Killing Joke: Brighter than a Thousand Suns (1986)

This album is either loved or hated by Killing Joke fans. The critics seems to be united in their dislike for it. Just have a look at what Allmusic said. The critic argued that the album was:

...an effort ultimately dialed in rather than performed. The sound-alike quality of nearly all the songs -- especially ironic considering the accomplished genre-hopping on the earliest records -- renders Killing Joke its own unfortunate parody in the end. [source]

Wikipedia finds a more charitable review:

Adrien Begrand of PopMatters wrote "Without question, 1986's Brighter Than a Thousand Suns marked a sharp decline in quality, many viewing it as a complete betrayal of Killing Joke's signature sound, but more than 20 years later, it's surprising how well parts of the album hold up." [source]

It's a fact that some of the edge is gone, but I truly like most of these tunes. The opener - Adorations - is really great, for example. Sanity is good. I like Chessboards, Twilight of the Mortal, Love of the Masses, and others. In short, it's far better than the critics would have you believe, but it's not the Killing Joke of yore.