke – For Beginners (the title is ironic) is also heartily recommended. With equality restored, Killing Joke regrouped again in the early 2000s to record a second self-titled album, which they refer to these days by the year it came out. From the rigid industrial metal of "The Death & Resurrection Show" to the screed-like "Asteroid" to the punk-metal steamroller "Seeing Red," it was the most vital album the band recorded in years. "'2003' is almost all of our favorite album," Youth says. "It has elements of dub and metal and it's fairly focused." Part of the album's directness, though, has to do with the drummer who played on it: Dave Grohl. Their first album, Killing Joke, was released in 1980. After the release of Revelations in 1982, bassist Youth was replaced by Paul Raven. The band achieved mainstream success in 1985 with both the studio album Night Time and the single " Love Like Blood".

23 Issues

Pitalo, Stephen (20 March 2012). "eighties"-video-for-killing-joke-"they-were-a-frightening-band"/ "Director Recalls Shooting 'Eighties' Video For Killing Joke: 'They Were a Frightening Band' ". The Golden Age of Music Video. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022 . Retrieved 20 April 2022.

a b c d e f g Hightower, Laura; DeRemer, Leigh Ann (2001). "Killing Joke". Contemporary Musicians. Profiles of the people in music. Vol.30. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research. ISBN 0-7876-4641-5. OCLC 51547697. For reasons that remain unclear, the German sessions were shelved and bass player Taif left the band. He was replaced by former member Paul Raven and the revised line-up began recording again, this time in London. The result was Killing Joke's eighth album, Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions, released on the German Noise International label in 1990. It marked a return to a heavier sound. [32] [33] " Money Is Not Our God" was the lead single. The band toured Europe and North America until unexpectedly disbanding again in mid-1991. Coleman emigrated to New Zealand to live on a remote Pacific island, and Killing Joke entered a hiatus. Care, Peter. "Music Videos - UK 1983-1986 - Killing Joke, Love Like Blood". petercare.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022 . Retrieved 20 April 2022. The ferocity of ‘The Wait’ (is it any wonder that Metallica covered it?) goes down a storm in the now sweatbox that is the 100 Club. Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke at The 100 Club, London 9.3.23 (pic Andy Murphy)The Singles Collection: 1979-2012 (April 15th)". Killing Joke's official. 13 December 2012. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. a b c Smith, Mat (14 May 1988). Killing Joke [Paul Raven interview]. {{ cite book}}: |work= ignored ( help) Killing Joke reform and tour" (PHP). LATEST NEWS. SIDE-LINE.com. 6 March 2008 . Retrieved 14 March 2008. The "intelligentsia masquerading as yobs or vice versa" debate blind sighted many at the time, leading them to ignore the rich musical and literary culture around the band. Evolving from the fractured UK punk scene at the end of the 70's, early Killing Joke blended disco and dub into their apocalyptic sound. Hence, fans of The Ruts and Chic could be found in the crowds of their early gigs, alongside the mohican brigade. Their first Peel Session captures this period perfectly. As Jaz Coleman said in 1990: "Killing Joke always have an important role to play in times of world tension" and this is still the case today.