Killing Joke

Night Time (1985)

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Killing Joke found the right balance between harsh and soft

music when they made 1985’s Night Time,

their fifth release. The eight tracks on this album showcase the group

stripping away some of the grime from their early punk roots and instead adding

more melody and synths which in turn deconstructed the Post-Punk genre and

became a good mix of Post-Punk/New-Wave/and early dance Electronica. Of course

this shift in style would continue into a reach for more commercial status with

their remaining 80’s output, but those albums dragged the band down and left

them to be forgotten in the media. Only the hardcore fans stayed along, but

barely…

Killing Joke as a band had never truly given up though and

with comeback album’s like 1990’s brutal Extremities,

Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions, their second self-titled album released

in 2003 (more on that later), and 2010’s Absolute

Dissent which saw the most well-known lineup reunite for a stellar record,

the band still plows along and lead singer Jaz Coleman is still as crazy as

ever.

Night Time is

perhaps the band at their peak. Jaz Coleman as a singer really shines and his

contrasting vocal style of softer singing followed by guttural growls has a

nice blend that adds to the overall feel. In particular, his singing on songs

like “Multitudes” and “Eighties” showcase his range and emotional well of moody

talent.

The rest of the band stepped it up as well. It must have

been a good recording process because each member just gels magnificently. Drummer

Paul Ferguson bangs on his kit in an almost metal way which shows up on tracks

like the mentioned “Eighties” as well as the title track, but it’s not

overblown and his rhythms give the songs a certain beat that makes the dance

thing not seem out of place. Same goes for bassist Paul Raven. He’s the secret

ingredient here. His bass playing is heard very well and each song is juiced up

to the max with that deep groove that only a bass guitar can give. Listen to

his playing on tracks “Darkness Before Dawn” and “Eighties”.

So let’s just get this out of the way now. The last track, “Eighties”

is perhaps the album highlight. Not to skip out on single “Love Like Blood”

which is pretty great, and the one track that dramatically showed off the bands

immediate change when this album first came out, but “Eighties” is one of those

album cuts that just never stops and keeps on going and going. I’m not talking about

the running time, but instead the remembrance that comes after you hear it.

There’s this sound to it that is just

great. Maybe it’s the awesome guitar playing by Kevin "Geordie"

Walker, who also shines brilliantly on the album, or perhaps the metal sounding

drumming mentioned earlier, or even the bass that pounds the listener, but really

though… the track is just freekin’ killer! Jaz is at his most ferocious here as

well and while the song is sorta stuck in time (being about the 80’s and all),

it’s still a Post-Punk classic.

And then we come to Nirvana… To shorten this up, Nirvana’s

second single “Come as You Are” steals the guitar riff from “Eighties”. There’s

no question about it. Now to say though that it was simply stolen might be a

bit harsh. Kurt Cobain actually liked Killing Joke amongst many other notable

underground bands, so perhaps it was all done in tribute. Still, the Nirvana

song became their second hit and they rode the waves all the while Killing Joke

wondered what the heck was happening!

Eventually rumors of a potential lawsuit appeared but never

came to fruition and in the end both bands were upset about the whole ordeal

which is understandable. In truth, Kurt was apprehensive about releasing the

song as a single due to the similarities, but the label got what they wanted and

you all know the rest. Not all became gloom and doom though! Dave Grohl, being the

awesome guy that he is, wanted to make amends so he offered his support to

Killing Joke by drumming on their underrated 2003 self-titled album. What other

artists do that these days?

There’s much to learn about certain kinds of music out

there. It’s all accessible more than ever now so go back and hear what came

before and make up your own minds about it. Night

Time is totally worth it though. Dig it…

 

*Bonus Trivia*

 

Check out the song “Life Goes On” by The Damned. Originally

released on their fifth album Strawberries

from 1982, the track features the exact same riff as both “Eighties” and “Come

as You Are”. Killing Joke claimed to have no knowledge of this…