Killing Joke – What's This For...!

Of a piece with the excellent debut LP. Dark post-punk with metal accoutrements. Everybody listened to KJ and took their shit from them. Nobody did it as well.

My copy has the The Best Of The Statler Brothers pressed on side B. A fitting amount of chaos for a Killing Joke album.

Their best album. The primal grooves, noisy guitar, and touches of synth all combine perfectly to make you feel like a caveman being merged with machinery and sent out into a savage dystopia.

Unspeakable & butcher on side one, are both «Goth» tracks, in my opinion. The opener on side two:»follow the leader» is also a hot /dance Billboard track . Good album!

Classic album.Better than first Killing Joke album.Good songs on this record.

Take heed, "Out of the Virus, Immunity Comes. " This recording/record/music are absolutely crystal clear, mastered to perfection. Absolutely one of the best post punk albums and highly influential on so many genres of music to follow.
Such a menacing and meaningful release. Scary well done, nothing quite like it! The original US release, lathe cut pressing by Sterling sound absolutely perfect, brilliant, and amazing. While What's this For...! a dark dystopia, its also sobering psychedelica in sound; brutally honest, prophetic, and even more relevant today, especially towards our future. I repeat, this record is so psychedelic. Killing Joke delivers a left hook to the liver of humanity and an uppercut to the chin of the disgusting filthy oligarchs on this here earth. It's one of the best sounding ionate simple, primal, and polished releases by Killing Joke. Has clean clarity in instrumentation, constructed for the pulpit as warnings to those living to have an awareness of politicians, false prophets, fat cat pixels and personalities manufacturing consent of the population . Its uncomfortable, quick snap of the whip or valve release of industrialized exhaust mechanically timed; The message: truth in darkness, realize this earth is alive, could have been beautiful, maybe still can be, but cause and effect present stark, bleak finality. "Butcher the womb, expect her to bear" ?

Music has a sandpapery feel.

'Tension' is the best song.

Hypnotic, abrasive and totally direct, there is no other record like this.

Long time KJ fan since my simultaneous discovery in 1984 of S/T (Malicious Damage) 1980 and “Night Time” 1984.
As far as follow-ups to debuts are involved, “What’s This For?” is both a natural continuation as well as a showcase of how unpredictable the band was in of defying expectations. Aside from the album’s “hit” single “Follow The Leaders” which isn’t as representative of the rest of the album as any fan would (or wouldn’t) wish, the remainder of the LP is a mixture of simple brutalism, stripped down songs without much artifice, but by no means lacking in their intensity, both as individual pieces and as a whole.
“What’s THIS For?” is apparently KJ’s first real studio child, sine their debut was rumoured to be birthed out of touring and live performances. “The Fall Of Because” remains a definite killer opener to the album and is often cited as such, while “Tension” has an almost underground pop-ish groove to it, albeit strictly in that unique KJ feel. “Unspeakable” and “Butcher” fall under slightly darker tones but are by no means less hypotic in their tribal effectiveness. “Madness” is in my opinion the low point of the album, featuring additional vocals by Big Paul, although his drumming does appear at times to be a hint on the sloppy side. “Who Told You How” has its own unique feel to it, a bit on the morbid side while “Exit” briefly hints at the energy to be found a few years later on “Fire Dances”.
This album remains a strong entry in a legendary band’s legacy, still often quoted by gatherers as an important stepping stone into the band’s ongoing evolution. It doesn’t seem to scorch the skies as their debut did but still manages to burn the house down if allowed so.

reviews that described this album as hailing 'a new brutalism' in music were perhaps a reaction to the dominance of the tribal drumming and hypnotic rhythm patterns that had never had such full expression in the post-punk scene of the time. again killing joke delivered a unique music and sound that would influence musicians for years afterwards.