Night Time | ||||
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Studio album by Killing Joke | ||||
Released | 11 February 1985 | |||
Recorded | August and September 1984 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 39:54 | |||
Label | E.G. | |||
Producer |
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Killing Joke chronology | ||||
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Singles from Night Time | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
PopMatters | 9/10 |
Night Time is the fifth studio album by English post-punk band Killing Joke. It was released in February 11, 1985. Through record label E.G.
Night Time was released in February 1985 by record label E.G. It was an international hit, reaching number 11 in the United Kingdom, number 8 in New Zealand and number 50 in Sweden.
The album was remastered and reissued in 2008, with nine bonus tracks. The bonus tracks include the non-album single "A New Day", three remixes and four tracks from a 1984 Kid Jensen BBC radio session.
In his retrospective review, Ned Raggett of AllMusic opines that the album finds the band's music "caught between their earlier aggression and a calmer, more immediately accessible approach. This turned out to be the band's Achilles heel in the end, with later albums in the '80s evidence that the group had turned into an unbelievably boring, generic modern rock band. At this point, however, the tension between the two sides had a perfect balance, and as a result, Night Time is arguably the quartet's freshest album since its debut, with a warm, anthemic quality now supplementing the blasting, driving approach that made the band's name". Adrian Begrand of PopMatters opined that, with the album, the band "perfected" their "balance between antagonism and accessibility" and that "the band are simply on fire on this record".
The song "Eighties" is claimed to have been copied by Nirvana for their 1991 song "Come as You Are", primarily because the riffs of both songs are so similar. A lawsuit, claimed by Kerrang!, was issued against Nirvana by Killing Joke for appropriation of the riff. Because no accusation was recorded, Kerrang! claimed that it was dropped shortly after Kurt Cobain's death in 1994. According to Rolling Stone, Killing Joke did not file a copyright infringement lawsuit, because of "personal and financial reasons". However, conflicting reports, such as Kerrang!, have stated differently.