Disco de Killing Joke: “Fire Dances [Limited Edition]”

if you like heavy, rythmic music and you don't own firedances, get it now - this is quite possibly some of the most intense and original music ever - fantastic polyrithmic tribal drumming against atonal and dissonant post-punk proto-metal guitar playing , almost disco bass lines and the always surprising melodic attack of jaz - it may take a few listens to get used to this one but once you get it you're hooked forever

I first got Fire Dances when it was originally released on cassette. The songs for the most part are great, a few are a little more mainstream in approach than some of their earlier works. KJ here dabble in funk, tribal sounds, and dance. Then again some are percussion-fueled, frenetic, atonal massive train wrecks of sound, rather like Public Image Ltd's Flowers of Romance. If you like KJ, you might like this. An update I am now very happy to report, the "HA!" ep that was included on the b-side of the cassette version I had of this is now available on cd. A terrific live cd, and in my opinion Killing Joke's finest record.

Tribal repetitive drumming and chant down singing with brilliant angular post-punk guitar that will shake the devil out of you. Hearing this in the early 80's was beyond my capacity to comprehend. Having listened to a massive variety of music since then, I still haven't heard an album like it. Compared to much of the cookie cutter Hardcore Punk of the time, this was a bombshell of originality. I was ecstatic that there was a new direction for punk. Alas, even Killing Joke didn't quite stick with this formula again after this album. An edgy punk album somehow reaching for tranced induced spiritual revelation instead of aggro reactionary violence. Music for Goths and Punks who have just spent 40 days and nights in the desert.

I hardly know what to say -- this album is wonderfully exciting, original, and serves to open up the darkness of their earlier records before Killing Joke really brought in the strong melodic element of the albums to follow. Though intense throughout, they mix it up and the album never gets dull ("Dominator" takes a turn to funk completely out of nowhere). Buy it if you like interesting rhythms. It's scary and fun.

Well this album seems as if it has quite a few interesting things going on with it. We hear many catchy tunes such as "We go to the gathering" and I can't even tell what notes are being played in the verse of Fun and Games, but it's quite astounding! Rejuvenation reminds me how Ministry was heavily inspired by these guys, and for the longest time, I haven't had a riff stuck in my head for several days until I heard Frenzy. What a crazy lick of a song! Some of my other favorites include Feast of Blaze and Song and Dance, and the main riff from Let's All Go sounds a lot like something the Clash would do. The bonus tracks are definitely worth a listen, but Dominator is probably the weakest on here. Not bad at all, but it doesn't stand out at me by any means, so I'm still giving this 5 stars. The extra tracks include alternate versions of the album tracks, but I don't see why it was necessary to have 2 extra versions of Dominator. In any case, it's all still fantastic! They didn't do so well after the late 80s in terms of producing great albums, but this one's a keeper.