King's X
Ear Candy

After the intensification of their musical offering marked by the previous, fantastic fifth album “Dogman” (solo singing focused solely on the bassist Doug Pinnick’s emotional voice, always heavy sounds, minimal ballads, drier and more direct harmonies with very little Beatles-esque aftertaste), King’s X with this sixth work dated 1996 take a small step back, occasionally bringing forward the certainly non-metal voice of guitarist Ty Tabor, indulging again in those magnificent wide and deep guitar arpeggios that so much help moderate rockers to be conquered by their proposal, as they are applied to highly melodic half-blues half-pop ballads infused with psychedelia (even the cover doesn’t joke on this last subject!). The sound of the trio is, of course, also here very heavy, powerfully resonant and cohesively breathtaking, a true joy and inspiration for those who appreciate the technical as well as artistic realization of timbral choices, performances, and recordings.

Throughout the album, there is an alternation: after each track with the riff shot in the face and the lowered strings of bass and guitar vibrating frequencies to be absorbed more with the gut than with the ears, follows a more relaxed and stunning number, perhaps semi-acoustic, performed by the bassist without the need to shout or by the much rounder, almost pop voice of the guitarist and on one occasion even by the decidedly dull voice of drummer Jerry Gaskill. This is the case with the initial pair consisting of the heavy “The Train” and the circular and tympanic “What I’m Gonna Do”, as well as the dark monotone mantra “Sometime” followed by the swaying and acidic “A Box”, and yet the brief splinter of pure energy “Looking For Love” which is better digested thanks to the following “Mississippi Moon”, a real gem in just about everything: harmonically perfect riff on three strings, wonderful harmonies, sharp and thoughtful guitar solo.

The most radical contrast between neighboring tracks is in the middle of the album, between an oppressive hyper-compressed half-rap with a distorted bass that doesn’t go above 60 Hertz simply titled “67” and the decidedly less claustrophobic following track, which is among the best these three Houston rockers can do: “Lies In The Sand” is a blues ballad of excellent class, in which the tonic beats played sparingly by the bassist and the guitarist’s arpeggio chimes leave enormous sonic space to Gaskill’s excellent drums, an instrument of which you can hear everything, even the oil sizzling on the moving mechanics. The guitarist sings, doubling himself in harmonies, usually recalling John Lennon in terms of vocal timbre (surely a musician that, in formative years, Tabor must have consumed for breakfast, lunch, and dinner).

The best song comes in the 10th position and is titled “Fathers”: it would sound very grunge (even the lyrics don’t joke) if it weren’t sung by Pinnick, a mulatto with a soulful voice full of fervor at every vocalization. Sublime the alternate use between single and double rhythm guitar to give dynamism to the piece, removing and injecting unprecedented power at each recurrence of verse. The usual thermonuclear bass at earthquake frequency ensures tons of body to the whole and then rushes towards a genuinely psychedelic instrumental finale, which Jimi Hendrix would have appreciated in those years if that night in London he had fainted lying on his side and not face up.

Last mention for the closing “Life Going By”, with the usual metal-pop ingredients, namely intense and sonorous harmonies, drums and bass beating on accents like hammers, wise and resonant guitar arpeggio, Tabor's clear and polite voice and as the cherry on top even one of his best performances on lead guitar, beautifully inspired over the chords of the verses.

Well, what to say in closing... suffice it to say that King’s X is my favorite musical trio; in my personal ranking of appreciation and gratitude it surpasses other triads of phenomenal talent such as Rush, ZZ Top, Hendrix's Experience, Saigon Kick (who?), the old and extremely loud Grand Funk Railroad... This, then, is not even to be counted among their absolute peak albums, yet if only there were more music as intelligent, powerful, and personal as this!