Killing Joke

キリング・ジョーク 2003年発売 『Killing Joke』のアナログ盤。デイヴ・グロールが全面参加。
イギリスが産んだ元祖インダストリアル・バンドとしてカルト的人気を誇るキリング・ジョークのソニー移籍第一弾アルバム。ドラムにデイヴ・グロール(FOO FIGHTERS)が全面参加し、超絶ドラミングを披露している。そのサウンドは相変わらずのダークで機械的なインダストリアル・サウンドを継続しつつも、プログレッシヴ的なアプローチも垣間見せ、元祖の凄みを強烈に感じさせる作品。

It's best to takes notes as lead singer Jaz Coleman calmly reads a list of provisions ("Put on your masks/And animal skins") because Killing Joke's second self-titled album is about to take over. Moments after Coleman's stoic opening, Geordie Walker's guitar chugs into action and awakens Killing Joke's most threatening juggernaut of an album in years. Bass players Youth and Paul Raven are both back (although Youth's stint in the group looks to be temporary) and Dave Grohl guests on drums, perhaps paying the Joke back for adapting the killer riff of "Eighties" for Nirvana's "Come as You Are." Grohl's drumming is suitably intense and tribal when need be, while Andy Gill's production miraculously makes sense of the band's thunderous sludge. Still the Coleman/Walker partnership is the star of the show as they play off and push each other like a doom-and-gloom Jagger/Richards. It sounds like Coleman is sitting in the dentist chair with one of those little vacuums sucking out the words on "Total Invasion," while Walker patiently waits his turn to blast out his own brand of stately mayhem. "Asteroid," "Blood on Your Hands," and "Loose Cannon" are all highlights with the band sounding as inspired as when they started, adding the advantage of years of interaction, and "You'll Never Get to Me" presents a brand new shimmering and yearning angle to the group. While Killing Joke's discography has more than its fair share of awkward and overly ambitious albums, they've once again returned to the fury and focus of their classics. ~ David Jeffries

80年代末期、その革新的なサウンドで〈元祖インダストリアル〉と呼ばれ、トレント・レズナーやメタリカといったアーティストたちからも愛され続けているキリング・ジョークが7年ぶりに復活!　クイーンズ・オブ・ザ・ストーン・エイジへの参加でふたたびドラマー魂に火の点いた、これまた崇拝者の一人、デイヴ・グロールをドラムスに迎え、またしても狂気に満ちたあの熱きインダストリアル・ロックを聴かせてくれている。
bounce (C)山口 晃司