After stalling a bit with their 1982 album Revelations, Killing Joke nearly split up, with lead singer Jaz Coleman disappearing to Iceland in order to "survive the apocalypse." By the time Coleman returned to the band, bassist Youth was gone and replaced by Paul Raven, a perfect fit who would stay on board as the band found its way up the charts over the next few releases. As a reaction to all these comings and goings, this is a decidedly tribal album that opens with a track called "The Gathering," follows it with the "join the mob" anthem "Fun & Games," and features words like "we" and "us" throughout the album. The ultimate communal moment, "Let's All Go (To the Fire Dances)," is also the key track, with guitarist Geordie Walker bouncing between crunching barre chords and a Duane Eddy-on-steroids riff while Raven and drummer Paul Ferguson throb like a veteran rhythm section. Even if Coleman's lyrics are filled with venom as always, he's rounding up allies to fight the system here and considering the idea of connecting with his audience rather than just confronting them. Fire Dances bridges Killing Joke's primal past with their more melodic, accessible future and without compromising any of their thunder.
There's been an awful lot written in the past few days about the death of Paul Raven, but most of these articles seem only to rattle off the laundry list of musical projects he was involved with, notably the Neon Hearts, Kitsch, Killing Joke, Murder Inc. Pigface, Prong, Society 1, Snow Black, Sarge and Mob Research (not to mention producing everyone from Ned's Atomic Dustbin through Headcount)....
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Your friend and mine, Alex in NYC, has already posted this info. But damn does it deserve repeating.UPDATE FROM JAZ: 29TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GATHERINGORIGINAL LINE-UP OF KILLING JOKE PLAY 3 CLASSIC ALBUMS BACK TO BACK ON WORLD TOUR AND RELEASE NEW ALBUMFinally, after numerous line-up changes through the years, all original Killing Joke members reunite for new album and world tour.Drummer, Paul...
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HOLY HOLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYY FUCKING SHIT BATMAN/JESUS?GOD?ALLAH?WHATEVER YOU WANT TO PRAISE!We had to take a 6:30 AM flight into NYC for several reasons.1. We are both pretty broke right now and we need to work as much as possible.2. The better/smarter half is going for her masters degree. And d-day is just around the corner.3. We flew in real early so we can visit with my mother.So what that me...
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Paul Raven, bass player for Killing Joke (as well as Ministry, Prong and numerous other bands) was found dead from an apparent heart attack today.www.undercover.com.auSad news, so I want to give the guy some respect. During a period of the 80's when a lot of English bands that I had once loved (The Damned, I'm looking at you) seemed to be getting progressively wimpier and fey, Killing Joke was...
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 "Fire Dances")
