Empire Song
| "Empire Song" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||
| Single by Killing Joke | ||||||||||
| from the album Revelations | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Brilliant" | |||||||||
| Released | March, 1982 | |||||||||
| Format | 7" single | |||||||||
| Genre | Post-punk, goth rock | |||||||||
| Length | 7:19 | |||||||||
| Label |
E'G Records Polydor | |||||||||
| Writer(s) |
Jaz Coleman Kevin "Geordie" Walker Martin "Youth" Glover Paul Ferguson | |||||||||
| Producer(s) |
Killing Joke Conny Plank Nick Launay | |||||||||
| Killing Joke singles chronology | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Empire Song is Killing Joke's first single from their third studio album, Revelations. It was released under E'G Records in March, 1982, and reached number forty-three in the UK Singles Chart that same month. Polydor also released Empire Song as a single in Ireland. The B-side Brilliant was produced by Nick Launay.[1]
Production and release
By 1982, members of Killing Joke, especially Coleman, had become immersed in the occult, particularly the works of occultist Aleister Crowley. In February of that year, Coleman, moved to Iceland to survive the Apocalypse, which Coleman predicted was coming soon. As a result, Empire Song was performed at Top of the Pops with Ferguson as vocals and drums. Because Coleman was absent, a "Coleman Fake" was placed in front of a keyboard, while the other three members kept playing. Geordie and Youth followed Coleman and moved to Iceland later that year. There, Coleman and Geordie worked with musicians from the band Þeyr in the project Niceland. After a few months, Youth decided there was no indication of the Apocalypse, and decided to move back to England. Youth then began the band Brilliant with Paul Ferguson, but the latter defected and travelled to Iceland to rejoin Killing Joke with new bassist Paul Raven (previously of Neon Hearts and the rock/glam band Kitsch) in tow. After spending some time in Iceland, Killing Joke returned to England and began touring and recording again.
Track listing
- Side A
- "Empire Song" – 03:19
- Side B
- "Brilliant" – 04:00
Charts
| Year | Chart | Peak Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | UK Albums Chart[2] | 43 |
References
- ↑ "Empire Song". Retrieved 9 December 2008.
- ↑ Chart Stats - Killing Joke. chartstats.com. Retrieved on 2010-07-05
External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
