Killing Joke's First Two Albums Live

Stinky is on a secret mission this week.  While he's away, I'm stealing one of his best ideas: the Homemade Live Album!  Thought I'd take my first crack at it with two of my favorite records from one of my favorite bands, Killing Joke.

This was also prompted by the recent shares of Killing Joke concert recordings at Floppy Boot Stomp and the Voodoo Wagon.  I bow in the general direction of SilentWay, Jobe, Draftervoi, and the rest of the folks who keep things running at those two fine blogs (three, if you count their VIP lounge!)

Killing Joke formed in 1979 and was active for over four decades, until the 2023 death of founding guitarist Kevin "Geordie" Walker.  The debut self-titled album was released in 1980, followed in 1981 by What's This For...!.  Those two albums meant a lot to me and my baby brother.  We didn't know it in 1980, but Killing Joke was laying a cornerstone for industrial music (not the phrase used by Throbbing Gristle, but the abrasive yet danceable style adopted by Ministry and other Wax Trax artists a few years later).

But the sound of Killing Joke wasn't just industrial.  There was post-punk in there (with John McKay as an influence acknowledged by Geordie, and Public Image as neighbors in Ladbroke Grove).  There was heavy metal in there; there was dub; there was a dance beat.  Synth punk was also part of the early Killing Joke sound, courtesy of singer Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman's keyboards. 

The best Killing Joke music (to my ears) was made by the four original members before Martin "Youth" Glover left to start a more commercial group called Brilliant  -- and before Jaz and Geordie went off to Iceland, predicting the end of the world (as the story goes). But hey, even a broken clock is wrong 22 hours a day!  

After the world failed to end, Killing Joke regrouped and found commercial success with the 1985 album Night Time.  Then they sacked drummer Paul Ferguson, “one of the best in the world,” according to Alex Paterson (that bloke from The Orb).  Strange things happened in the mid-80's. Ginger Baker and Steve Vai joined PiL, for god's sake. Strummer & Simonon fired Mick Jones. Even the Gang of Four went soft with "Hard".  "Whatever happened to those heroes?"

Anyway, here's a Homemade Live Album with all the songs from the first two LP's (plus "Pssyche", a 1980 b-side that is a fan favorite and a staple of Killing Joke setlists). Live albums can get monotonous, and Killing Joke was not a band given to improvisation or solo features ("Big Paul on the drums, ladies and gents!")  There are very few Geordie guitar solos, even on the studio records.  

On a serious side note, a round of applause for Mike Coles, who does the band's visual art and runs the Malicious Damage record label.  His graphic style and retro-dystopian themes sometimes recall Winston Smith's work for Alternative Tentacles.

My goal was to assemble a Homemade Live Album of diverse performances, ranging from very early (1979's semi-official Unperverted Pantomime) to the excellent Honour The Fire, the final show of the last Killing Joke tour in 2022.  SilentWay recently reposted an excellent live set from Tokyo in 2008, the first two nights of a worldwide tour by the four original members.

At the end of the last song here, Youth thanks Jaz, Paul, Geordie, and his childhood friend Alex Paterson.  According to Wikipedia, Paterson would DJ at early Killing Joke gigs, as well as singing "Bloodsport" with the band.  It's a nice "full circle" moment to end my Killing Joke live album.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  a multitude of Homemade Live Albums from Stinky. PLUS an exclusive inside scoop on the Killing Joke singles "Eighties" and "Change".  Think Nirvana stole from Killing Joke?  Read our earthshaking investigation into the truth behind the myth inside the legend!

ELSEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE:  Khayem and Nathin Nothin have penned eloquent odes to Youth.