Killing Joke

Formation and first three albums (1978–1982)

Paul Ferguson was the drummer in the band of Mataya Clifford (a.k.a. Mat Stagger) when he met Jaz Coleman (from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) in Notting Hill, London. In October 1978, after Coleman was briefly the keyboard player in that band, he and Ferguson left to form Killing Joke. They placed an advertisement in Melody Maker which attracted guitarist Geordie Walker and bassist Martin "Youth" Glover. Coleman said their manifesto at the time was to "define the exquisite beauty of the atomic age in terms of style, sound and form". Coleman gave an explanation concerning their name: "The killing joke is like when people watch something like Monty Python on the television and laugh, when really they're laughing at themselves. It's like a soldier in the first world war. He's in the trench, he knows his life is gone and that within the next ten minutes he's gonna be dead ... and then suddenly he realises that some cunt back in Westminster's got him sussed - 'What am I doing this for? I don't want to kill anyone, I'm just being controlled'." The band played a debut gig on 4 August 1979 at Cheltenham Witcombe Lodge supporting The Ruts and The Selecter.

By September 1979, shortly before the release of their debut EP, Turn to Red, they started the Malicious Damage record label with graphic artist Mike Coles as a way to press and sell their music; Island Records distributed the records, until Malicious Damage switched to E.G. Records with a distribution through Polydor from 1980. The songs on Killing Joke's early singles were primitive, sparsely produced punk rock, sometimes mixed with electronic sounds and, on the first EP, dub features. Turn to Red came to the attention of legendary DJ John Peel, who was keen to champion the band's urgent new sound and gave them extensive airplay. An NME concert review said that "their sound is a bit like early [Siouxsie and the] Banshees without the thrilling, amoral imagination". Concerning their live performances, it was said that "the only animation on stage is provided by Jaz who crouches behind his synthesizer, making forays like a Neanderthal man gripped by a gesturing, gibbering fury". The songs on the "Wardance/Pssyche" single were described as "heavy dance music" by the press. The band had changed their sound into something denser, more aggressive and more akin to heavy metal. Their debut album, Killing Joke, was released in September; the band had considered calling it Tomorrow's World. The press started to criticize them for the lack of new material appearing on the B-sides of singles, which often featured different mixes. The group preferred to carry on working into the studio and released What's THIS For...! just nine months after Killing Joke, in June 1981. For What's THIS for...!, they hired sound engineer Nick Launay, who had previously recorded with PiL. They toured extensively throughout the UK during this time, and both fans of post-punk and heavy metal took interest in Killing Joke via singles such as "Follow the Leaders" (1981).

Killing Joke also became notorious largely due to the controversies that arose from their imagery. The images that appeared on their records and stage set were often bizarre and potentially shocking and inflammatory. Critics noted the band's black humour and the use of musical and visual shock tactics to create a reaction. The sleeve of one of their first singles, 1980's "Wardance"/"Pssyche", had already shown Fred Astaire dancing in a war field. One promotional poster featured an original photo, erroneously believed to be of Pope Pius XI. The picture was of German abbot Alban Schachleiter walking among rows of Nazi soldiers offering Hitler salutes and appearing to return the salute; it was later used for the cover of the band's compilation album Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!.

Revelations was recorded in 1982 in Germany near Cologne with producer Conny Plank, who had previously worked for Neu! and Kraftwerk. The album was supported by a pair of performances on BBC Radio's "The John Peel Show" and a slot on UK TV show Top of the Pops for "Empire Song". It was the first time that one of their albums had entered the top 20 of the UK Albums Chart: Revelations peaked at No. 12 a few weeks after its release. Members of the band, especially Coleman, had become immersed in the occult, particularly the works of occultist Aleister Crowley. In February of that year, Coleman, with Geordie following shortly after, moved to Iceland to survive the Apocalypse, which Coleman predicted was coming soon. While in Iceland, Coleman and Geordie worked with musicians from the band Þeyr in the project Niceland. Youth, who had stayed in England, left the band after a few months. He then began the band Brilliant with Ferguson, but the latter defected and travelled to Iceland to rejoin Killing Joke with new bassist Paul Raven.

