Killing Joke – Extremities, Dirt And Various Repressed Emotions (1990)

March 18, 2022

Across the decade of the 80s, a period of the latter years saw a thawing of the Killing Joke tribal post punk sound into a more accessible, new romantic or synth pop direction. The pinnacle of this was Outside The Gate, which seemed to alienate a lot of fans. The icing on that cake was the spoken word album that followed it, and Killing Joke almost seemed like a band that no longer knew its own identity.

Thankfully then, the following year, all of the above just seemed to be dropped, with the band U-turning back to their roots, but with a heavier undercurrent carrying them along. Of course, listening in 2021, you can see how this record informed the direction the band would take from here, but at the time, this must have been a startling change of pace for a band that had been mellowing out for years.

“Money Is Not Our God” is super angry, and sets the pace for the album to come. This record is a must-listen from the Killing Joke catalog, in my eyes.