Killing Joke

I need some context for this... Happy to find out that there are bands like Ministry that aren't Ministry.

Just kind of difficult to listen to overall.

Many of these songs started strong with a catchy hook, giving me hope. But then the song would not really evolve except by adding vocals that are just kinda meh. Change was my favourite track of them, but I don't see myself putting it on anytime soon. 4/10

High 3

Yikes!

Dogshit

Banger. I woke up the next morning with "RE-QUI-EMMMM" still playing in my head.

Raw and heavy. Delightful and energetic. Where have these guys been?

A band that apparently peaked and then fizzled it seems. Felt like The Clash adjacent to begin with, punk, a bit industrial, then some songs just went on too long without much yo show for it. Requiem and The Wait were alright. This feels like a perfectly in the middle album. Ok, but nothing else more. Surprised that it's on the list to be honest, nothing memorable about it and I've never heard Killing Joke mentioned or referenced anywhere.

This eas really good. By far the best post punk british junk on here. Excellent guitar effects and modern production. Held back by terrible British singing. As is customary.

Solid post-punk. I just don't think I'm a humongous fan of post-punk.

Outside of the rare possibility of stocking this album while working in the media department at Best Buy, the only Killing Joke I was ever familiar with was the one-shot graphic novel written by Alan Moore featuring Batman and the Joker. But I digress, because apparently this review requires more attention than I’m currently willing to give it. There’s something beautiful in the rawness of this album. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I love how vividly and clearly I can hear each instrument. Everything occupies its own space, yet somehow comes together perfectly, with each element knowing exactly when to step forward and when to stay out of the way. The production feels unpolished in just the right ways without ever sounding sloppy. This is not your typical punk album. Some sites say it’s post-punk or even industrial. Whatever genre this is supposed to be, there’s a level of skill and precision on display throughout, and it’s obvious that these guys know exactly what they’re doing—and, more importantly, know exactly what they want each song to sound like. The result is an incredibly distinctive listening experience that manages to feel both raw and remarkably controlled. Killing Joke was an unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable listen, and absolutely worth the time I invested in it. I may even seek out some of the band’s other work. Then again, I have a feeling it’s going to be awfully difficult for anything else they’ve done to live up to this one.

This was much better than expected. You can hear the post-punk influence led these guys into a near industrial state at times. The Wait was familiar from my youth listening to Metallica and was a nice surprise. Overall a pretty good album.

Not really into punk as a genre, but this one was pretty cool.

Ani dobre ani złe, ale raczej w stronę 2,5 niż 3

This album sort of failed to hook me. While I respect the idea and like the artistic choices of rough mixing I found a lot of this album rather repetitive as songs went on a little long constantly. There were a couple moments where I really liked what I was hearing, real sections of songs shining through, but they were few and far between. The end section of "Change" is the biggest moment for me, where the tone shifted and I had a 30 second section that I thought sounded fantastic. It also doesn't help that the big lead single of Requiem did very little for me. Best song(s): The Wait, Change Worst Song(s): N/A Rank compared to everything else so far: 79/87 (above Destroyer, below Shleep)

Good thing they have “joke” in the title The instrumental songs on this one are actually pretty solid, if a bit unspectacular. I think there’s some good guitar parts in here, and there’s a bit more variety than id expect for the genre I just really, really can’t with the vocals on this. They were just below average on the first song, but the way they were distorted on the second track just pissed me off. I just really hate the singing style and I don’t know if there’s anything they can do to make me appreciate that. In reality I don’t think there’s more than 5 minutes of even average music on this entire record We’ve definitely had more egregiously bad punk albums in the past, but there’s just very little I genuinely like about this album, and the only reason I can’t absolutely hate it is that I know it gets a lot worse

I can hear the influence but man what a drag. Too muddy and "sludgy" for lack of a better word.

2,5- un 5

6/10 Why did I think Killing Joke were an early 90s American hard rock band? Who am I mixing them up with? Anywho, as a result, I was pleasantly surprised that this was some solid punk. You can hear Fontaines in the best bots, right? The last two or three tracks feel a bit of a chore and drag the score down, but yes, I like

Bleak headache.

