Killing Joke is one of those groups, who's output just seems so vast, it's hard for someone to really know quite where to start, and none of their 'collection' releases really seem to do much justice. The fact is there are only two Killing Joke releases you ever need to worry about. One being their first release, that's the one which sleeve depicts the iconic imagery of shadowy, anonymous figures preparing to demolish a wall. The latter, being their 1986 release 'Brighter Than a Thousand Suns'. This is one of my all time favorites. They had already put out several albums treading closer to a more electronic/industrial, even dancy type sound, which is a high contrast from their first album. Though on early songs such as 'Requiem' and 'Wardance', it's perhaps not so difficult to fathom that BTATS is the album they would be releasing half a decade later. The title of the album refers to a quote describing the explosion of a nuclear bomb. Well, armageddon had come and gone, well not exactly, but 
at least Jaz Coleman had returned from his hide out in Iceland at this point to continue writing some extremely foreboding, cryptic, and very 'dance' sounding Killing Joke records. The production of BTATS is larger than life, very dramatic, very ethereal. Huge sounding drums, guitars that slice through your brain with lazer-like precision, pounding bass lines, and to top it off is Jaz Colemans over the top vocals. There is really nothing I could say to do this album justice. The atmosphere is tense, while the mind bending lyrics create visions of apocolyptic beauty. If you are a Sandman fan (dork, I know) you are probably already into this album. If not, this is the perfect album to have playing while reading volumes of Sandman. It's as if Coleman is chanelling some great, ancient mythological god, recalling the past, looking into the future, watching down from the heavens as we 'Move like pawns on chessboards.' Stand out tracks are, well, all of them really...But 'Sanity', which contains an eerie piano melody, over frightening guitars, and a heavy dance beat, and 'Chessboards' are probably the greatest. Do yourself a favor and find this album!
"So let the sunrise light up the distant shores And we'll remember last days of Rome again"
