Democracy - Killing Joke > Reviews > The Longitude of Opposite Emotions

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Unmemorable
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
Disadvantages:	-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

1996 was the 17th year of Killing Joke and the line up consisted of ¾ of the original members (Jaz Coleman - Vocals and Keyboards, Geordie - Guitar, Youth - Bass) augmented by Geoff Dugmore on drums and Programming and additional keyboards by Nick Walker. Democracy was the second album to be released since their reformation in 1993 and was produced by Youth a brave thing to do for any member of Killing Joke to take on the production role alone, due to the volatile and opinionated nature of the other members of the band. The album is a mellower affair than most of the rest of their back catalog, more gothy and less metally, I have mixed feelings about this as it is great to hear Geordies innovative guitar work do more melodic textured stuff but it is better to have them blast you into catharsis. Anyway Gerodie is one of the best guitarists in the world ever and anything with him on it is worth a listen apart from the "Outside The Gate" album…………

This album was written and recorded during the build up to the '97 election where we knew that the Tories were going to get a bloody nose but how much has really changes since then? The truthful answer is nothing has, and this album is full of comment on the state of society at the time and is still relevant.

Kicking off with a competent drum roll on "This Savage Freedom" a melodic burst with Geordies guitar laying down lighter textures than normal and Jaz singing about the aspirations of the common man trying to grab whatever freedom he can, well that is what I get out of it, you might see something. Drum wise like the rest of the album it is more typical rock drumming rather than the tribal pounding of their other albums which is a pity…….. "Democracy" is a crooned critique on the hypocritical state of so called democracy in this country in 1997, in 2005 it is still relevant with no real choice between the two major players, the drums have a lot of tom toms onboard bur nowhere near the tribal intensity you would expect from this band, and some very nice textured guitars and keyboards.

"Prozac People" on the other hand is another matter the verses contain some nice haunting guitar plucking, and Jaz rather hauntingly singing about his experiences suffering from Bi-Polar disorder, then roaring into the chorus and is unlike Prozac absolutely fantastic stuff. An intelligent tirade against evil multinational drug (pharmaceutical) companies………

"Lanterns of Hope" does nowt fro me despite some proficient tribal drumming, it is a bit too hippy for me, I blame Youth for this personally. "Aeon" makes up for this with some watery fluid guitar Goth-like guitars and some more proficient tribal drumming and has some very though provoking lyrics about where we could be heading if we only had the vision, pity man-kind is so blind………….. "Pilgrimage" is about a pilgrimage to the east, and again is classic melodic Killing Joke, beautiful music for those of us who can see through the noise and uplifting.

"Intellect" mixes abrasive guitars, tribal drums and techno sounds and is dam good the only thing letting it down being that the drums are just not enough. "Medicine Wheel" celebrates the use of alternative therapies by people from all walks of like and like the previous song mixes techno sounds with abrasive guitars, however the drums are just not enough again, but still good stuff for Killing Joke, astounding stuff for any other band. "Absent Friends" takes us down familiar Killing Joke territory layered textured guitars and tribal drumming but just seems to fall somewhere short of the mark. Then we finish off rather aptly with "Another Bloody Election" a message from a man cynical of democracy to those at the top of the pile, and one I whole heartedly agree with, I am not voting again as there is no point we are stuffed whatever happens. Musically it takes us back to the classic Killing Joke sound but it could be so much better with a more aggressive production.

This is a good album by any band other than Killing Jokes standards, it is let down by limp production and drumming that just does not fit into the band style even when it is tribal it is more standard rock tribal than Killing Joke which is a pity as there are some great songs in here. After this album they had a 7 year break before they worked together again, apparently it took that long before Jaz and Geordie would speak to Youth again, but when they returned in '03 the were back at the top of their game at a time when the world needed them most……..