It's been a while since I did a themed post, I've been listening to this fine band a lot lately and I figured they'd be splendid candidates for one of these Best Of's's. Unfortunately, I didn't count on how hard it would be but more about that later. Firstly, a little bit about the band for those who might not know of them.
They initially formed in Missouri (soon after they relocated to Texas) in the early eighties, though they didn't release their first album, as King's X, until 1988. At the very core of it, they're a classic Hard Rock trio but with strong ties to Prog Rock. There's also hints of Soul and Funk, particularly in Doug's vocals. Their musicianship is of a flawless standard; Ty is an incredible guitarist and Doug is a wildly influential bassist with a unique playing style. All three of the band contribute lead vocals, to a greater or lesser extent, but the real magic of the band comes when they sing together. Their voices mesh together perfectly and they create lush harmonies that are often compared to The Beatles, though that's a lazy comparison.
At the time of their commercial peak, they stood far apart from their contemporaries, fitting in with neither the Hair Metal or Thrash Metal scenes, on later albums they took slight influences from both Grunge and Nu-Metal during those era's, though never deviating much away from the overall King's X sound.
In their earlier career, they were considered part of the Christian music scene, mostly due to a lot of their lyrics being along a spiritual theme. The band themselves distanced themselves from it somewhat, the feeling eventually becoming mutual when Doug came out as gay in 1998. There's an interesting interview with him about it HERE.
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| (l-r) Ty Tabor, Jerry Gaskill and Doug 'Dug' Pinnick |
Most albums only have one or two songs included and there's nothing at all from 2000's Please Come Home...Mr Bulbous or any of the new tracks recorded for The Offical Best Of King's X. I also wanted to include something Doug recorded for various tribute albums, The Unforgiven maybe, but no chance. Perhaps I'll do another blog focusing on his many side projects one day. One day.
If I'm being honest, this is more of a Beginner's Guide To King's X than a Best Of and I really hope that those of you unfamiliar with the band will track down some of the albums because you're missing out!
Cheers,
Luke
x
Tracklisting
Inside Outside
Shot Of Love
Black Like Sunday
It's Love
Shoes
Don't Believe It (It's Easier Said Than Done)
Jenna
Fly
We Are Finding Wo We Are
Ono
Lost In Germany
No Lie
Goldilox
Over My Head
Finished
(Thinking And Wondering) What I'm Gonna Do
Complain
Bebop
Go Tell Somebody
We Were Born To Be Loved
You can download the mix HERE
Inside Outside
Taken from the 1983 album Sneak Preview
Shot Of Love
Taken from the 1988 album Out Of The Silent Planet
Out Of The Silent Planet was their official debut and more than stands the test of time despite being almost 30 years old. Shot Of Love was one of their early singles and perfectly highlights their trademark sound; the vocal interplay in the chorus is sublime and I'm been singing this song constantly since starting this particular entry,
Black Like SundayTaken from the 2003 album Black Like Sunday
Their 10th proper album, Black Like Sunday contained tracks that all dated back to the early days as The Edge and Sneak Preview, but completely rerecorded, reworked and made new. The title track is about the black dog of depression and is one of their heavier songs, particularly the riff in the chorus.The production on this album is satisfyingly bass heavy and sounds great, especially this song, played dead loud in the car.
It's LoveTaken from the 1990 album Faith Hope Love
The only song on this mix to feature lead vocals by Ty Tabor and, coincidentally, the first song I ever heard by the band. I'd seen the band mentioned in Rock magazines and whatnot but didn't actually hear the music until I saw the video for this song and loved it, I bought the album not long after.
Ty doesn't have the power or soulfulness of Doug but his voice is still quite recognisable and I think he does great on this track. Also, his lengthy psychedelic solo at the end of the song is pretty impressive too. Whenever I listen to this song I get mental images of Sixth Form College fifteen years ago, where I used to spend a lot of time slouching in corridors listening to this album.
ShoesTy doesn't have the power or soulfulness of Doug but his voice is still quite recognisable and I think he does great on this track. Also, his lengthy psychedelic solo at the end of the song is pretty impressive too. Whenever I listen to this song I get mental images of Sixth Form College fifteen years ago, where I used to spend a lot of time slouching in corridors listening to this album.
Taken from the 1994 album Dogman
Dogman is probably their most well-known album other than Faith Hope Love and was a bit of a departure from the sound of their previous four albums. It was generally harder edged, heavier and had a few Grungy overtones. Shoes kicks off with some nice acapella harmonies before unveiling a heavy, chugging, bluesy riff that stomps all over everything. Lyrically it's about being yourself for good or ill and accepting who you are. Back in the 90's, if I was making someone a mixtape, then this was generally my go to King's X song.
Don't Believe It (It's Easier Said Than Done)Taken from the 1989 album Gretchen Goes To Nebraska
Of a similar theme to Shoes, this song sees the band alternately trading lines and harmonies all throughout the song to great effect. Also, it's kind of got two choruses sort of. Have a listen and you'll see what I mean.
JennaTaken from the 2001 album Manic Moonlight
Manic Moonlight is easily their worst album. A lot of the songs don't sound finished, are pretty forgettable and the whole thing has a weird, muddy production. Also, the cover art is shit.
Given that I haven't included a single track from Please Come Home...Mr Bulbous, the previous album to this, why include this song? Quite frankly, Jenna is Manic Moonlight's saving grace; it's built around a catchy riff, has a few odd time changes and is probably the best song on either this or ...Mr Bulbous.
I can't decide if the lyrics are a father's message to his unborn daughter, possibly one that's miscarried or about a junkie ex-lover. I realise they seem like the sort of things you should be able to tell apart, yes.
