Pandemonium (Killing Joke album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pandemonium
Killing Joke - Pandemonium.jpg
Studio album by
Killing Joke
Released2 August 1994 (1994-08-02)
Recorded
Genre
Length62:37
LabelButterfly/Zoo
Producer
  • Youth
  • Greg Hunter
Killing Joke chronology
Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions
(1990) 		Pandemonium
(1994) 		Democracy
(1996)
Singles from Pandemonium
  1. "Exorcism"
    Released: March 1994
  2. "Millennium"
    Released: April 1994
  3. "Pandemonium"
    Released: July 1994
  4. "Jana"
    Released: October 1994

Pandemonium is the ninth studio album by English post-punk band Killing Joke, released on 2 August 1994 by Butterfly Records. The album marked Killing Joke's return after a four-year hiatus, the longest the band had taken since it was founded. It also featured the return of founding member Youth, who replaced Paul Raven on bass.

Content[]

The vocal tracks for "Pandemonium", "Exorcism" and "Millennium" were recorded in the King's Chamber of The Great Pyramid of Giza.[citation needed] The session was filmed by director Shaun Pettigrew and features in the Killing Joke documentary The Death And Resurrection Show (2013) which also details alleged paranormal experiences during the recording.[1][2]

Frontman Jaz Coleman considered Pandemonium to be a conceptual album on the external influence of Arabic music, which was spread throughout the album.[citation needed] It also incorporated his perspective on life, which is apparent in songs such as "Labyrinth" and "Pleasures of the Flesh".[citation needed]

Track called "Hallucinations of a Cynic" was also recorded, but left off the album.[3]

The title track, as well as "Communion" and "Whiteout", would become live staples of the band.[citation needed]

Release[]

Pandemonium was released on 2 August 1994 by Youth's record label Butterfly Records.

The singles "Millennium" and "Pandemonium" both reached the UK top 40 and the album is the band's best selling work.[2]

It was reissued in remastered form in 2005, featuring two additional tracks: a remix of "Another Cult Goes Down" and an experimental dub remix of "Pandemonium".

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic3/5 stars[4]
Kerrang!4/5[5]
PopMatters7/10[6]
MusicHound Rock2.5/5 stars[7]

Pandemonium has been generally moderately-well received by critics.

Kerrang! magazine wrote, "Gargantuanly heavy, catchy and hilarious at turns, Pandemonium yokes pounding slabs of techno-metal to Coleman's cosmic visions, to exhilarating, trance-inducing effect".[5] Trouser Press described it as "a significant upgrade from Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions".[8]

The Guardian described the album as a return to form for the band.[9]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Killing Joke (Jaz Coleman, Youth and Geordie Walker).

No.TitleLength
1."Pandemonium"6:42
2."Exorcism"7:26
3."Millennium"5:34
4."Communion"6:56
5."Black Moon"5:19
6."Labyrinth"5:55
7."Jana"4:06
8."Whiteout"5:43
9."Pleasures of the Flesh"5:42
10."Mathematics of Chaos"7:24
2005 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Pandemonium" (A Thread of Steel in the Suspension Bridge of Time and Space Mix)9:18
12."Another Cult Goes Down" (Portobello Mix)6:19

Personnel[]

Charts[]

Chart (1994) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart 16
U.S. Billboard Heatseekers 39

References[]

  1. ^ https://www.loudersound.com/features/killing-joke-inside-the-great-pyramid-at-giza
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Coleman, Jaz (2013). Letters from Cythera, p. 378. self-published.
  3. ^ Hämäläinen, Jyrki "Spider" (2020). Killing Joke: Are You Receiving?, p. 143. Milton Keynes: New Haven Publishing. ISBN 978-1912587407.
  4. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Pandemonium – Killing Joke | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Killing Joke – Where to Start With – Kerrang". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  6. ^ Begrand, Adrien (29 September 2005). "Killing Joke: Pandemonium / Democracy | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  7. ^ Holtje, Steve (1999). "Killing Joke". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (loan required). Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 629–630. ISBN 978-1-57859-061-2 – via the Internet Archive.
  8. ^ Grant, Steven; Sheridan, David; Fasolino, Greg; Robbins, Ira. "TrouserPress.com :: Killing Joke". Trouser Press. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Pandemonium Was Killing Joke's Brilliant Return To Form". Kerrang!. Retrieved 30 April 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""