14. Killing Joke | "Love Like Blood"

"Love Like Blood" by Killing Joke from the album Night Time (1985)

Always oddly ahead of their time, London post-punk mavens Killing Joke found a creative sweetspot on 1985 breakthrough record Night Time. Tucked between the unpredictable aggression in earlier material and the more robotic, ritual-driven sounds of the ’90s, Night Time boasted “Love Like Blood,” pitting howler/yeller Jaz Coleman a lone troubador on the smoke-filled dance floors this song first destroyed 26 years ago and hasn’t left since. Killing Joke may have been wholly influential to industrial of the late ’80s, but their real sound was much louder without being traditionally fuller. It’s well documented how Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” completely rips off Killing Joke’s chart hit “Eighties,” (also off Night Time) but since we’re keeping score, the driving guitar and bass work on “Love Like Blood” just might have influenced Mötley Crüe’s “Dr. Feelgood,” as well. Listen to them back-to-back.
 Michael Marotta