FlyGiven that I haven't included a single track from Please Come Home...Mr Bulbous, the previous album to this, why include this song? Quite frankly, Jenna is Manic Moonlight's saving grace; it's built around a catchy riff, has a few odd time changes and is probably the best song on either this or ...Mr Bulbous.
I can't decide if the lyrics are a father's message to his unborn daughter, possibly one that's miscarried or about a junkie ex-lover. I realise they seem like the sort of things you should be able to tell apart, yes.
Taken from the 2005 album Ogre Tones
Taken from the 1990 album Faith Hope Love
The opening track on Faith Hope Love and it's a peculiar one. All three of the band sing lead together over a sparse backing through the verses, quite often a bit stop/starty. Doug breaks away in the chorus with Ty throwing out a cool, Classic Rock riff. As you probably tell, lyrically it's a very spiritual song about self-discovery in a weird old world.
So yeah it IS a peculiar song, but it's also dead catchy and I always sing along with every word.
OnoSo yeah it IS a peculiar song, but it's also dead catchy and I always sing along with every word.
Taken from the 1998 album Tape Head
Tape Head was the album that had a slight Nu-Metal edge to it. I don't mean they added a DJ and made an awful attempt at rapping, just that the guitars were a little heavier and down-tuned. It was certainly heavier than the previous album, the fairly light Ear Candy. There were a few songs from this album that I wanted to include, Fade, Ocean, Over And Over, Hate You, Cupid but there just wasn't the room. In the end, I settled on this song which is probably my favourite on the album. It's about some of the various ways people are disappointing and there's a vague wafting of sadness that permeates the whole song. The chorus is immense though and there's a crunchy riff that reminds me a little of the one in Jenna too
Lost In GermanyTaken from the 1992 album King's X
Their fourth album, disappointingly, didn't quite live up to the standard of the first three. There was still a load of future classics on it though, Lost In Germany is one of the better-known songs from it, even though it was never released as a single to my knowledge. It's fairly self-explanatory and perfectly encaptures what it's like to be lost in a foreign country when you're unfamiliar with the language. Also, there's a pretty cool guitar line all the way through it
No LieBonus track on the 2008 album XV
This was a bonus track on their last album and I liked it more than a lot of the proper tracks. It's a fun, catchy song despite being a slow, plodding, Blues. There's a few spoken ad-libs and laughs throughout the song and you can tell the band were enjoying themselves recording it. It gives it a bit of extra charm that I appreciate.
GoldiloxTaken from the 1988 album Out Of The Silent Planet
This and the next track are probably their two biggest singles, with Goldilox being from their debut and almost 30 years old. I knew of this song but didn't actually track down the album until 10/15 years after its release. I love this song and I'm slightly annoyed I went without for so long. It's a power ballad about falling for a stranger and has a gorgeous chorus, There's actually a fascinating live performance on Youtube of it where Doug doesn't sing at all, that you can watch it HERE if you want. It's not a unique performance by any means, it's staple behaviour at their gigs now and other bands do the same, I've been part of a crowd myself that bellowed Geordie In Wonderland at The Wildhearts word for word. There's just something about this particular performance that gives me chills though.
Over My HeadTaken from the 1989 album Gretchen Goes To Nebraska
So yeah, this one was another of their big, earlier songs too. It's an upbeat rocker with a distinctive riff and some odd, chopping licks in the chorus. The song itself is apparently about Doug's childhood, being brought up by his strict Christian Grandma, and how he felt unworthy of being loved as his parents abandoned him, his Grandma never showed him affection but would sing and pray every night about how much she loved Jesus.
FinishedTaken from the 2003 album Black Like Sunday
This song is much like Goldilox thematically, as it's about being attracted to a stranger but leaving it at that. Thinking on, and considering this song was originally written almost 20 years before he came out, I wonder if it was actually written about a man he was attracted to but didn't do anything about it because he hadn't come out at that point? Well anyway, it's a cool song with a nice instrumental break in the middle too.
(Thinking And Wondering) What I'm Gonna DoTaken from the 1996 album Ear Candy
Ear Candy is probably their most lightweight album and, by golly, it's certainly the one with the ugliest cover. Just look at it! In fact, don't cos it'll hurt your eyes. I don't know what they were thinking. Anyway, the album itself is pretty good and, again, there are quite a few songs I also would have included had I space. I went for this one over others because I thought the acoustic guitar would break things up a bit. There are better songs on the album but this is still really good, a little more psychedelic than anything else here. You can definitely hear The Beatles influence in a lot of this song. It's a gentle relaxing one but still has a bit of a kick to it; I'd like to hear that riff on an electric guitar one day.
ComplainTaken from the 1994 album Dogman
In complete contrast, Complain is one of their more aggressively uptempo songs with a simple message: We spend all our time whinging about inconsequential things in our own lives when there are others going through genuine trauma and suffering. We just look to our, minor, problems and don't get involved, just keeping our heads down. It's about selfishness and avoidance in equal measures.
BebopTaken from the 2005 album Ogre Tones
Bebop is a lively song that harkens back to their grungier period. I think it's supposed to be an obliquely potted history of Doug's life, with veiled references to his Christian upbringing, his hidden sexuality and there's a reference to one of his solo albums, Emotional Animal too. The simple chorus of 'Bebop, Be alive y'all' is just saying don't let the past get you down, don't let yourself get held back by worries and other people's opinions. Life is too short.
Go Tell SomebodyTaken from the 2008 album XV
Powered along by a looping riff and a repetitive mantra, Go Tell Somebody is all about spreading the word of good music. If there's a band you love that's not getting the recognition they deserve then tell your friends about them, get them to shows and help great bands keep making great music. To be honest, I'm sure it's something pretty much anyone reading this already does but it doesn't hurt to have a great song remind you about it.
We Were Born To Be LovedTaken from the 1990 album Faith Hope Love
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