AMG Review of Wilful Days

Andy Kellman
All Music Guide

Essentially an assemblage of 12" mixes and B-sides, Wilful Days certainly isn't the first place to go for Killing Joke, but it's not a half-bad introduction. Its range from 1979 to 1992 material might not make for the most cohesive set of KJ tracks, but it will give the newbie an idea of where to start, depending on their taste. The "Serious Dance Mix" of "Eighties" (featuring the Geordie Walker guitar line that Kurt Cobain more or less lifted for "Come as You Are") lasts a rather torturous eight minutes, and the extended version of weaker material like "America" tests the attention span as well. The "Gestalt Mix" of "Love Like Blood" successfully adds a couple minutes of rhythmic interplay to one of the band's most darkly affecting songs off the improperly slagged Night Time. Other notables include the charging "Are You Receiving" and a dub mix of "Follow the Leaders."