This record is heavy, dark, and difficult to define. I could see it being considered on the outskirts of metal, industrial, punk rock, post-punk, or even new wave. I'd only really heard "Eighties" before -- and only as a curiosity because it supposedly sounded very close to a popular Nirvana song it predated (spoiler: it really does). Based on that alone, I figured Killing Joke would be slightly outside my usual taste in music. After hearing the debut, I think they're firmly within it. The vocals aren't necessarily my favorite element, but they match the raw power of the instrumentation. The first time through I found "Tomorrow's World" really hit with me. The sort of gloomy march, angular guitar, and simple yet evocative lyrics are right up my alley. Honestly, the album just moves from strength to strength after that. Bloodsport has the vibe of a stadium hype track for some sort of deadly game... all conveyed with a driving beat and sound effects. The Wait almost sounds like what would happen to an early iteration of The Cure if you sent them to war and they came back with PTSD... then Complication adds a bit of Gang of Four into the mix. I really dig how risky and experimental this sounds... especially for 1980. Even in the budding world of Industrial and Post Punk, there wasn't really anything quite like this record. I think it's one I need to add to my collection.

prut zooi

Eh. It wasn't offensive but I wasn't into it and listened twice. 2.5 more than a 3 for me.

Did not enjoy. After reading about the band, I can appreciate that they were pioneers of a new sound and style, but would not listen to again.

Didn't enjoy this album

The performances are rudimentary. And it sounds like they're haven't quite figured out exactly how they want to sound. On top of that, I'm not a big fan of the industrial elements of their sound. All that said, there is definitely something attractive and hypnotic that bubbles up in this chaotic exploration.

At the ends of the alt-rock spectrum, metal beats pop almost every time

Surprised to enjoy this as much as I did

Decent music. It's even better when they don't sing.

A little bit bland for post punk.

What an interesting take on post punk and industrial. Almost sounds like a mix of early U2 and My Bloody Valentine, in the best way. Punchy and grungy, but maintains strong and consistent cohesion throughout. Top tracks: Requiem, The Wait, Complications

1980 -- debut album -- post-punk / industrial rock -- peaked at #39; self-produced by the band with an engineer; " opinions on issues such as politics, death, hypocrisy, human nature, pollution and exile"; singles "War Dance" and "Requiem"; "outstanding debut album which captured not only their defining sound, but also the chilling apocalyptic anguish about the world to come." "The artwork was based on a photograph by Don McCullin of young rioters trying to escape from clouds of CS gas released by the British Army in Derry, Northern Ireland, on 8 July 1971 during the Troubles (1968-1998). The original picture was taken a few months before the day now known as Bloody Sunday that took place in the same town in early 1972." Top two tracks are the lead singles and I don't care about them at all. This sound is not my bag, and it makes it hard to rate objectively. I generally give it a 3 and move on. Hard for me to rate anything on this list under a 3 unless it is actively doing something harmful to my brain.

2 - ehh

I’m starting to doubt that any good post punk album exists because why are there so many on this list

This just feels way too long. A lot of this just ends up sounding very similar to each other. As well as it feeling quite aimless at points, and I just feel myself enjoying it less as the album progresses. There's a couple of tracks which stand out and get you interested. But I mean, that's the extent of where my praise goes for this album. Fav Track:Requiem

Fine, bored me though. 2/5

Is the joke that this album is on the list?

I can appreciate it

The music isn't bad even if each track sounds close to the same. Not a fan of the vocals.

I shivered in fear at the thought of a post-punk album, but this was alright. Vocals are ehh though.

I can see Adam Jones listening to this, reading Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke

Better than the album cover would suggest it was going to be.

