America (Killing Joke song)

"America" is Killing Joke's first single off their seventh studio album, Outside the Gate. It was released on April 4, 1988, under E'G Records.^[1]

"America" was first released as a 7" single. It was the first official single by Killing Joke to be produced by members of the band. This was due to the departure of Chris Kimsey, who cut all contracts with the band. "America" was featured as the A-side and "Jihad" as the B-side. "America" was then released as a 12" single in the UK and Germany. It featured "America (the Extended mix)" as the A-side while the B-side featured "Jihad" and a remix of "America" by Glenn Skinner.

This was the first single by Killing Joke to be released as a CD Maxi single. It featured the Glenn Skinner remix of "America", "Jihad (Beyrouth edit)", "America (the Extended mix)", and the original remix of "Change", originally produced in 1980.

Reception

"America" received generally negative reviews. Adrien Begrand of PopMatters described it as a "[laughable] ham-fisted social commentary".^[2] "Walker simply phones in his guitar work, whatever there is of it we can hear under the overbearing synths and severely gated drums. Ferguson’s drumming was replaced altogether by session musician Jimmy Copley, while Raven was so embarrassed to be part of the dismal project that he had his name removed from the album credits."

However, "America" did manage to chart at number 77 on the UK Singles Chart.^[3]

Track listings

7" single

Side A

1. "America" – 03:47

Side B

1. "Jihad" – 06:00

12" single

Both versions of "America" were mixed by Glenn Skinner.

Side A

1. "America (the Extended mix)" – 06:45

Side B

1. "Jihad" – 05:26
2. "America" – 03:44

CD Maxi single

Both versions of "America" were mixed by Glenn Skinner.

1. "America" – 03:44
2. "Jihad (Beyrouth edit)" – 05:08
3. "America (the Extended mix)" – 06:45
4. "Change (original 1980 mix)" – 04:00

Charts

References

External links