Fire Honours Itself

I've heard two tracks off the new one. Early reports from those in the know say the full album is a raging corker. Here's a play-by-play from a certain British journalist on the Gathering who shall remain nameless and his run-down of the album. For what it's worth, personally speaking, "Implant" is absolutely blinding, whereas "Loose Cannon" I could live without. Anyway, here's the low-down from someone who has heard it in its entirety:

1) THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION SHOW (6.56)
Opening lyrics, over just an evil Geordie chug:
"Mark out the points*
Build the pyre
Assemble different drummers
Light up the fire
Put on your masks and animal skins
Illumination, Illumination
Listen to the drums..."
(Drums explode...)
Then set off on seven minutes of steadily building fury, almost like a
Change rhythm but more complex. Fucking love it. Minus a few points for rhyming pyre with fire, but what the hell... Hell of a way to start. Drumming already sounds stunning. Lots of inspirational shouting from Jaz.
* I think

2) TOTAL INVASION (5.28)
Hmm, a slow burning one, very metal riff, Jaz doing very odd
things with his voice at the beginning, but storms into a huge chorus.
Wouldn't sound out of place on Pandemonium.

3) ASTEROID (3.24)
Hilarious and fantastic in equal parts, heads-down thrash
concerning apocalypse by said asteroid, would fit perfectly on
Revelations if you imagine it with a tinny weedy shite production, ha ha. This takes the edge off the day I can tell you. This album's Exorcism.

4) IMPLANT (5.18)
You've all heard this I take it - love it, reminds me of a cross between Nighttime era and Pandemonium era. With Jaz shouting about stuffing things up yer arse, which has to be a bonus.

5) BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS (6.00)
Superb, stunning, full on kick ass Joke with some powerhouse
drumming from Mr Grohl and some wicked Geordie moments,
excellent staccato riff and a great wig-out in the middle.

6) LOOSE CANNON (4.12)
Don't see it meself. Bores the tits off me. The last track
that should be released as a single.

7) YOU'LL NEVER GET TO ME (6.19)
Ever tried to imagine Requiem crossed with Jana crossed with
Stairway To Heaven... - have to confess this caused a tear
to well up when I first heard it. MASSIVE chorus, HUGE
chords, 'Eighties'-style guitar motif, Jaz on top form.

8) SEEING RED (5.27)
Absolutely positively one of the best songs Killing Joke have
ever written. No really - already in my all time top five I'd say.
Contains the top sarcastic Jaz lyric: "Kiss the arse of Uncle Sam,
Oh to be an English man..."
Starts with an insistent riff similar to Blood On Your Hands,
then some real tight and funky drumming and then a vast
amount of beautiful guitar, followed by Jaz delivering
some of the best lyrics of the album, and a chord sequence that could only be KJ (you'll know what I mean when you hear it). A fucking classic. And it rocks like a bastard.

9) DARK FORCES (6.26)
Starts with pulsing strings and Jaz doing the weird voice thing
for a bit, chugs into a slow, er, chugging thing (it's late, I'm
tired). Not my fave. But haven't listened to it enough yet.

10) THE HOUSE THAT PAIN BUILT (6.17)
More heavy chugging but gets going into something
more explosive, reminds me of Extremeties era. Still
listening to this one.

Only a couple of tracks don't do it for me so far - I call that
a goddam result. See you down the front. More thoughts as they come.
All opinions in this email are probably wrong.

good God this is one nasty hangover

*ahem* Sorry 'bout that, folks.

*returns to making dinner*

Back on the Killing Joke front, early reports that the video for the forthcoming single, "Loose Cannon" (roundly derided by we the faithful as the worst possible choice of single) comes with an equally appalling video. Though, to be fair, Killing Joke have never made very many great vids. They're usually pretty damn poor. For every brilliant clip of theirs (say, "Eighties" for example), there's about three embarassing ones ("Democracy," "Pandemonium" and "America" are all virtually unwatchable). The vid for "Money is Not Our God" is alright, and "Millenium" has some eye-catching moments, but they're not classics. For me, "Eighties" and "A New Day" are their finest video moments.

Of the three, my favorite is unequivocably "The Death & Resurrection Show,"....it's just such a fucking' OPUS, really showcasing not only the brute force of the band (the fact that they can both blow your doors right the fuck off, and stop & change on a dime), but Jaz is *SO INTO THIS PROJECT* Compared to these tracks, Jaz's work on DEMOCRACY just sounds so phoned-in. Jaz hasn't sounded this committed in fucking EONS. There's still that ***THICKNESS*** of sound that marked the last two records, but Geordie's guitars are less muddled....more chugging, as good Sir ____ _____ states above.

Second choice is "Dark Forces," wherein Jaz sincerely sounds like he's coming (more) unglued (than usual), sounding a bit like Nik Fiend from Alien Sex Fiend circa-Acid Bath (which was produced by Youth, incidentally). "....OF THE FOULS OF THE AIR AND THE FISH OF THE SEA!" is very decidedly not my favorite lyric, truthfully, but it's delivered with so much urgent conviction that I'll forgive it. There's a great E X P A N S E of sound here (even four minutes into it, when Jaz sounds like he crawling on his belly right into the wax-caked labywrinth of your ear) that I'm sure it's going to sound like a vast burning cathedral of abject horror when I finally get to play it on a proper stereo.

