King's X December 20, 2008

Few hard rock bands are as widely respected yet criminally overlooked as King's X. The trio (bassist/vocalist Doug Pinnick, guitarist/vocalist Ty Tabor, and drummer/vocalist Jerry Gaskill) has an irresistible blend of melodic Beatlesque harmonies, metallic riffing, and prog rock detours. Pinnick first met Gaskill when the duo was touring with the Christian rock outfit Petra, and soon after, met up-and-coming guitarist Tabor. The trio joined forces in 1980 with the Top 40 cover band the Edge and thoroughly played the Missouri bar scene. By 1983, the band had changed its name to Sneak Preview and was now completely focusing on original compositions — resulting in an obscure and very hard to find self-titled debut album released around this time. After the trio moved to Houston, ZZ Top video producer Sam Taylor took the group under his wing, helping it secure a recording contract with New York's Megaforce label in 1987, and suggesting that the band change its name to King's X. In 1988, King's X released their debut album, "Out of the Silent Planet." Despite praise among critics, the public didn't know exactly what to make of the group's original and multiple genre-encompassing style. But with the band's sophomore release, 1989's classic "Gretchen Goes to Nebraska," a buzz began to develop around King's X in the metal community, as members of Anthrax and Living Colour praised them in the press, and MTV aired their anthemic track "Over My Head." The band's third release, "Faith Hope Love," in late 1990, nearly reached gold certification, due to landing a lengthy spot opening on AC/DC's sold-out arena tour in both the States and Europe, while the Beatlesque "It's Love" received major air time on MTV. The end of their relationship with Taylor. appeared to have refueled the group's musical desire, as evidenced by the Brendan O'Brien-produced stellar 1994 release, "Dogman," which performed respectfully on the charts. This success resulted in the band opening shows for Pearl Jam and a show-stopping performance on the opening night of the mammoth Woodstock '94 festival. In 1998 the group signed to the Metal Blade label, issuing two more albums only a year apart — 2000's "Please Come Home...Mr. Bulbous" and 2001's "Manic Moonlight." King's X received a pleasant accolade from their peers when they were voted as one of the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" on a VH1 TV special. In 2003, they released "Black Like Sunday," a collection of re-recorded songs from early in their career that had previously only existed as demos or bootlegs. Their first concert album, "Live All Over the Place," arrived the following year, followed by their 11th studio recording, "Ogre Tones," in 2005. King's X released "XV" on the InsideOut label in 2008.

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