The new Killing Joke line-up soon recorded again with Plank, yielding the single "Birds of a Feather" and a six-track 10" EPHa!, recorded live at Larry's Hideaway in Toronto in August.

Shift towards a commercial sound (1983–1988)

Fire Dances (1983), contained music that, as prefaced by the "Birds of a Feather" single, was slightly artier and relatively calmer than before, while still featuring tribal drums. This was continued with the non-album singles "Me or You?" (October 1983), "Eighties" (April 1984) and "A New Day" (July 1984), the latter promoted with a music video. "Eighties" marked a change of direction with the arrival of producer Chris Kimsey who had previously worked with the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.

Mixing their sound with a slightly pop style, and with Coleman singing rather than growling, Killing Joke developed a variation of new wave for their fifth album, Night Time (1985). They achieved mainstream success with "Love Like Blood" which covered all ground from goth to dance rock; it peaked at No. 16 in the UK charts. In Europe, it even reached the No. 5 position in the Netherlands and No. 8 in Belgium. Night Time followed the same path, reaching No. 11 in the UK albums chart, their highest charting position in the UK to date. The album also became an international success, staying in the charts during nine weeks in the Netherlands, reaching the top 10, while peaking at No. 8 in New Zealand, charting during 14 weeks. The band, still on the E.G. label, then quit Polydor to sign a contract with Virgin Records.

The music on Brighter than a Thousand Suns (1986), was mostly similar in sound and mood to "Love like Blood". Following the success of Night Time, the band had decided to recruit Kimsey again to handle production. While no less aggressive and heavy than their older work, Brighter than a Thousand Suns diverged musically in ways that led to controversy among listeners. In this case, disagreements between fans and critics alike included opinions on whether the band was conforming with pressure from EG to develop a more commercial sound, to whether the songs were relevant for those listeners more comfortable with their proto post-punk beginnings. The record was a commercial failure compared to the previous effort, failing to reach the top 50 in the UK charts. However, two singles were released from the album - "Adorations" (which fractionally missed the UK Top 40) and "Sanity" - and the band continued touring successfully until the end of the year.

In 1987, the band started to work on a new album, which was presented by Coleman and Geordie as a studio project to the rest of the band. Raven took part in the sessions but was unsatisfied by the result, finally asking for his name to be removed from the album credits. Ferguson recorded drums in Berlin, but according to Coleman, was fired because he wasn't able to manage the precise timings, a version of events that Raven later rejected. The latter stated: "I know Paul and when he does something he does it properly. If it wasn't right he would have stayed there 'til it was". Tensions ultimately led to both musicians being dismissed from the band. Session player Jimmy Copley was then brought in to provide the drumming on the songs, along with percussion player Jeff Scantlebury.

The resulting album, Outside the Gate (1988), is Killing Joke's most controversial album, due to its synth-led sonics and disagreement over the quality of the material. Sounds said of the album: "It's a stodgy, inconclusive LP that fails in all but the most basic of senses to achieve its end, leaving us feeling soured and unimpressed". NME shared the same point of view and depicted it as "a private breakfast of ideas, depicting poor old Jaz wading through quicksand with his jeans rolled down yet again. Worse ... he seems to be wandering off in exactly the same direction". Outside the Gate strays from Killing Joke's signature sound, being built around Coleman's orchestral keyboards instead of Geordie's distinctive guitar riffs, which were all but drowned out in the final mix. Two singles, "America" and "My Love of This Land", were released from the album but did little to improve its fortunes. The video for the former song featured Coleman and Geordie with Copley and session bassist Jerome Rimson, who never actually recorded with the band. Virgin dropped the group two months after the release of the album; it also marked the end of their collaboration with the E.G. label.

On 19 September 1987, Coleman delivered a lecture at London's Courtauld Institute, outlining the thinking behind the then-unreleased Outside the Gate album, touching on numerology and the occult. Geordie and Scantlebury provided a minimal musical backing at the event. A recording of the lecture was eventually released under the title The Courtauld Talks on Invisible Records in 1989.

