Killing Joke - Outside the Gate (1988)

1. America
2. My Love of This Land
3. Stay One Jump Ahead
4. Unto the Ends of This Earth
5. The Calling
6. Obsession
7. Tiahuanaco
8. Outside the Gate






Killing Joke’s Black Sheep – 7,8/10

Every band intending to sound different with each new record will have an album almost officially declared as ‘the band’s worst’. In a time where a lot of rock bands included more synthesizers to smooth productions to their music, Killing Joke, or at least Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker, become creative with this synth-full sound they developed on 1986’s Brighter Than a Thousand Suns. Instead of replicating “Love Like Blood” a couple of times again, they took a radical step into experiment.

It is often said this should have been a Coleman/Walker collaboration and not a Killing Joke record, which I agree with most dearly. This simply does not sound like Killing Joke at all, except for Coleman’s ever-threatening voice. Here, you won’t experience the fury of the wardance, the call for help in desperate situations or the feeling that something is not right. That is not to say they delivered a bad record here, but it’s just a black sheep in the Killing Joke family. Coleman and Walker took a conscious step to experiment with different, less obvious song structures, more focus on melody and odd time signatures. This album heavily leans towards progressive rock. That said, I don’t think Coleman’s voice has ever sounded as beautiful as on here, where he actually sings melodies. Drowning these ideas in a pool of synthesizers and 80s slick production and there you have Outside the Gate. Though it will never be one of my favorite Killing Joke records, it’s certainly not one to be forgotten. Sadly, the band is not proud of this record. It was the time original drummer Big Paul Ferguson was kicked out of the band and bassist Paul Raven (R.I.P.) asked to remove him from the credits.

The album begins with two singles that flopped. “America” has a catchy synth-theme and has a driving pace throughout. A good candidate for a single it is for sure; it is catchy, short and probably the most straightforward track on this album. “My Love of This Land” then shows a continuation of the sweeter side of Brighter Than a Thousand Suns and turns out to be a nice gentle track. Then the album becomes more inaccessible, starting off with “Stay One Jump Ahead”; a really funky track with slapping bass underneath all the time and with Coleman sounding like Freddie Mercury on his solo record. It’s certainly one of the more kick-ass tracks. “Unto the Ends of the Earth” really steps into the prog direction with its weird song structure and rhythm changes. It’s quite atmospheric, but is possibly the least song on the record, though far from a bad track. Mysteriously “The Calling” sneaks into your ear and continues in the same vein as the previous track, but leaves a more spontaneous impression. “Obsession” is as an uplifting track, but not as catchy as “America”. It’s rather prog-esque and has a powerful chorus. The last two songs are probably the best. “Tiahuanaco” is one that comes to your attention immediately with its catchy melody and its bombastic nature. But still, the title track is the most bombastic track on the album. It lasts over eight minutes and its eight minutes of pure ear candy. It starts off gently with water sounds and when the music kicks in the verses create a mysterious ambience until suddenly the mighty chorus kicks in. The bombastic, instrumental theme easily takes you into hypnosis and if you weren’t attracted by the other tracks, this theme will make you want to give the album another chance. The piece closes with a beautiful classical guitar-piano piece.

Yes, I think Killing Joke fans who dislike this record should give it another chance. If you don’t like progressive rock, there’s a good chance you will never get the feel of this record, but I hope fans of prog will once find this album and give it the credits it deserves.

Strongest moments: “My Love of This Land”, “Tiahuanaco” and “Outside the Gate”.
Weakest moments: “Unto the Ends of This Earth” and “The Calling”.