“Empire Song” / “Brilliant” (Malicious Damage EGO 4) March 1982
Killing Joke | Empire Song (Malicious Damage) 1982 | Taken from the next LP and, taken out of context, it is terrible. It encompasses all of their faults and none of their (slim) possibilities.
With the vocals buried so deep within the cloying, mesh of a mix they were left with no alternative but to print the lyrics on the back of the sleeve, and they are so, so embarrassing – fifth form Grammar school revolutionary poets could have done better.
‘Empire Song’ is a heavy thrash of boredom, it is almost a piss-take of some of the piss-poor songs they have released in the past. A sorry, shambling mess. (Sounds, 13/03/82)
Co-produced by Conny Plank (surprised? well he worked with Ultravox so he’s obviously not too picky), this is pretty much as you’d expect – repetitive, noisy, almost compelling but not quite that interesting.
The XTC record put me in such a temper with it’s smart blandness, however, that Killing Joke were no torment to listen to, rather a relief. Of course they’re not Significant, though they’d like to be, but at least they’re mildly provocative. (Record Mirror, 20/03/82)
Leave a Reply