Audio CD review:
Killing Joke - Extremities, Dirt And Various Repressed Emotions

Killing Joke - Extremities, Dirt And Various Repressed Emotions

Band: Killing Joke Title: Extremities, Dirt And Various Repressed Emotions Rating: Release Date: 20 October, 1998 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Money Is Not Our God 2: Age Of Greed 3: The Beautiful Dead 4: Extremities 5: Intravenous 6: Inside The Termite Mound 7: Solitude 8: North Of The Border 9: Slipstream 10: Kaliyuga-Struggle 11: Bonus Track 1

Customer Reviews Sing a Song of Disgust... The title says it all, and it is, in my opinion, one of their best releases. It seems it took many bad experiences, including problems with record companies, Jaz Coleman being on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and global politics in general, for the Joke to release this monster of an album. This being said, however, I am going to start its evaluation by discussing some of its flaws. The first of these is that the album is marred by slightly excessive length for many of the songs; many, if not most, of these outstanding tunes should be at least slightly shorter, "the Beautiful Dead" being the most prominent example. The second flaw, which I actually feel is more important, is the production. The vocals and the drums seem to be given much greater treatment, in terms of volume and clarity, than the guitar, the keyboards and samples, and the bass. Of these three latter elements, the guitar is certainly the most prominent, but it is not given anything close to the prominence that is found on many of Killing Joke's other releases. Unfortunately, the bass and the synthesizers get too buried under the guitar and blend too well with it, which in turn is buried underneath the production of the drums and vocals. Despite all of these things, however, this album is not only musically great, as are most, if not all, of the band's releases, but it REALLY captures a genuine essence of disgust! Extremities. . . is kicked off with the famous "Money is Not Our God," a strong track and political number that makes a very effective intro. "Age of Greed" is another great song, and it serves as an effective transition from the first song to the remainder of the album, as it is finds itself somewhere between the raw energy of "Money is Not Our God" and the remainder of the album, which generally seems to get darker and more venomous as it progresses; also, unlike some of the other songs, its epic length does not detract from its greatness. "The Beautiful Dead" is a bit too long, but it is a nice, dark number with hypnotic keyboards and some great thrash thrown in for good measure! "Extremities" is a thrashy industrial number with some typical "Killing Joke melody" thrown in the middle-- present on this album, as with practically every one of their releases, is the dark, sarcastic melody that is a trademark of the band. "Intravenous" is ugly-- in a good way, that is, and venomous is the only word to "literally" describe it (musically and lyrically). The remaining tracks take a turn towards a somewhat darker atmosphere than the first half of the album (which is also dark), and they range from somber and beautiful ("Inside the Termite Mound" and "Solitude") to the mysterious "Kaliyuga" and the tribal, thrashy, Ministry-like number "Struggle"-- an effective closing, no doubt. Some complain about the drumming of Martin Atkins on this album. While his thrashing style is a bit different from that of big Paul Ferguson, it must be noted that it is an excellent performance nevertheless. Besides, there are moments, both tribal and dancy, in which Mr. Atkins's drumming bears many similarities to that of Big Paul. Extremities, Dirt, and Various Repressed Emotions is an excellent addition to Killing Joke's awesome catalogue of releases as well as a good example of what punk-influenced industrial rock sounded like at the time, and I strongly recommend owning it!. bleak and powerful Extremities. . is the kind of album that you have to respect from a distance. of course, when compared with Killing Joke's first few releases, this doesn't match up. but there is a snarling sense of drive and purpose that cuts through these songs and the album, as a whole, has a wonderfully bleak atmosphere throughout it's running time. a dark grey soundscape of frustration and futile struggle. Killing Joke At Their Raging Best!!! Extremities has everything that makes Killing Joke one of the best bands out there, especially the rage and frustration towards the world. This is the best Killing Joke cd in all their years as a vital presence in underground music. It is perhaps their masterpiece, filled with all the right touches from beginning to end. Once the music kicks in, you know that Killing Joke mean serious business. Jaz Coleman's voice has never been more solid than in this hourlong cd excursion into varied aggression. Many harsh emotions pour out from track to track about such issues as power and greed (Money Is Not Our God)as well as destruction and poverty (Age Of Greed). Coleman's lyrics have never been more passionate and sincere, reacting to the world's problems,"I fill hate. . . don't be afraid to show your hate". There is a deep-seeded anger that can't be ignored, listening to Extremities. Raven's bass continues to line in sync with the rest of the band. Geordie's guitars are as fierce as ever, perfect timing. Martin Atkins, formerly of PIL, fills in the drums and pounds amazingly despite the reality that this is the only KJ album he is featured in. "Intravenous" and "Struggle" instantly come to mind. Deep down, my favorites in this cd are the ones that blend the rage with Coleman's mellower vocals previously heard in 1000 Suns and Outside The Gate. "Solitude" is haunting, esoteric,and filled with desperation. "Slipstream" seems to be a lighter song about time and age, sung to the backdrop of fierce instrumentation. "North Of The Border" has these great riffs, lyrics, everything, including a nails-on-a-chalkboard effect. Extremities is a tough-as-nails, poignant, violent response to many things that were wrong with society, and could still be reactive to the current state of affairs in the world. The band were as honest, loose, completely free-willed in their convictions as ever when this cd first came out in 1990. Fifteen years later, it remains Killing Joke's magnum opus. It pretty much sums up everything you need to know about the band. . . You can see a complete list of all Killing Joke discography, or go back to the Killing Joke tabs