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Rating: In 1983, just a step away from the greatest commercial success that would come with the following "Night Time," the Killing Joke embarked on a new marked sonic direction with their fourth album "Fire Dances" and a lineup that included young bassist Paul Raven replacing Youth.
The chemistry remained intact, albeit different, and is evidently noticeable.
"Fire Dances" steers towards a sound more accessible to the masses, but the band does not betray its roots, continuing to unleash a series of vigorous tracks boasting a real rhythmic triumph on the drums with Paul Ferguson, sparkling guitar sounds of pure post-punk, a well-blended bass, and the indispensable voice of Coleman, funky sounds tinged with obsessive melodies.
The sounds are warm and enveloping, many of the tracks would have been at ease in the major alternative charts worldwide. These songs combine a youthful innocence mixed with a magnetic brutality.
The album opens with the powerful "The Gathering", followed by the solid "Fun and Games," "Rejuvination," "Frenzy", and "Harlequin" up to more mellow moments in "Dominator", before stepping on the accelerator again with the hit single "Let's All Go (to the Fire Dances)" for which a well-known video was made.
This work, like others (including the self-titled 1980, "Night Time," and "Extremities Dirt & Various"), was recently remastered complete with bonus tracks that remained in the shadows over the years and live versions including the John Peel Sessions, which are not easily accessible. One of the tracks deserves a special mention, namely the brilliant"Me or You?", a track that continues the discourse of the original album but in a more restrained way, finds its emotional strength mainly thanks to Jaz Coleman's engaging voice. It's a pity it was not included at the beginning in the original LP and that it didn't receive the proper attention with a video clip, despite being initially released as a separate single (not included in any official album) and then as a b-side of "Feast of Blaze".
Surely "Fire Dances" at the time divided Killing Joke fans, but regardless of the sonic turn that would progress later, it remains a truly inspired work, to be re-evaluated. Certainly, if it were released today under the name of any neo band, it would have been greeted with immense enthusiasm by critics and the most renowned specialized magazines.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Gathering (03:11)
We go - to the gathering
We go - to the common feeling
We go - anyway we can
We go - to the basic man
We go - get back my senses
We go - with a basic man
We go - and a basic feeling
We go - to the gathering
We go - to the gathering
We all go to the gathering
03 Rejuvenation (04:00)
i heard the horn sound out the call
air began to shake
because it's hunting time again
senses start to wake
so you get up on your feet
and you gather into packs
and then the packs become a horde
then we all begin to laugh
take my hand now - let's go
find that place now - let's go
let's make haste now - let's go
because it's taking shape - new man come along
instinct overtake
singing as we go
war machine inside
push me further still
so you get up on your feet
and you gather into hordes
eliminate the obstacle
start to make your way
then the clouds begin to move
and my heart begins to pull
because the lady's taking hold again
i saw her taking shape
where the old will always die
when winter comes along
and man shall fear the storm again
all begin to move
new man come along - go
05 Harlequin (03:57)
I am a child of folly Now i want my way And i don't know good or bad But i dance all day And my sense of humour Getting out of hand la-la And the diamond's sharp you know All the harlequins they go go Such a lovely colour So the nasty taste won't show And when i'm seeing bitter Then the carnal feelings go So if you guess my next move Then that's more than me So when i start to smile Then the harlequins will go go I am a child of folly Now i want some fun So i don't need good or bad And we've just begun Ao if you guess our next move Let your sense of humour show And the diamonds are forever All the harlequins will go go
06 Feast of Blaze (03:35)
Move on - light up the way
Banner and festival where the wine and plenty flow
We'll go - let's make our way
Because the flame within our hearts telling us to move towards
The feast of blaze la-la
Each day - move closer to
Where the noise uplifts my soul, where the "wilful" man shall go
Start here - let's make our way
And the mess the fools have made won't stop us in our way
The feast of blaze la-la
The feast of blaze la-la
Let's go - light up the way
Banner and festival where the wine and plenty flow
We'll go - until that day
When the sun will shine again and then we'll all move towards
The feast of blaze la-la
08 Dominator (04:28)
All the time you see us we'll be on our way
Taking what is mine 'cos now I'll have my day
Dominator soul he take what's in his way
Dominator soul he take what's in his way
Move in on them
All the time you see us we'll be on our way
Passive ways to pull you down they pull you down
Tear them up and smash them in we'll have our day
Dominator soul he sing "I'll have my way"
Move in on them
Move in on them
Dominator soul he'll take what's in his way
And if they fall leave them behind 'cos that's his way
And then we'll dance a dance - a dance they've never seen
Dominator soul he'll take what's in his way
Move in on them
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By Enkriko
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