| "Juke-Joint Jezebel" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byKMFDM | ||||
| from the albumNihil | ||||
| B-side | "Kraut" | |||
| Released | 28 February 1995 | |||
| Genre | Industrial rock[1] | |||
| Length | 5:40 | |||
| Label | Wax Trax!/TVT | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Sascha Konietzko,Klaus Schandelmaier,Günter Schulz,Raymond Watts | |||
| Producer(s) | Sascha Konietzko | |||
| KMFDM singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
"Juke-Joint Jezebel" | ||||
"Juke-Joint Jezebel" is a song byindustrial rock groupKMFDM from their 1995albumNihil. It is KMFDM's most widely known song to date, with around three million copies of the song sold across various releases.[2][3]
The music for the song was written primarily byKMFDM frontmanSascha Konietzko, who asked returning band memberRaymond Watts to write the lyrics for "Juke-Joint Jezebel" as well as a few other tracks fromNihil.[4] Also credited as authors areEn Esch andGünter Schulz.[5] Whenmixing the song, Konietzko thought it sounded too "awful" to be included onNihil, butTVT Records, to whom KMFDM were signed at the time, wanted to put it on the album, certain it would become a hit.[6]
In KMFDM's profile forTrouser Press,Neil Strauss highlights Watts' lyrics and looped guitar riffs andelectro-funk beats as the song's main features.[7] In a 2013 bookAssimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music, musician and scholar S. Alexander Reed called the song "iconic",[8] citing it as an example of industrial music's "use of gestures from traditional African-derived musics...", and notes "a massive gospel choir" of backup singers in the chorus. In addition to this, the "sleazy and exuberant" chorus features a harmonic use of theMixolydian mode, which seems to "set the song apart from industrial conventions," with lyrics describing pleasure from self-destruction, "tapping into shallow perceptions of religious fervor and lasciviousness."[9]
"Juke-Joint Jezebel" single was initially released on 28 February 1995. After the release ofNihil, a second version of the single was released with additional remixes by Italianrecord producerGiorgio Moroder. The Canadian release ofJuke-Joint Jezebel: The Giorgio Moroder Mixes includes a bonus CD titledThe Year of the Pig Collection, which features one track each from KMFDM's previous six studio albums, as well "Fuck Me" fromSin Sex & Salvation. "Juke-Joint Jezebel" was also released on a 12" entitledYear of the Pig.[10] The single did not enter theBillboardModern Rock Tracks chart, but peaked at number 27 on theHot Dance Music/Club Play chart.[11][2]: 97
The song was accompanied by two music videos, both directed by Eric Zimmerman.[12] The first, set to the single edit of album version and featured later onBeat by Beat by Beat compilation, combines the live footage with the animations from thePatlabor 1anime.[13] The other video, set to Moroder's "Metropolis" remix, was released to promote the1995Mortal Kombat film and uses footage from the film.MTV was reluctant to air the video, objecting to the footage featuring violence.[14]
The original version of the song is used in the 1995 filmBad Boys,[15] while the "Metropolis" remix mentioned above appears on the1995Mortal Kombat soundtrack.[16][6] Both soundtracks eventually went platinum.[17][18] The album version of the song can also be heard in the "Home Is Where the Tart Is" episode ofBeverly Hills, 90210.[19][6]
The original single version was re-released as a 7" in 2009.[20] On 25 October 2010 "Juke-Joint Jezebel" was made available asa downloadable song for theRock Band Network.[21]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [22] |
| Billboard | positive[23] |
"Juke-Joint Jezebel" has received significant critical acclaim. Heidi MacDonald ofCMJ New Music Monthly called the song "nearly flawless".[24] Andy Hinds ofAllMusic, mentioning the song in the main album's review, called it "an enduring and indispensable dancefloor favorite at goth/industrial clubs around the world."[25]Greg Kot of theChicago Tribune said it "swaggers like a Bourbon Street hooker, with crunching guitars and a swooping, gospelish chorus".[26]"Juke-Joint Jezebel" was listed at No. 23 onCOMA Music Magazine's "101 Greatest Industrial Songs of All Time" feature in 2012.[27] The track was also featured onAlternative Press' list of "10 Industrial-Rock Classics That Completely Defined the ’90s."[1]
Holding a negative opinion of the song since mixing it, Konietzko admitted in 2016 he still did not like the song, which was retired from the band's concert setlist in 2003. It was pointedly left off the band'sgreatest hits albumRocks — Milestones Reloaded, along with other songs such as "Vogue" because the group felt such songs were not part of their ideal setlist. Even so, he was pleased that the song had become successful enough that it continued to sell: "It pays the rent, to this day."[6]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Juke-Joint Jezebel" | 4:11 |
| 2. | "Kraut" | 4:59 |
| Total length: | 9:10 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Juke-Joint Jezebel (Poly-Matrix)" | 4:18 |
| 2. | "Juke-Joint Jezebel (Original Single Edit)" | 4:11 |
| 3. | "Juke-Joint Jezebel (Metropolis)" | 5:17 |
| 4. | "Juke-Joint Jezebel (Paradox)" (only available on CD) | 4:32 |
| 5. | "Juke-Joint Jezebel (Poly-Matrix X-Tended)" (only available on CD — 12" substituted instrumental version) | 6:17 |
| 6. | "Kraut" (only available on CD) | 4:59 |
| Total length: | 29:34 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kickin' Ass" (What Do You Know, Deutschland?) | 4:01 |
| 2. | "Fuck Me" (Sin Sex & Salvation) | 3:47 |
| 3. | "Go to Hell (Fuck MTV Mix)" (Naïve/Hell to Go) | 5:45 |
| 4. | "No Meat-No Man" (Don't Blow Your Top) | 3:50 |
| 5. | "UAIOE" (UAIOE) | 3:53 |
| 6. | "Spiritual House" (Money) | 5:20 |
| 7. | "No Peace" (Angst) | 4:28 |
| Total length: | 31:04 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Juke-Joint Jezebel" | 4:34 |
| 2. | "Secret Skin" (Sin Sex & Salvation) | 3:39 |
| 3. | "Go To Hell" (Naïve/Hell to Go) | 5:23 |
| 4. | "Kraut" | 5:23 |
| Total length: | 18:59 | |
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)"Juke-Joint Jezebel," later remixed into a great pop single by Giorgio Moroder, matches Watts' deep-voiced musings on sex and religion with looped guitar riffs and electro-funk beats.
The fifteenth release in the KMFDM 24/7 series is the Juke-Joint Jezebel single featuring "Juke-Joint Jezebel (Single Edit)" b/w "Kraut". Juke-Joint Jezebel is out and available now exclusively from the KMFDM Store.
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| Related articles | |
