Search - Julian Cope :: Jehovahkill

Pure Genius

theAllPurpose | Canada | 06/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You'll want to sit back and listen to this album from start to finish without doing anything else - definitely try listening with headphones. This is trippy psychedelic pop with influences from Kraftwerk to Iggy Pop and everything in between. Unbelievably excellent production, songwriting, and vocals. The title may scare some people off, but the theme of the album as you may guess is organized religion and how it has screwed our society up - excellent lyrics that are never preachy. Why is Julian Cope not much more famous and why has this album been deleted without ever receiving the publicity it deserves? Probably because the major labels want us to consume "Safe" music. This is one of Julian Cope's 4 masterpieces (my favourite one overall)- the others being Peggy Suicide, Autogeddon, and 20 Mothers."

One of most eye-opening releases of the 90's

Michael Paulsen | Rancho Santa Margarita, CA USA | 08/17/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Julian Cope hit a creative peak in the early 90's with Peggy Suicide and then this album. Peggy Suicide was more commercially viable, but Jehovahkill is a genuine powerhouse. Musically all over the map -- from the pop bliss of "The Mystery Trend" and "Fa-Fa-Fa Fine" to blistering Krautrock primal scream therapy ("Upwards at 45 Degrees", "The Subtle Energies Commission") to techno-dance ("Poet Is Priest"). On the closing mother-goddess "war of the genders" epic, "The Tower", Cope recalls The Doors' "The End", sounding uncannily like Jim Morrison at times. This album is a feast of musicianship and experimentalism with a cynical, mystical neo-hippy edge that only arch drude Julian can deliver so perfectly. A classic."

Mysterious pop

J. Holmes | yokohama, japan | 09/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Julian Cope is a bit of a legendary figure who has a tendency to write really earthy ragged pop songs with an offbeat edge. his songs are so great because he infuses them with pure personality. this kind of characteristic seems to drive the songwriting process forward into a solid effort everytime the studio reels start rolling. Cope's tunes are filled with joy, sorrow, confusion, and many times silliness. his love of obscure psychadelic music is well documented on his HeritageHead website; and his solo work draws alot of inspiration from that particular style. the guitar work tendfs to be a bit spacey at times, and the rhythms are primal and well thought out. every song seems to have it's own steady pulse and Julian rides over all of it like some sort of half-crazed insightful singing shaman.



Jehovakill starts off alot like how Peggy Suicide ended. with the strums of an acoustic guitar and Cope's low voice telling us how he was "lost and loveless in your soul desert." a great beginning to a strange tale of an album. things seem to be a little more scaled back on this record...which draws out a very cool starkness to some of these pieces. particularly "Know (Cut My Friends Down)", "Slow Rider", and "Give Me Back My Flag." that same skeletal feeling is ripe on the 10 minute "The Tower." in my opinion, Jehovakill is just as good as Peggy Suicide and could almost be seen as companion albums."