Love Like Blood (song)

"Love Like Blood"
Single by Killing Joke
from the album Night Time
A-side "Love Like Blood (Version)"
B-side "Love Like Blood"
"Blue Feather (Version)"
Released January 1985 (1985-01)
Format
Genre
Length 6:50
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Killing Joke singles chronology
"A New Day"
(1984)		 "Love Like Blood"
(1985)		 "Kings and Queens"
(1985)
Night Time track listing
"Darkness Before Dawn"
(2)		 "Love Like Blood"
(3)		 "Kings and Queens"
(4)
Love Like Blood (Gestalt Mix)
Love Like Blood (Gestalt Mix) Side A Inner Sleeve

"Love Like Blood" is Killing Joke's second single from their fifth studio album, Night Time. Produced by Chris Kimsey, the song was characterized by elements of gothic rock[1] and new wave.[2]

Releases

"Love Like Blood" was originally released by E.G. Records in January 1985 as a 12" in the UK, and a 12" maxi single in Germany. The 7" single on E.G. was released in the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany. Polydor also released a 12" single in the Netherlands and a 12" maxi single in France. E.G. Records' 12" and 12" maxi singles’ A-sides featured the track "Love Like Blood (Version)", a different version of the song, and as B-sides, the radio version of "Love Like Blood" and "Blue Feather (Version)", the same track list as Polydor’s release. E.G.'s 12" maxi single, released in Germany, featured the same tracks, as did Polydor’s maxi single released in France. E.G.’s 7” single exempted "Love Like Blood (Version)" and instead featured the radio version of "Love Like Blood" as the A-side. E.G. also released "Love Like Blood (Gestalt Mix)" in the UK as a 12" single. It replaced "Love Like Blood (Version)" with the remix as an A-side, and was limited to only 2000 copies. It later appeared on the 2008 reissue of Night Time, along with a completely different version of "Blue Feather" that did not appear on any of the releases of "Love Like Blood". "Love Like Blood" was reissued in 1998 as a 12" single by Butterfly Records, as a live remix, alongside a remix of the song "Intellect" from Killing Joke’s 11th studio album, Democracy.[3]

Reception

"Love Like Blood" was an international hit and defined Killing Joke in the 1980s. Allmusic stated:[4]

“ [Love Like Blood] is driving, with guitarist Geordie Walker providing the basis for the song in huge, chunky guitar chords and riffs — cyclical and inverting in on themselves. He plays various arpeggios for the different sections of the song, with a tone that combines blistering distortion with a cold and edgy chorus effect. Drummer Paul Ferguson plants a steady four-on-the-floor dance beat, along with Raven's funky bass line, for the rhythm track. Unlike many of the industrial bands that followed in its wake, Killing Joke uses no sequencers or drum machines, leaving some human feel within the industrial framework. Coleman plays a haunting legato synth line that floats over the staccato guitar and rhythm section. Near the end of "Love Like Blood," he also offers an ominous piano bass note on upbeats, like a horror-film bell tolling. ”

Influence

"Love Like Blood" was covered by several bands, and the German gothic rock band Love Like Blood took their name from this song.

Band Album Year
Blacklight Dream Dance, Vol. 25 2002
Iva Davies Berlin Tapes 1996
Icehouse 1996, 1999, 2002
Love Like Blood Love Like Blood EP 1998
Technoir Love Like Blood 2002
Out Unik 2003
Blackmail Friend or Foe? (Japanese edition) 2004
Sybreed The Pulse Of Awakening 2009
Dead by April Stronger 2010

Charts

Chart (1985) Peak
position
German Singles Chart[5] 24
Irish Singles Chart[6] 30
The Netherlands Singles Chart[7] 5
New Zealand Singles[8] 6
UK Singles Chart[9] 16

Dead by April version

"Love Like Blood/Promise Me"
Single by Dead by April
from the album Stronger
Released May 10, 2010
Format Digital download
Recorded 2010
Genre Alternative metal, pop rock
Length 3:40
Label Universal Records
Dead by April singles chronology
"Angels of Clarity"
(2009)		 "Love Like Blood"
(2010)		 "Dance in the Neon Light with Lena Philipsson"
(2011)

In 2010, the Swedish alternative metal band Dead by April released a cover version of "Love Like Blood" as a stand-alone single. The single was released 10 May 2010 on iTunes and as a double A-side single alongside previously released track "Promise Me" from their debut album Dead by April. No music videos were made for either of the tracks. "Love Like Blood" was the first track recorded by the band with their new singer Zandro Santiago,[10] and was later included on their compilation album Stronger, released on 24 January 2011.

Digital single

No. Title Length
1. "Love Like Blood"   3:40
2. "Promise Me"   3:35

References

  1. ↑ NME. Release The Bats - It's The 20 Greatest Goth Tracks. By Luke Lewis « 11. Killing Joke – Love Like Blood Aligning love and sex with blood is a standard goth trope, but Jaz Coleman's lyrics always cut deeper than the usual 'doomed romance' cliches. On this 1985 single, one of the few times KJ ever troubled 'Top Of The Pops', he uses martial imagery to create a sense of apocalyptic struggle.
    Most gothic moment: "Strength and beauty destined to decay". »
  2. ↑ "KTVU.com talks to Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman". www.ktvu.com. Retrieved 2013-11-13. "A more reserved and melodic direction that scored gothic-tinged new-wave hits ('Love Like Blood')".
  3. ↑ "Love Like Blood". Retrieved 19 December 2008.
  4. ↑ "Allmusic.com--Love Like Blood review". Retrieved 19 December 2008.
  5. ↑ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved December 19, 2008)
  6. ↑ Irish Singles Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved December 19, 2008)
  7. ↑ The Netherlands Singles Chart (Retrieved December 19, 2008)
  8. ↑ "charts.org.nz - Discography Killing Joke". © 2006-2009 Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  9. ↑ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved August 8, 2008)
  10. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Love Like Blood / Promise Me - Single by Dead By April". Itunes.apple.com. 2010-05-07. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
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