9. Killing JokeWhat’s This For?
I remember hearing ‘Requiem’ on college radio, and it really combined all of my favourite things – it had synths on it, really heavy distorted guitars, tribal drums, this crazy jazz drummer and punk rock vocals. The first album is great, but What’s This For is one of those rare albums where the second is actually better. I remember when it came out I went to the record store the week of release, though I couldn’t afford to buy it, and looking at the cover and how beautiful it was. It was this collage, with these psychedelic, apocalyptic colours, and the title is one of those great titles where it meant nothing but it was captivating. What are they asking, I don’t understand. Standing in the record store, holding this piece of vinyl, hoping that one day I’d be able to buy it… when I finally got it home, the sound quality was even better than the first album, and it just had this sinewy darkness to it that was really amazing. Everything about them from the basslines to the drumming to the way they approach guitar and lyrics… it was the first time I’d ever heard really heavy distorted guitar that the way they were mixed they didn’t dominate the music, the fit perfectly within the framework of the song.
