RIP: Killing Joke's Paul Raven

October 22, 2007 1:11 PM

Paul Raven, bassist of seminal industrial post-punk outfit Killing Joke, has died after suffering from a heart attack at his home in Geneva, Switzerland.
posted by the_very_hungry_caterpillar (37 comments total)

OH NOES!! NOT A NOTHER KILLING JOKE THRED!!!!11!!!!!

Seriously, though, this sucks. Condolences to his friends and family. Raven also played in Prong, Godflesh, and Pigface, among others, and was the current bassist for Ministry.

Tribute page from Al Jourgenson and a bunch of other people Raven has worked with here.
posted by infinitywaltz at 1:15 PM on October 22, 2007

industrial post_punk. LULZ! what IS this obsession with classification?
posted by quonsar at 1:19 PM on October 22, 2007

what IS this obsession with classification?

Mostly it is used to describe a particular kind of musical style. It makes it easier for people who have heard that style and found that they like it to find other music that they may also enjoy. You may have heard the terms Rock, Jazz, Country-Rock, Blues, New Wave, Heavy Metal, Southern Rock, Rap, Hip-Hop, Trip-Hop, Electronica and others bandied about. These terms allow people to identify certain genres of music they might find interesting.

Also:

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posted by eyeballkid at 1:23 PM on October 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by The Light Fantastic at 1:27 PM on October 22, 2007

I don't think it's all that useful, personally. I've never been able to find significant correlation between genre and my liking for a certain band. Of course, that goes only for me individually. YMMV greatly.
posted by Zero Gravitas at 1:29 PM on October 22, 2007

How sad. He was certainly part of the soundtrack of my college years, which were very, very loud.

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posted by padraigin at 1:34 PM on October 22, 2007

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posted by malocchio at 1:34 PM on October 22, 2007

Sad.

Your tag reads "postpun", which is a better descriptor of my grandfather than this band, I'm afraid.
posted by saladin at 1:37 PM on October 22, 2007

Fucking tragic, and not nearly as funny as you'd imagine the death of someone in a band named "Killing Joke" would be.

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posted by Pope Guilty at 1:37 PM on October 22, 2007 [2 favorites]

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posted by exlotuseater at 1:40 PM on October 22, 2007

It was hard enough when progressively more natural deaths began hitting the Baby Boomers who mattered to those of us in Generation 13.

Now heroes our own age are dying off, and from such quotidian foes as "heart attacks".

At least, I suppose, it's better than OD or suicide.

Getting old sucks.

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posted by batmonkey at 1:57 PM on October 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

I am a huge fan of Killing Joke and I love what Raven did for KJ, and what KJ did for music (even though he was still the new boy after 24 years - difficult to fill Youth's shoes).

I met Raven in Cheltenham in 1984 and although he had just joined a hugely influential band (after their frst 3 LPs) he was charming and eloquent... even if he did look like a maniac.

I am depressed, and tonight I will be mostly listening to Killing Joke.

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posted by the_very_hungry_caterpillar at 1:59 PM on October 22, 2007

industrial post_punk. LULZ! what IS this obsession with classification?

Want to waste a day? Try reading wikipedia's list of music genres.

It's not nearly obsessive enough for me, as the cuddlecore article simply redirects to generic "indy" rock, Viking metal and Troll metal have been merged into a single article, when we all know they're distinct (not a real genre my ass), and they've got like three sentences dedicated to Cumbian rap fusion. And they call that obsessive? Please...

Oh well, I'm off to go sort my hardcore records by the number of tempo changes they contain - I'm thinking Power Violence to the front, Thrashcore to the back...
posted by SweetJesus at 2:01 PM on October 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Now he can finally take it up with Kurt Cobain for stealing the riff from Eighties.

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posted by jonp72 at 2:17 PM on October 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by Foosnark at 2:47 PM on October 22, 2007

:(
posted by Jairus at 2:50 PM on October 22, 2007

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posted by Skygazer at 2:56 PM on October 22, 2007

Sad.

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posted by Sailormom at 3:16 PM on October 22, 2007

He saw psmealey's post and was overcome with joy, dying on the spot.

That's what I like to think.
posted by klangklangston at 3:35 PM on October 22, 2007 [3 favorites]

I met Paul Raven a couple of times and he was a true gentleman. Amazing bass player as well. I'll miss him.
posted by oh pollo! at 3:53 PM on October 22, 2007

Fuck... shit.. fuck.

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posted by psmealey at 4:13 PM on October 22, 2007

Last time I saw him was onstage at the Metro in Chicago, with full-on ghoul's eye makeup and a knit cap. He looked awesome, like he was having the time of his life.

I am... sad.
posted by psmealey at 4:15 PM on October 22, 2007

Here it is again, in all its undeleted splendor, lest you need to be reminded.
posted by psmealey at 4:22 PM on October 22, 2007

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posted by porn in the woods at 4:25 PM on October 22, 2007

Wow, that's shocking.

I remember seeing Raven play with Pigface, I think it was at the Opera House in Toronto. I was standing just in front of him and he whacked his bass against a pole or something onstage, and the sound -- my knees actually buckled and I all but fell to the ground. This *really* impressed me at the time, and along with GC Green and Dave Cochrane, I would regard Paul Raven as one of the heaviest bass players ever. RIP to a great guy.
posted by stinkycheese at 4:29 PM on October 22, 2007

I am depressed, and tonight I will be mostly listening to Killing Joke.

Someone's in for an early night
posted by mattoxic at 4:32 PM on October 22, 2007

My first exposure to Raven was when he was in Prong and I've been a fan ever since. RIP
posted by puke & cry at 4:36 PM on October 22, 2007

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posted by DenOfSizer at 5:03 PM on October 22, 2007

FWIW Ted Parsons played drums with SWAN$ in the early to mid 80s
posted by Skygazer at 6:11 PM on October 22, 2007

(A)live, in better days.
posted by googly at 8:26 PM on October 22, 2007

If you have to die (and you do) doing it at your home in Geneva after spending your career with Killing Joke, Prong, Pigface, and Godflesh is a damn good way to go.

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posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:30 PM on October 22, 2007

I never thought I'd miss a bass player as much as I do here. I was just recently reminding myself that Killing Joke is one of my all-time favorite bands.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:49 PM on October 22, 2007

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posted by klausness at 2:49 AM on October 23, 2007

Love like Blood was everything that new wave was about for me. A little bit pop and little bit dark. I still like it.
posted by srboisvert at 3:38 AM on October 23, 2007

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posted by Smart Dalek at 4:57 AM on October 23, 2007

If you have to die (and you do) doing it at your home in Geneva after spending your career with Killing Joke, Prong, Pigface, and Godflesh is a damn good way to go.

Indeed. *wanders off humming Requiem*
posted by jokeefe at 10:43 PM on October 23, 2007

It's not much but I figured I should post the video for Rude Awakening with Raven it it.
posted by puke & cry at 11:50 PM on October 23, 2007