Last stop, "Total Invasion." Jaz still gurgling like someone slipped him some severely bad acid, ruminating bitterly about current events as he writhes on the studio floor, smearing himself in his own filth. I'm not entirely won over by the lyrics on this one either -- some weak rhymes and a bit too obvious in certain spats (Jaz, somewhat predictably, has some very pointed opinions about the way the United States and Britain are conducting themselves in regards to recent developments in, oh, say, Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel), but once again....such somewhat expected contrivances are redeemed via a delivery fueled with palpable, bug-eyed apoplexy.

Speaking as a biased yet still practical observer, those who are convinced that Jaz Coleman is a pantomime Nostradamus with a tenuous grasp on sanity will find little to be surprised by here, but probably much to laugh at (Jaz's phlegmy vocal theatrics on "Dark Forces" and "Total Invasion" gave even me -- the zealot -- a small semblance of pause), but at the end of the day, his histrionics are no sillier than those practiced by seemingly unimpeachable clout-magnets like, say, Thom Yorke or Bjork.

(sorry: fwiw the only track I've heard is Implant and as I already told Alex, I think it's terrific)

http://www.killingjoke.com

"Honor the fire? Honor the fucking Rocafella, nigga!"

http://platinumplus.hypermart.net/jayz.jpg

PS John it's not so much the actual words in the line itself, it's more the whole play of the song, I tend to overstate the specifics of a case (sit down, shockah, etc). The lines themselves aren't Jay-Z's strongest but something about the interplay I found very touching.

Because Nate profaned thusly: I just want to butt in and ask if "New York Dollas" is Jay-Z's new glam rock side project.

Moreover, I don't consider this the official Killing Joke thread (that being, of course Killing Joke - Classic Or Dud, Search And Destroy

Speaking of singles, despite having still not heard "Asteroid", "You'll Never Get to Me" nor "The House that Pain Built", I say with all the certainty of a new day tomorrow that "Blood on Your Hands", "Implant" or "Seeing Red" would've been *VASTLY* superior choices for first single to "Loose Cannon" (which, I must confess my opinion, should've been relegated to a b-side). The topicality and lyrical depth of these other songs (to say nothing of the passion with which Jaz delivers them) render "Loose Cannon" practically moot. I mean, here we all are in probably the most turbulent period of flux and turmoil since the second world war, and the opening salvo from a band with a head full of the bigger picture is a testament to how much of a "loose cannon" Jaz is? C'mon....who doesn't know that already??? I just think the band has more important, more timely, more prescient, more INTELLIGENT things to say in these other songs than the comparitively workaday sentiments expressed in "Loose Cannon." That the song is musically less interesting than its sonic siblings only adds insult to injury. I'm not saying it should've been jettisoned entirely, but it shouldn't be a single. There, I said it.

Secondly, I still can't express how encouraged I am by "Blood On Your Hands". By rights, Killing Joke have *NO RIGHT* to sound this fucking good after having been away for so long. I mean, seriously, it swings and chugs like music made by players half their age. To these ears, it's in the same league , groove & stomp-wise, as "Eighties" and "Follow the Leader" ------ you practically CANNOT remain perfectly still listening to it. It is simply galvanizing. Geordie's staccato riffage cutting through the track like a morse coded distress signal from within the jaws of a radioactive shark, on a mission to reap sweet, savage vengeance. *GODDAMMIT I LOVE IT SO FUCKING MUCH* And fuckin' hats off to Grohl who really injects some adrenalin into the proceedings. I think my only real quibble is the near identical intro it has to "Seeing Red" (Geordie staccato again). I know, I know -- if something works, ya stick with it (right, Wedding Present?), but until each respective song kicks into gear, they're pracically indistinguishable. A small point, though.

Even more so than "Implant" and "Seeing Red," *THIS* is the track I'm going to force-feed to the curious, the dubious and the nay-sayers.

Great review, Alex. I'm going to have to hear this.

Check with.....

www.killingjoke.com

I'm looking forward to its release - as Alex said, it's a KILLER song and I think it'll make a great single.

By the way Alex, where the hell can I get my grubby hands on a file of "Blood on your Hands"? I'm dying to hear it.

My opinion on the single in question remains unchanged, but it is nice to hear it on a proper stereo and not out of my comparitively wheezy computer speakers. The single comes appended by the "full version" of "Loose Cannon" (if you can tell the difference, you have a keen ear for minute, trivial detail and too much time on your hands) and the truly arguable "ultimate version" of that old Joke chestnut, "Warhorse," re-recorded with La Grohl on the tubs. T'ain't bad, but Jaz's vocals sound (a bit more) needlessly histrionic (than usual).

Also picked up the new Jane's Addiction single,....but haven't spun that yet.