So - where do I start?

Top Three LPs I should check out please.....

Sure there is some deja vu with this subject

First four albums are all good, depends if you are looking for the biggest 'single quota' or more weird. Self titled debut (not self titled newer album) has Requiem, Wardance and The Wait (Metallica covered) so prob best one to go for from that era. £3.98 on Amazon with the remastered extra tracks

Nightime is a classic album and is a must. Only 8 songs but everyone a classic Love Like Blood and Eighties!

Extremeties Dirt and Other Repressed Emotions another essential. Sees the band at their most furious and industrial period and is full on and at war with the world.

Pandemonium - Sees them going all a bit mystic and has some classic numbers 'Exorcism' 'Millennium' and 'Whiteout' and should certainly be considered.

I also love 'Brighter Than A Thousand Suns' but a lot of people hate it. A far more melodic album and at times bordering on shimmering goth, Indie and shoe gaze territories.
'Outside The Gate' is also seen as their folly by many so avoid that.

As for the two more recent ones, both OK but hanging out for the new one myself.

There is a stack of compilations and 'for beginners' albums etc. Out of all of them this is also very good and worth picking up for under £4 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rmxd-Killing-Jo ... 71&sr=1-24

hope that helps a bit. But simple answer Killing Joke (1980) Night Time (1985) Extremities (1990)

It depends which Killing Joke phase you're interested in. For the edgy, angular post-punk noise get Killing Joke (1980) What's This For (1981) or Reveleations (1982). What's This For is my fave of this lot. For the melodic bombastic Goth stuff it's indeed Nighttime and possibly Brighter Than A thousand Suns

For the most metallic stuff I'd go for Pandemonium, Killing Joke (2003) and Hosannas from the Basement of Hell (2006)

I prefer those to Extremities but might be in monority in that regard. I also love Democracy (1996) but perhaps not one to start with.

My final selection would then be Killing Joke (1980), What's This For, and Killing Joke (2003)

Hitting up itunes now - cheers

or go for the best of both worlds and get "The Gathering 2008" which is the live document of two nights at the Forum and has then playing the classics, newer stuff etc

I'd also second Avi's recommendations

Killing Joke (1980)
Extremities, Dirt And Various Repressed Emotions (1990)
Killing Joke (2003)

I highly recommend Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!, a 1992 compilation with material from their early days to their (then) most recent album. 10/10 - I listened to it last night, not a dud on it. It was my introduction to the band and still the CD of theirs I listen to the most.

Also worth checking out are Chaos For Breakfast (a compilation of early singles) and The Peel Sessions 1979-1981.

go with Avi's recommendations. The last two K.J records were pretty hard, esp the last one.

I didn't think much of Hosannas... myself, I thought it was a letdown after the (second) self-titled one.

Their first two (for the stark tribal punk sound), and their last two (for sheer ferocity and incandescent yet uplifting rage). Although they never did a bad album. I approached the often maligned 'Outside The Gate' with trepidation, expecting some 'St Anger' shitefest, but as long as you can get past the '80s studio sheen and the fact that the guitars are nonexistent at points, it's actually very good.

'Extremities' is actually my favourite of all of them, but it's probably not a good starting point. It was recorded in the aftermath of Jaz allegedly hiring a hitman to bump off someone from the record company, part of his umpteenth nervous breakdown...

There is serious, serious need for a fully comprehensive and authorised KJ biography. Avi?...

I really rate Night Time, a lot of people I know slate it as their 'sell out' album but personally I think it's great. Love Like Blood is a top tune. Kings and Queens and Darkness Before Dawn are both great tracks. I'm going to see if I can convince the rest of my band that we should do a cover of Europe.

I also have to reiterate the fact that the first album is an absolute must.

I'll happily go along with the first two/last two formula as a starting point. Basically what I suggested plus 'Hosannas'.

Like others, I love basically everything KJ did.

Re biography - I interviewed the band earlier this year and they explained precisely why they're basically a guarded camp. So, I doubt that I'll be ever authorised to write one. With that said - do watch this space.

Fire Dances was one of the worst albums I've ever heard. I gave it away. Twice.

Which means you must of bought it twice.

Or he gave it away once but it came back.

Fire dances is bad...for sure. I dont especially one of the live albums I have either, love like blood i think its called. I love all the rest of the albums though.

Bought it on CD, gave it away. Bought a tape with Ha! on one side and that on the other. Gave that away. Simples!

List time!

1 - Whats This For
2 - Revelations
3 - Killing Joke (1980)
4 - Pandemonium
5 - Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions
6 - Hosannas from the Basements of Hell
7 - Killing Joke (2003)
8 - Democracy

The rest...

1. Requiem
2. Wardance
3. Tomorrow's World
4. Bloodsport
5. The Wait
6. Complications
7. S.O.36
8. Primitive

Good list, OLP!