Revised line-up and Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions (1989–1991)

Towards the end of 1988, Coleman and Geordie looked for full-time bass players and drummers. First on board was drummer Martin Atkins, who had gained notability in Pil. A suitable bass player proved more difficult. Former Smiths member Andy Rourke was hired, then dismissed after only three days. Eventually the band settled on Welsh bass player Dave "Taif" Ball, and played their first gigs in almost two years in December 1988. These featured the best of their 1980 to 1985 work, alongside powerful new material which alluded to the band's earlier, harsher sound. Touring continued across the UK, Europe and the US until August 1989, when the band took a break to record new material in Germany and allow Coleman time to record 1991's Songs from the Victorious City with Anne Dudley of Art of Noise.

For reasons which remain unclear, the German Killing Joke sessions were shelved and bass player Taif left the band, replaced by prior member Raven. The revised line-up began recording again, this time in London, and the result was Killing Joke's eighth album, the ferocious Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions, released on the German Noise International label in 1990. It included some of the heaviest, noisiest and harshest music ever to appear on a Killing Joke record, although the progressive musical spirit of the previous two albums remained as well. "Money Is Not Our God" was the lead single. Once again, the band toured Europe and North America, but by the middle of 1991, this promising new line-up had imploded. Coleman emigrated to New Zealand to live on a remote Pacific island, and Killing Joke entered a hiatus period.

Atkins continued with Geordie, Raven and the band's live keyboard player, John Bechdel, as the short-lived Murder, Inc., recruiting Scottish vocalist Chris Connelly and reuniting with Paul Rutherford as second drummer.

Reunion with Youth and Butterfly era (1992–1996)

A Killing Joke anthology, Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!, was released in 1992; during its production, Geordie became reacquainted with Youth, who suggested that they reform the band with himself back on bass. That same year, two singles (on cassette and CD) appeared featuring the early songs "Change" and "Wardance" in several new versions remixed by Youth, who was by then a very successful producer.

Coleman produced the 1993 debut album Churn by the New Zealand band Shihad, and Shihad drummer Tom Larkin played on some of the songs on the next Killing Joke album, Pandemonium. Relations later soured between Coleman and Shihad due to a dispute over Coleman's production fee for Churn.

Killing Joke also sued Nirvana during this phase, alleging that the riff for the latter's song "Come as You Are" was copied from the riff for their song "Eighties". The lawsuit was dropped after the suicide of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

The reactivated Killing Joke released two strong and well-received albums on Youth's Butterfly Recordings label, Pandemonium and Democracy, which saw the band shifting back to the simpler arrangements of their early albums. They also employed young talent like Waxworth Industries for 12-inch remixes in order to provide an alternative inroad to the band's new and evolving sound. Pandemonium (1994) melded a metallic, ritualistic sound with mosh beats and loops, and earned Killing Joke a memorable Top of the Pops appearance for the single "Millennium", which was a UK Top 40 hit (the album itself made the Top 20). The title track was also released as a single and made the UK Top 30. In 1995, the band recorded the song "Hollywood Babylon" for the soundtrack of Paul Verhoeven's movie Showgirls. Democracy (1996) successfully introduced acoustic guitar into the mix, as well as adopting more of a "live band" sound again. The title track was again released as a single and made the UK Top 40. Much of Pandemonium and all of Democracy featured session drummer Geoff Dugmore. He also played live with the band throughout this era. Nick Holywell-Walker joined the band on keyboards and programming for 11 years from 1994 to 2005, notably on Democracy and XXV Gathering. Youth bowed out of live performance early in the Democracy tour and was replaced by Troy Gregory previously of Prong.

After the Democracy tour, the band went on an extended hiatus. Coleman and Youth produced a string of well-received orchestral rock albums based on the music of legends such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the Doors. Coleman became composer-in-residence for New Zealand and Czech symphony orchestras, and made his acting debut with the main role in the film Rok ďábla (Year of the Devil) by Czech filmmaker Petr Zelenka.

Reformation, next two albums and death of Raven (2002–2007)

In 2002, Coleman, Geordie and Youth recorded their second self-titled album with special guest Dave Grohl on drums. Produced by Andy Gill and released to much acclaim in 2003, it was heralded as a powerful addition to Extremities and other visceral 1990s albums, and considered one of their finest recordings. In 2003, the band played at the biggest open air festival in Europe Przystanek Woodstock in Poland. The War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq were cited as major factors in their reforming, reflected in the lyrical content of much of the album, based on themes of war, government control and Armageddon. The album, which fell just short of the UK Top 40, was their heaviest to date and spawned two singles, "Loose Cannon" (a UK Top 25 hit) and "Seeing Red". The songs were all credited to Coleman/Geordie/Youth/Gill, although Raven's name is also on the list of musicians on the liner notes, marking his return to the band after more than a decade. The album was accompanied by a tour of the United States, Europe and Australia in 2003-2004, with ex-Prong drummer Ted Parsons on board.

