Killing Joke - The Singles Collection 1979 - 2012

Written by GE 138.

The Beauty and sheer Genius of a band like Killing Joke is their ability to incorporate anything and everything into their sound, and make it still sound like them, ya know? They weathered every fad and fashion that came at them and turned it all upside down and inside out, making it into a sound of their own, all in the process of Assimilation, Annihilation, and Reinvention. This collection of singles (no B-Sides though, which is odd), live stuff, and super duper remixes and rarities from Killing Joke is the best documentation of the bands musical evolution ever, much better than Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!, which came out over 20 years ago and does not include any of their latter day stuff. This 3 CD collection starts off with their 70's post-Punk Wire and Gang Of Four sounding stuff, then goes into their slick 80's Goth and New Wave aural dance floor assaults, then explodes into the 90's where the band added a touch of Metal to their arsenal and got a bit more grating with their overall sound, and then it takes you all the way into the present day, where Killing Joke continues to make music that is pretty much undefinable and years ahead of what anyone else is doing nowadays. This list of bands who cite Killing Joke as a source of Inspiration is awe inspiring. Google that shit if you don't believe me. I think everyone in the world had a copy of the Eighties release (I know Kurt Cobain did!), and the fact that this band is still doing it today is nothing short of remarkable. There's waaaaayyy too many standout tracks on this collection to single out just a handful as outstanding or an essential listen - every song on here pretty much is. The one thing does stand out is the omission of the song The Wait, blown the fuck up by Metallica on their Garage Days EP. I thought that song was a single, but I guess I was wrong. Oh well. I guess we needed to hear those remixes, dub versions, and alternate takes of later day songs instead of a classic piece of the early Killing Joke musical history. ;-) Minor complaint aside, this is still one Hell of a collection from one of the most Heavy and Momentous bands to ever crawl out of the muck that is known as England and unleash their Anger, Fury, and Wrath upon an unsuspecting and completely unworthy Music scene. If you in any way fancy yourself as an Artist, a Punk, a Radical, a Musician, or whatever label you saddle yourself with, then you owe it to yourself to check out the latest release from Killing Joke. Prepare to have your mind blown and inspired, both at the same time. Available from Spinefarm Records.

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