RuneWalsh2112
The more I explore the discography of Killing Joke, the more I realize how brilliant and influential they really are! Unfortunately, artistic brilliance rarely strikes twice as artists are bound to move forward while leaving their glorious achievements behind them as trophies of their magnitude.
Having just discovered the new potential playground known as New Wave, Killing Joke decided to dig even further down the hole that they were making for themselves. Still, this was all done with good intend and the band never sounds like they are commercializing their sound for the sake of it nor is there any evident lack of ambition on "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns".
Stripping their sound completely from the familiar raw sound of Geordie Walker's guitar and Jaz Coleman's vocals must of been quite a daring decision for the time, but the result really makes no real sense considering the excellent results that Killing Joke achieved on, their previous album, "Night Time". Having said that, let's get one thing clear - "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" is by no means a bad record but it certainly feels like a misguided attempt at a style that just doesn't bring anything interesting to the band's overall sound.
Frustrated with the direction that the band was heading for, Paul Ferguson left the band and didn't return until the release of "Absolute Dissent" (2010). Paul Raven also seemed to begin his distancing process by not receiving(/taking?) any credit for his bass guitar playing on the controversial follow up album "Outside The Gate". Ultimately this album was the breaking point for Killing Joke, but it turned out to be for the better considering the cult following that they managed to achieve in the following years!
**** star songs: Sanity (4:15) Chessboards (5:47) A Southern Sky (4:39) Rubicon (6:35)
*** star songs: Adorations (4:28) Twilight Of The Mortal (4:14) Love Of The Masses (6:07) Victory (3:57) Wintergardens (5:32) Goodbye To The Village (5:18) Exile (6:27)