Search - Killing Joke :: Unperverted Pantomime

Lots of rare songs -- amazing

G. C JONES | Somerville, MA United States | 08/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are an old KJ fan then you have to buy this (no arguing). Hence I won't tell you why you should buy it, just describe what you're gonna get on it-- there are three songs from malicious damage singles, Nervous System, Wardance, and Pssyche. Nervous System is a great song, the version of Wardance here is great (different than on the début), and Pssyche is a good song that they always play live, so having the original on CD is good and now possible. Then, there is a 3-song capitol radio broadcast with Change, Are You Receiving?, and Complications. There is an old version of Follow the Leaders and an old demo of The Wait. Then there are 8 live tracks, the first seven Nervous System / Animal / Change / Nuclear Boy / Malicious Boogie / Wardance / Are You Receiving? sound like they're from the same concert, somewhere in northern england 1980. the final live song You're Being Followed sounds a little different. but notice there are 4 songs you probably haven't heard elsewhere. total over 60 minutes. wow! the whole thing was put together by carlton p sandercock (at Alchemy) and geordie walker, mike coles does the layout and most of the photos. there is an 8-panel fold out color insert filled with old photos! overall this release is just amazing for fans of old KJ. The only problem is the capitol broadcast of "complications" seems both flat and slow, something went wrong i think, but it is definitely listenable. also, apparently the live material here is not the whole show that "they" have, it is just select tracks. this is sort of annoying. all recordings are 1979 or 1980, with the original
line-up (Coleman / Walker / Youth / Ferguson)."

Jems from the Vault

Jeff | PORTLAND, OR USA | 07/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"2003 seems to be a busy year for the Joke, with a new album out in July. But to get us started, out came this release, full of jems from their early days.The tracks from the capitol radio broadcast are the meatiest, full of raw energy of a band ready to take on the world. Impressive stuff! The live tracks are part of the fan-club only release, which has been widely bootlegged over the years. These tracks are a little muddied with age, and the show is unfortunately incomplete. But the beauty is that for new Killing Joke fans you get your hands on previously unreleased tracks such as Nuclear Boy and Malicious Boogie, which really only appear on live bootlegs or BBC recordings.Overall it is a great early representation of a band that is now going on 24 years old. They may never gain the commercial or critical success that they probably deserve, but to their fans the fact that they still put out relevant music in today's static age is all that really matters. PS: Buy their new album at the end of July. Early reviews say that it is a monster!"

Oh my God!

Gary | 07/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The ultimate for some people is Drew Barrymore flashing on top of a desk in a talk show. well, that doesn't do it for me. Only 'What's This For?' period Killing Joke will do. My God, this sounds good after so long. Unfortunately, age means that I've only been able to listen to half of it, but it is utterly ferocious. But why drop Psssyche from the live set? There are repeat tracks already so they might as well give you the whole deal. Despite that, sign up now for the one and only, incomparable killing Joke, or the Dark Ones will send you to music prison."