probably my favorite kj album

Watch this-watch this. This list thinks it's sooooo slick right now for busting out an album from an artist I've never heard of nor will ever hear of in a thousand lifetimes. I can see the smug curators reclining into their seats and contentedly folding their arms with the expectation that I will be desperately clawing at a genre prediction for this album BOOOM IT'S POST-PUNK. PLAY THAT THING RIGHT NOWWWWWWW. Yup. Issa post-punk album. I was eyeing industrial as my second guess, so I'm super duper right if you wanna know the truth about it. I liked this! What the fuck? Maybe I'm just in a good mood right now, as this style of music has never worked for me in the past. Anyways, this album is pretty neat. Big fan of the deep, snarling bass guitars, the rough, growling electric guitars, the snappy, punchy percussion and the miscellaneous synths/effects that fill in the gaps without disrupting the established sound. Compositionally speaking, the album moves at a very steady, methodical pace which generally builds in intensity as the billowing percussion intensifies. The simplicity of this approach is a dicey gamble, though the album manages to make it work because of my partiality to industrial music. Overall, yeah! Good album. It's not quite 4-star worthy for me yet as this style of music isn't within my wheelhouse, though I think highly of this album all the same and am compelled to revisit it. I'm giving this album enough thumbs-uppies to uplift an entire town and have everyone feeling good about themselves 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 Book time. An "...extraordinary debut". "...the aural equivalent of having thumbs pushed through your eyes while being told the end is nigh." I guess the thumbs-uppies I so generously gave to this album have been appropriated for a different, more sinister purpose. Oh well. The dynamic between the members of this group is "...awesomely combustible." A lot of variety between tracks. The band were so confident in their material that they neglected putting "Change" on initial UK pressings of this album, which the book describes as "...the era's finest punk-funk splintering". The entry closes with the remark that this album is "One of the decade's most bleakly beautiful releases". Wikipedia says this album was beloved by every music publication aside from The Austin Chronicle, who gave it a mere 3/5 stars. The album is considered to be an influential and classic release in underground music circles. It's been named as a favourite album by David Grohl, with the Foo Fighters and Metallica being among the artists to cover the album's material. The album peaked at No. 39 on the UK charts, but doesn't appear to have charted anywhere else. Sure. I'm in this album's corner. I thought it was pretty alright and the album certainly has its fair share of supporters. I cosign this inclusion.

First time listening to a full album from them. It was quite boring post punk till it got to The Wait. That's when I realized the Polish band Siekiera must've taken quite a lot of inspiration for their album Nowa Aleksandria from this song or maybe this Killing Joke album in general. Anyway I'd rather be listening to Siekiera 2/5

This feels innovative and extreme for 1980. Like nin and ministry and kmfdm and all those bands must have loved these guys. So did Metallica. They covered the wait. Industrial. Industrial was the word I was looking for.

Pretty good rock album that I have never heard before today. Seemed a little ahead of it's time. Some really good songs with great music. Not a lot of variety but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I will probably listen to this one again.

Not the worst post-punk album I've heard on here. It was good, but kind of a lot for one sitting. (I listened over two days.)

Not sure how I feel about this one. It has its moments, then again it is sometimes rather dull. Blodsport was a nice closing of the album. 6/10

There were moments here, but nothing that truly stuck with me

always fun to find a new metal band i didnt know. but still not really my thing

⭐️Requiem

It wasn’t quite a heavy metal album despite my fears from the name and cover. Not amazing though

Relentless Proto-Industrial, Electro-Funk, Dalek Rock

bleh

This definitely killed and joke or good feelings at all

Very good early Industrial Rock, when it was more indebted to Gothic Rock and Post-Punk. The straightforward songwriting keeps it grounded while everything else is pretty experimental. Liked this one, probably needs a second listen. Key tracks: Requiem

Decent post punk album although it’s a bit samey, songs like Bloodsport sound good but don’t really go anywhere. Requiem, Wardance, Primitive are the best tracks. 5/10

eh

Gear: Punch Audio Portazo Artwork: 🧱✊🏴 Production (2005 Digital Remaster): ♨️🥾🥩 Music: 🧩🖕🦄 Rating: 🃏🃏🃏/5

I don't need more post punk in my life.

Killing Joke is a fun album. It is weird and dissonant, yet strangely funky for how rough and harsh it feels. Killing Joke has always been a weird band for me, where I have a strange fondness for them. WIth their rougher side they make that new-wave eighties aesthetic work.

6/10

Absolutely brilliant album. I’ve listened to this 3 times today.

This album is definitely cool but I have no idea what buddy boy is saying

3.5 Worth revisiting later

Way too droning and repetitive. Almost achieves a sort of trance-like appeal, but falls short of being actually appealing.

Another album in the category of why I love this list, hadn't heard of them, clearly an influence on a lot of things I love. Not sure this album works most of the time but enjoy the ambition and melding of so many ideas and genres.

It's too bad, my favorite track "Change" was a B-side. Ah well. The washed out vocals and more instrumental angles benefited this a bit. If Change was legit this would have rounded up, but alas. 3.4/5 -> 3/5

Bon

Интересный альбом. Сначала правда сбил с толку синтезатор и распевочный тон первой песни, но дальше альбом становится всё более шумным, грувовым, кричащим, тёмным, всё как я люблю. Лучшая песня: Tomorrow`s World

Listening to it after years and I realised that it is a very good album.

