A dream release for the
Killing Joke faithful, this 2008 compilation collects the first four sessions the band did for the legendary BBC Radio DJ
John Peel plus a bonus session recorded for
Richard Skinner's program. The years covered are 1979 to 1981, so this isn't the usual career-spanning
Peel comp, but it does follow the band as they evolve from a tribal post-punk unit that could have been signed to the esoteric Factory to an apocalyptic metal group that often landed in the pages of metal mag Kerrang!. Raw versions of the big, important numbers from the time -- "Wardance," "Complication," "The Fall of Because," and "Tension" -- are all here to illustrate the change. These under-produced alternatives either equal or better their official album counterparts but what's revelatory are the rare numbers like "Malicious Boogie" where the band play cowbell-driven, no wave funk as if they were
Medium Medium or
Liquid Liquid. Liner notes from
Alex Paterson, who was a
Killing Joke roadie before he was
the Orb, speak to these experimental years with stories of guitarist Geordie's Wall of Sound and bassist
Youth playing the "Rapper's Delight" 12" repeatedly. While it's a sliver of the longstanding band's history, anyone with a taste for their early years will be thrilled by this thorough, well-presented set. ~ David Jeffries