Paul Raven - RIP (gutted)

[sparkyness]

Just saw on the BBC website that Paul Raven of Killing Joke, Godflesh, Prong, etc died of a heart attack on Saturday night in Geneva where he was recording. Ted Parsons found him but ambulance crews were unable to revive him.

Raven was a massive hero of mine. I've seen countless KJ shows and one especially memorable night was seeing him play with Godflesh (joined by Jaz Coleman for the encore) when they were supporting Devin Townsend at the Mean Fiddler in London. That was Godflesh's final tour.

I'll always remember that night as I managed to have a brief chat with Raven after the KJ set where (of all people) Lemmy walked past us on the stairs and the first thing I could think to say was "Hello Dad". Without flinching Lemmy replied "fuck off son".....Raven then took the piss out of me and anyone else within shouting distance for the next 10 minutes. Such a cool guy and an unflinchingly heavy bass player.

RIP dude.

 

[R-Stuur]

Im just starting to get into Killing Joke. I liked Hosannas a lot, any recommendations>?

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

Raven a one of the most decent people you could meet. Well maybe not decent but he was a mate, a good bloke and will be missed

 

[sparkyness]

Im just starting to get into Killing Joke. I liked Hosannas a lot, any recommendations>?

KJ's stuff varies quite a lot, hence why they are so influential....I was 10 when Night Time came out and remember seeing the video for "love like blood" for the first time. That song still blows me away after hearing it for the 1000th time.

The first couple of albums in the early 80s are very post-punk sounding. Lo-fi, but incredible in their own way and unique.

The mid-80's stuff is quite goth-ish (Revelations, Fire Dances, Night Time) then segues into synthy cheese territory. I adore "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" but "Outside the Gate" is pretty awful IMO. The spoken word album "The Courtald Talks" isn't something I'd care to listen to ever again. It's the sound of an artist (Jaz, in this case) finally disappearing up his own arsehole and unfortunately into a nervous breakdown.....he moved to Iceland as he thought the world was going to end in 1988.

Thankfully they came back stronger than ever in the early 90's and into their industrial-rock phase and Pandemonium and Democracy just plain rock (I can listen to "Aeon" for hours on end). I haven't invested much time into the "Extremities" album but don't recall liking it too much.

The last two albums, "Hosannas" and "Killing Joke" have been pretty much straight out angst-ridden rock/metal and probably their heaviest albums. The 25th Anniversary gigs in London were brilliant for me as a lifelong fan. I smiled like a little kid the whole time.

There's plenty of cool side projects as well. "Murder Inc" is Killing Joke with Chris Connelly (one of my favourites) on vox instead of Jaz Coleman. "The Damage Manual" is Geordie Walker, Chris Connelly, Jah Wobble and Martin Atkins. Their first EP rocks.

 

[Splat88]

Yeah, this really sucks. Killing Joke, Prong and Godflesh were my biggest influences. Brighter Than a Thousand Suns is one of my favorite all time albums. Pure 80's cheese but its undeniably excellent.

 

[dreamcatcher]

The mid-80's stuff is quite goth-ish (Revelations, Fire Dances, Night Time)

I haven't invested much time into the "Extremities" album but don't recall liking it too much.

Fire Dances was my intro to the band. It's cool, and the lyrics are this sort of off-kilter primitivism that sounds like they were written by a psychotic child, sorta Lord of the Flies like, in a tangential way.

Extremeties is the one that gets praised most by metalheads, fwiw, or so it seems to me.

Prong seemed like they were continuing the line of Killing Joke, so when Raven joined Prong I was excited. I'm curious now about the Treponem Pal sessions, first I've heard of it. Treponem Pal's ST was a big influence on me back in the day. And the Young Gods. I hope it gets released.

Fuckin sucks he died. He was part of a lot of great stuff.

 

[Radd]

I love this album.