In February 2005, now with young Twin Zero and Sack Trick drummer Ben Calvert, Killing Joke played two consecutive shows at London's Shepherds Bush Empire to commemorate their 25th anniversary. DVD and CD recordings from these concerts were released in the fall of the same year as XXV Gathering: The Band that Preys Together Stays Together. In June, remastered and expanded editions of Pandemonium and Democracy, were released by Cooking Vinyl. These were followed in July by remasters of their first four albums (Killing Joke to Ha!) on EMI, who by then owned the E.G. Records catalogue. The second batch of EMI remasters would not appear until January 2008. That year, Reza Udhin joined the band on keyboards when they supported Mötley Crüe's British tour; they then began work on their next album in Prague. Killing Joke's contribution to the world of rock was recognised when they were awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the 2005 Kerrang Awards. Opting for simplicity and raw energy, the band recorded the new album in "Hell", the basement rehearsal space of Studio Faust Records in Prague, opting for live takes with a minimum of overdubs. The result was Hosannas from the Basements of Hell, released in April 2006, which made the UK Top 75.

During a European tour in April 2006, Raven abruptly departed after a few dates to tour with Ministry, and was temporarily replaced by Kneill Brown. In October, it was announced that Coleman had been chosen as Composer in Residence for the European Union, to be commissioned to write music for special occasions.

Early in 2007, Killing Joke released three archival collections. The first, Inside Extremities, was a double album of material taken from the band's preparations for the Extremities album, including rehearsals, rare mixes, previously unheard track "The Fanatic" and a full live show from the Extremities tour. This was followed by two volumes of Bootleg Vinyl Archive, each consisting of a 3-CD box set of live bootleg recordings originally released on vinyl in the 1980s, plus the Astoria gig from the Pandemonium tour (which was voted one of the greatest gigs of all time by Kerrang). The 1990 album Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions, which had long been out of print, was reissued in remastered form.

On 20 October, Raven died of heart failure prior to a recording session in Geneva, Switzerland. In his honour, Coleman composed the track "The Raven King", which appeared on the next album. In 2008, the second batch of albums, from Fire Dances to Outside the Gate, was reissued in remastered form with bonus tracks.

Reunion of original line-up (2008–present)

After the death of Raven, the original line-up of Coleman, Youth, Geordie and Ferguson reunited. Coleman told Terrorizer magazine how the return of Ferguson came up after 20 years of absence:

"Everything came together when we all met at...Raven's funeral. It was funny the unifying effect it had on all of us. It made us realise our mortality and how important Killing Joke is to all of us."

They assembled in Granada, Spain, to prepare a world tour consisting of two nights in various capital cities of the world, playing a programme of four complete albums. The rehearsals were immortalised on Duende - The Spanish Sessions. The first night was dedicated to their first two albums, Killing Joke and What's THIS For...!, while the second night featured large parts of Pandemonium plus some early Island singles. The world tour began in September in Tokyo and concluded in Chicago in October.

An album of radio session recordings, The Peel Sessions 1979–1981, was released in September 2008. This was the second time all 17 tracks were released in their live session form.

The band then appeared at several festivals, including All Tomorrow's Parties, Sonisphere Festival, and Rebellion Festival, headlining the latter. They also performed in the Big Top Tent at the 2009 Isle Of Wight Festival after being hand-picked by Tim Burgess, frontman for the Charlatans.

During October and November 2009, they recorded the album Absolute Dissent (2010), marking the band's 30th anniversary. It was preceded by the In Excelsis EP in June 2010. In November, the band received the "Innovator Award" at the 2010 Classic Rock Roll of Honour; the award was presented to Killing Joke by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, who stated, "I go back a long way with Jaz Coleman and the band. I used to go and see the band, and it was a band that really impressed me because Geordie's guitar sound was just really, really strong. And they were really tribal, the band, and it was really intense. It was just really good to hear something like that during the 80s, which sort of caved in a bit with haircuts and synthesizers". The band were also honoured by Metal Hammer at their annual awards, receiving the Album of the Year award for Absolute Dissent.

