Customer Reviews

Extremities, Dirt And Various Repressed Emotions

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best Killing Joke cd in all their years as a vital presence in underground music. Extremities has everything that makes Killing Joke one of the best bands out there, especially the rage and frustration towards the world. 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.

Following the very slick "Brighter than a Thousand Suns" and the truly awful "Outside the Gate", Jaz Coleman and KJ were finally rid of EG (their record label) and free to let loose. And let loose they do - this album hits like a kick to the solar plexus. Hard, raw and brutally honest, Jaz is back up on the bully pulpit preaching to us all.

Sadly, after Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, Paul Ferguson couldn't stand the direction in which the band was going and left. While this was a true loss, on this album Martin Atkins relentlessly drives the music forward with truly incredible drumming. Unfortunately it was destined to only last one album, as he couldn't get along with Jaz.

The lyrics are over the top. Yes, Jaz has always had a penchant for this, but the early albums had lyrics that were far more subtle. They aren't on this album, but they're better and come off with much more sincerity than the ones on Outside the Gate. At least this time around the subjects are more diverse and the music makes listening worthwhile. There is a bit of irony in the lyrics from the third track (the beautiful dead) bemoaning the lack of the "human element" in modern music: "all mod cons there was dust on the drums/ our electronic beat box got the job done" knowing now that KJ would go very heavy on synths and electronic beats on their next two albums makes these lyrics a bit amusing. Jaz is a mad genius after all, so we can forgive him his inconsistencies. The music is so good on this album that I just wish he'd relied more on it and less on subtle-as-a-sledgehammer lyrics, but oh well.

Geordie's guitar is just amazing, sooo heavy, chunky and it sings and whines and howls... I think this is some of his best work. Raven is great on the album as well.

This album ranks among the top five KJ albums. It's not their best, but it is worthwhile.

...passionate, heavy, sensitive, BRILLIANT, melodic, ugly, beautiful, inspirational to all intense, compassionate, hurting and joyful people. This is as complex as the many facets of life. How could anyone who is ALIVE with experience and passion not love this work? If you love what it means to really rock and you use music for strength and energy and DEMAND depth and intelligence in your music then THIS is one for you. I could go on and on but I'll stop here and leave you all with love...
marc

"Extremities" restored my faith after "Outside the Gate." Geordie's guitar reigns supreme over the keyboards, Coleman sings with more abandon, and the lyrics convey outright hatred of greed instead of satirizing it.

The trademarks are present: odd chord progressions, tricky drum beats (Martin Atkins got game, y'all), and anti-materialism. However, this album is shot through with a big fat anger streak sorely missed in the two prior releases.

"Money Is Not Our God" kicks it off hard and fast. Then comes an even angrier KJ classic, "Age of Greed." Jaz continues to wail against the mindless excess of the new Roman Empire until the echo-laden guitar intro of "Slipstream." The heaviness of the first eight songs makes this song practically upbeat. They give us a chance to catch our breath with the keyboard piece "Kaliyuga," then bring the hammer down with "Struggle."

"The struggle is long
The struggle is hard
The struggle is beautiful"

Indeed.

One of the great things about Killing Joke is that there albums vary greatly from each other. From the happy go lucky tribal feel of "Firedances" to the esoteric and almost refined "Brighter than a thousand suns" (recommended) to this amazingly angry and agressive release. The music is packed with true heartfelt emotion that cannot fail to reach you on some level - Highly Recommended.

After several laughable attempts at synth-pop in the mid to late eighties, Killing Joke redeemed themselves with this 1990 tour-de-force. Too complex to be punk, too off the wall to be metal, Killing Joke are best when they're answering to themselves only, which they seem to do on this album. The tracks are laden with rage at the consumer culture; one look at such titles as "Age of Greed" and "Money Is Not Our God" exemplifies this. The opening riff of "Solitude" is perhaps one of the creepiest ever written. One cannot go wrong with this Killing Joke masterpiece.

it's a reissue of an album from the early '90s - a powerhouse of a CD that moves, slams and swings with furious drive and rhythm. Third, it may be the best thing Killing Joke ever did, marrying their love for obtuse rhythm with an unprecedented speed and anger to produce a work of stunning power. And while their convictions occasionally take them a bit over the top - witness the fairly laughable "You are an inspiration to me..." sound bite after "Money Is Not Our God" - it more often lends itself to a blaze of righteous rage (what was that PULP FICTION bible quote? something about feeling "furious anger?" Imagine that concept put to music - with molten guitar and ungodly drumming - and you've got the right idea).

Over the course of the album, the band moves from strength to strength -- ranging from the otherworldly would-be dance song "The Beautiful Dead" to the fantastic speed and anguish of "Slipstream" to the final gotcha! of "Kaliyuga-Struggle," which lures you in with an eerie, almost-soothing two minute instrumental... and then instantaneously segues into the hardest burst of killing music on the album. All in all, this is mighty tasty stuff. Dort, indeed.

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. The title says it all, and it is, in my opinion, one of their best releases. 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!

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.

This is my favorite KJ. It is the angriest and evilest.
It is much more aggressive than even Pandaemonium.
Martin Atkins hits the drums so solidly and his rhythm is very
precise, better than any other KJ album. Also he doesn't
have that stupid trademark Martin Atkins sound, he sounds
very good and appropriate. The guitar licks and basslines
are the best. Favorites are Age of Greed, Inside the Termite
Mound, North of the Border, Slipstream. This album evokes lots
of wonder. "And the sun grew hot and the children dehydrate.
I saw the soldiers burn I saw their skin just blister and break."