# Killing Puritans

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2000 studio album by Armand van Helden

Killing Puritans Studio album by Armand van Helden Released June 26, 2000 Length 73:41 Label Armed Armand van Helden chronology Armand Van Helden's Nervous Tracks (1999) Killing Puritans (2000) Gandhi Khan (2002)

Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating AllMusic [1] NME [2] The Village Voice [3]

***Killing Puritans*** is the fourth studio album by [Armand van Helden](/source/Armand_van_Helden) released in 2000. It was released as CD and as quadruple vinyl.

## Controversy

The album's cover art prominently featured an African child soldier, prone, aiming a rifle. The image was controversial enough to threaten the album to be banned worldwide. Eventually, UK versions of the album were sold in a plain brown cardboard sleeve that concealed the offending image.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Killing Puritans" Armand Van Helden 2:06 2. "Little Black Spiders (featuring Fiona Marr)" Armand Van Helden, Klaus Meine, Herman Harebell, Rudolph Schenker 8:15 3. "Breakdancers Call" Armand Van Helden 6:21 4. "House Boxing (featuring Lord Sear)" Armand Van Helden 2:05 5. "Full Moon (featuring Common)" Armand Van Helden, Lonnie Lynn, James Bedford 4:19 6. "Koochy" Armand Van Helden, Gary Numan 8:07 7. "Watch Your Back (featuring Herbie Hancock & N'Dea Davenport)" Bill Summers, Paul Jackson, Mike Clark, Bennie Mauphin, N'Dea Davenport, Trevant Hardson 8:23 8. "Hybridz (featuring The Mongoloids)" Armand Van Helden, E. Sanchez, Michael Smith 10:01 9. "Flyaway Love" Armand Van Helden 9:08 10. "Swamp Thang" Armand Van Helden 5:49 11. "Conscience (featuring Tekitha)" Armand Van Helden, Tekitha Washington 9:07

## Critical reception

Critical reception to the album was varied, with coverage ranging from mostly positive, to mixed to significantly negative.

A reviewer for [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) felt that the music was better suited to nightclubs rather than personal listening, with heavy club themes alongside freestyle rapping and "diva theatrics". The music was generally considered to be an enjoyable blend of several different genres but lacking in anything to make it a true hit.[1]

An *[NME](/source/NME)* review was generally positive towards the music quality of the songs played, again noting of the skill set across multiple genres. However it was criticized for its attempts to claim social relevance, particularly in relation to Armand's claims to breaks taboos, while failing to make any clear-cut social indication and is instead similar to the dance industry most criticized by the author.[2]

A critic for *[LA Weekly](/source/LA_Weekly)* called *Killing Puritans* "a very bad album, both in its politics and its sound", indicating that the mix of genres complimented elsewhere in fact reduced any coherence of the album, rendering it as a mixture of songs - with further criticism of the quality of most.[4]

A review in *[Exclaim!](/source/Exclaim!)* gave a mixed analysis of *Killing Puritans*. Many of the songs have their musical competence complimented "eclectic, energetic and full of attitude", but the review contrasts them with stodgy performance elsewhere. Several songs come in for particular criticism lyrically as standard dance culture, not up to prior music by Armand.[5]

## Charts

Chart (2000) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[6] 170 UK Albums Chart 38 Belgium Albums Chart[7] 49

## Release history

Country Release date Format Label Catalogue Australia May 29, 2000[8] CD Album London 8573833195[8] USA October 1, 2005[9] CD Album

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-AllMusic_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-AllMusic_1-1) John Bush. ["Killing Puritans review by AllMusic"](https://www.allmusic.com/album/killing-puritans-mw0000066598). AllMusic. Retrieved January 23, 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NME_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NME_2-1) ["Killing Puritans"](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-nme-2262-337468). NME. September 12, 2005. Retrieved April 28, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-christgau_3-0)** [Christgau, Robert](/source/Robert_Christgau) (December 5, 2000). ["Getting Bizzy"](https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv1100-00.php). *[The Village Voice](/source/The_Village_Voice)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-LAWeekly_4-0)** Ernest Hardy (August 2, 2000). ["Killing Puritans review by LAWeekly"](https://www.laweekly.com/music/track-of-the-week-k-camps-switch-10128629). LAWeekly. Retrieved January 23, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Exclaim!_5-0)** Prasad Bidaye (July 1, 2000). ["Killing Puritans review by Exclaim!"](http://exclaim.ca/music/article/armand_van_helden-killing_puritans). Exclaim.ca. Retrieved January 23, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Armand van HeldenARIA Chart history to Feb 2025"](https://imgur.com/a/HUW6k9u). ARIA. Retrieved April 2, 2025 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Steffen Hung. ["Armand van Helden - Killing Puritans"](http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?key=21089&cat=a). australian-charts.com. Retrieved October 12, 2011.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-sanity1_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-sanity1_8-1) [\[1\]](http://www.sanity.com.au/product/product.asp?sku=731583.1)[*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [\[2\]](http://www.sanity.com.au/product/product.asp?sku=512874)[*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

v t e Armand van Helden Discography Studio albums Sampleslaya: Enter the Meatmarket 2 Future 4 U Killing Puritans Gandhi Khan Nympho Ghettoblaster Compilation albums You Don't Know Me: The Best of Armand Van Helden Singles "The Funk Phenomena" "You Don't Know Me" "Flowerz" "Koochy" "Full Moon" "Why Can't You Free Some Time" "Hear My Name" "My My My" "Into Your Eyes" "When the Lights Go Down" "Sugar" "Touch Your Toes" "NYC Beat" "I Want Your Soul" "Je t'aime" "Bonkers" Other songs "Professional Widow (Armand Van Helden Remix)" "Spin Spin Sugar (Armand Van Helden Remix)" "You Can't Change Me" "Signs (Armand Van Helden Remix)" "Old Love / New Love (Armand Van Helden Remix)" "Digital (Armand Van Helden Remix)" Related articles Duck Sauce

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Killing Puritans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Puritans) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Puritans?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.