In 2012, the group released MMXII. It reached No. 44 upon its first week of release, the band's highest UK chart placement since their eponymous 2003 album of 2003, as well as charting across Europe.

In April 2015, two limited-edition Record Store Day double LPs, Live at the Hammersmith Apollo 16.10.2010 Volume 1 and Live at the Hammersmith Apollo 16.10.2010 Volume 2, were issued for independent record stores in the UK.

The band released their 15th studio album, Pylon, on 23 October 2015. The deluxe edition contained five additional tracks. A nine-date British tour followed to promote the record. Pylon entered the UK albums chart at No. 16, becoming the band's first UK Top 20 album since 1994. In November 2016, the band played at the Brixton Academy in London, before embarking on a European tour, their longest to date.

Style

The band called their sound "tension music". Co-founder Ferguson described it as "the sound of the earth vomiting. I’m never quite sure whether to be offended by the question of 'are we Punk' or not, because, I loved Punk music, but we weren't. And I think our influences were beyond Punk. Obviously before Punk, there was Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and there was Yes even and King Crimson, and those had all influenced me as a player, and the other guys would say other things, but I’m sure they were all part of their history as well".

Coleman's vocal style and "terrifying growl" have been compared to Motörhead's Lemmy. His voice has also been described as menacing. In the first part of their career, Coleman also played synth while singing, adding electronic atonal sounds to create a disturbing atmosphere.

Geordie's guitar style is metallic and cold. According to critic Simon Reynolds, Geordie took Keith Levene's guitar sound from PiL and took it to another, almost inhuman and extreme level.

Ferguson's tribal drum style has been compared to early Siouxsie and the Banshees. Coleman had stated in early 1980 that Ferguson listened to them.

Concerning the structure of their songs, critic Kris Needs noted that "the choruses consist mainly of the song titles repeated".

Legacy and influence

Killing Joke have inspired artists of different genres. They have been namechecked by several heavy rock bands such as Metallica and Soundgarden. Metallica covered "The Wait" and James Hetfield picked Coleman as one of his favourite singers. Soundgarden cited them as one of their main influences when they started playing. Helmet covered "Primitive" in 1993. Faith No More stated that all of their members liked the group, qualifying them as a "great band". Geordie's style inspired Cobain's work with Nirvana, according to Bill Janovitz of AllMusic, with the use of a metallic sound mixed with a shimmering chorused effect. The Foo Fighters, the Nirvana drummer Grohl's subsequent band, covered "Requiem" in 1997. Metal band Fear Factory recorded "Millenium" in 2005. Jane's Addiction said that the group was one of their influences; singer Perry Farrell was inspired by the percussive and tribal aspect of their music.

The band have inspired many industrial bands, including Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. They have been cited by Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails's leader, who mentioned his interest in their early material, and said that he studied their music. Al Jourgensen of Ministry has presented himself as a "big fan" of the group. Godflesh frontman Justin Broadrick was particularly influenced by their early releases containing dub versions.

The group has also been cited by alternative music acts such as My Bloody Valentine and LCD Soundsystem. Shoegazing guitarist and composer Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine mentioned the band and specifically praised Geordie's touch, which he described as "this effortless playing producing a monstruous sound". In 2002, James Murphy of dance punk band LCD Soundsystem sampled the music of "Change" on his debut single, "Losing My Edge".

Film

Killing Joke are the subject of a feature-length documentary film, The Death and Resurrection Show (2013). The film was shown in various festivals between 2013 and 2014. Two preview trailers were released, combining archive footage of Killing Joke over the previous decades with tour footage, recording sessions and interviews with subjects including Coleman, Geordie, Youth, Page, Grohl, Kimsey, Peter Hook, Mike Coles, Alex Paterson and Laurence Gardner. The film was produced by New Zealand's ILC Productions, UK indie Coffee Films and Coleman, and directed by filmmaker and photographer Shaun Pettigrew.

Side projects

Members

Discography