Outside the Gate is the seventh studio album by English post-punk band Killing Joke, released in June 1988 by E.G. Records. It was a significant stylistic departure for the band, with complex synthesised arrangements and less prominent guitar. The lead single was "America". Ironically, the album was shelved in the USA by Virgin America and didn't receive any release.
Production
Interviews with members of Killing Joke have retrospectively suggested Outside The Gate began as a solo project by Jaz Coleman with guitarist Geordie Walker, until E.G. Records insisted the album be released as a Killing Joke album. Killing Joke bassist Paul Raven and drummer Paul Ferguson were asked to perform on the album but not allowed to participate in its writing or production, leading to tension and acrimony during recording. Ferguson initially recorded drums in sessions produced by Geordie with Jaz absent. As Ferguson later recounted, the synthesisers and click track were muted for him to record drums to the guitar. The two reportedly liked these results, until the synthesisers were unmuted and the drumming style no longer suited. Jaz Coleman asked that Ferguson be replaced, bringing in session playerJimmy Copley and percussionist Jeff Scantlebury, later claiming that Ferguson wasn't able to manage the precise timings needed. Similarly, Paul Raven asked for his name to be removed from the album credits, purportedly quitting the recording sessions and calling Coleman and Walker "a pair of ego-strokers". A picture collage of Coleman and Walker appears on the album sleeve and the pair promoted the album with no other band members. In an interview for MTV in the UK, in May 1988, the pair stated their intention to support Outside the Gate with a tour. Coleman also stated of the album's new style that they "wanted a more articulate funky powerful rhythm" and that "as long as alive and as long as Geordie is alive, Killing Joke is alive." They also gave a tv interview for "Rockin In The UK".
Release
Outside the Gate was not released until 27 June 1988 and entered the UK Albums Chart at number 92, staying for just one week. It was panned by critics. Sounds said of the album: "It's a stodgy, inconclusive LP that fails in all but the most basic of senses to achieve its end, leaving us feeling soured and unimpressed". NME shared the same point of view and depicted it as "a private breakfast of ideas, depicting poor old Jaz wading through quicksand with his jeans rolled down yet again. Worse... he seems to be wandering off in exactly the same direction". Retrospective reviews have remained largely negative; David Jeffries of AllMusic said that "pallid synths poorly imitate orchestras, the complex song structures are just tedious, Coleman acts as if he's Freddie Mercury and David Bowie mashed together, and none of the throb, thunder or heavy riffage so important to the KillingJoke name is to be found." Adrien Begrand of PopMatters called it simply "disastrous". The album was not promoted with any gigs and was not even released in the USA. Two singles, "America" and "My Love of This Land", were released but did little to improve its fortunes. The video for the former song featured Coleman and Walker along with drummer Copley and session bassist Jerome Rimson, who did not actually record or play live with the band. Virgin dropped the group two months after the release of the album and Coleman and Walker disbanded Killing Joke as they became embroiled in a lengthy legal battle to extricate themselves from their recording contract with E.G. Records. In 2008, the album was re-released with bonus tracks. These included early rough mixes of some songs, with drum machine tracks ahead of drums being recorded. The previously unreleased song "May Day" was re-written as part of "Tiahuanaco". The original release was dedicated to Conny Plank, who had produced several Killing Joke records, after his death in 1987. The 2008 reissue was dedicated to Paul Raven, following his death the previous year.
Track listing
Personnel
; Killing Joke
Jaz Coleman – vocals, keyboards, piano, production