This is a band that I've heard _of_, but I don't think I've specifically listened to before. I find "S.O.36" hypnotic.

This album has a real atmosphere. It sits on you while you listen. The themes feel carefully chosen and the instrumentals fit them without strain. Nothing feels accidental. The band builds a dark, tense mood and stays inside it. The guitars are sharp and metallic, the rhythm section is heavy and deliberate, and the vocals cut through with a cold urgency. The whole record feels controlled and purposeful rather than chaotic. It creates a strong sense of place and never really lets go of that feeling. The production is dry and direct. It keeps the edges intact and lets the weight of the playing come through clearly. There is not much warmth here, but the cold clarity suits the material well. Killing Joke’s debut is a focused and atmospheric record. The pieces fit together cleanly and the mood stays consistent from start to finish.

Eh

Wasn't super grabbed but it was interesting

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I dig my post-punk weird, and this fits the bill. It's undeniably more synthy than any post-punk we've yet gotten in this challenge, and has some industrial tinges to it as well. Despite this, it remains groove-able and dance-able throughout! A fine example of post-punk at its best.

Just sounded like a lot of the other 80s new wave post punk nonsense

It's unmistakably a British punk album and that will always be a tough sell for me.... but between the killer industrial grooves and gloriously menacing bass tone, I was nonetheless hooked the whole way through. Pretty good album, I can't lie! Standouts: Tomorrow's World • Bloodsport • S.O.36 • Primitive • Change

There are so many punk and post punk albums on this list but I feel like one deserves to be here. I've never heard an album like this. It combines the aura of the genre with crunchy metal synths and even becomes something approaching dance music at times. Gripping stuff that absolutely demands your attention. Loved it.

Liked it way more than I thought I would

Enjoyable rock - I thought it would be more punky

I really like this album. Pure post-punk darkness. Though the ambience is thick, I was a bit disappointed at how all the tracks aren't as memorable.

If I was paying closer attention, I probably would have liked it less. 2.

I didn't think I'd like this. Don't get me wrong it's rough in spots but all punk is. It could do better lyrically but they got the energy. It made me want to check out their later work and see what they became. Not bad, good first album.

I am very family with this album because I’ve enjoyed it for decades. I think I found a (somewhat) original pressing on vinyl about 20 years ago. There’s a few great songs on here and I love how this album appears to have inspired/influenced a lot of other great music. I saw KJ in concert around 2003ish and that was great. I also met one of KJ’s former drummers (living legend Martin Atkins) a couple years ago when he led a tour of the Post-Punk and Industrial Museum in Chicago, where a few KJ items are on display.

I’d heard of this band but never heard them. For some reason I lumped them in with like thrash metal or something? But this was more post punk Wire sounding and I dug it.

Another one I wasn’t excited to listen to and ended up really liking.

Сара 2 Марко 2

Did nothing for me. There were times where the track would drop and I was intrigued to hear more… then the vocalist would start singing and I’d lose interest :/

This was all right. It feels like another one of those UK bias albums, but it was a decent listen. Punk rock that felt a little timeless; I also was able to tap into how this would have been good live. (3.5)

Sort of post punk but not quite fully fleshed out.

Don’t remember

Really like the heavy bass and drums. The vocals are harder work for me.

Well, it's not the worst punk album on the list. I'm not sure it deserves to be here, but it's fine.

Wow, this sounds so much more modern than I anticipated.

Well the first person to fire is whoever remastered this. I thought it was just really terribly recorded until we got to the “Rough mix”’s at the end and you realize what it should/did sound like. The remaster puts the guitar into a tiny box, chunks it up, and hangs it up dry. The keyboards are nigh on nonexistent and you need them to give these songs any texture or balls. The drums are the only thing really even close to right and the only instrument that uses the full stereo field. Overall nothing sits just right in the mix. Musically it’s not my bag but honestly was more compelling than I expected out of Killing Joke. The music of theirs that I remember was much more patently industrial and bombastic without substance, but this comes across as a passable if mediocre late 70’s guitar rock album.

Another pretty good new wave album. I enjoyed it.

Loved it. Need to explore more