SOUNDTRACK: KING’S X-Ogre Tones (2005).
No one should be made to feel ALONE! And with that Kings X are back. It’s the most aggressive scream I’ve heard from King’s X (and it comes from Ty, not Doug no less).
After what seemed like something of a hiatus with Black Like Sunday and Live All Over the Place, King’s X seem rejuvenated and excited to be rocking out. Despite the hardcore opening scream of “Alone,” the song is their catchiest single yet. Lyrically the song is about tolerance and compassion. Its also pretty short (just under 3 minutes), as are the next 4 songs. It’s as if they had these great ideas and just had to get them out. “Stay” returns to the style of old King’s X, with a minor change: it’s the vocal harmonies that are dissonant not the guitars. “Hurricane” also tinkers with the formula where part of the chorus revels in their harmonies of old and the other part plays with a new aspect: gang vocals, bringing power rather than subtlety. “Fly” is yet another great shoulda-been a single. And “If”is yet another Stellar ballad, where Doug sings verses and harmonies bring in the chorus.
A controversial song (for fans anyway) is “Bebop.” This is one of their experimental tracks, and it kind of hearkens back to some of the tracks off of Bulbous with very staccato guitars, unusual bass lines and the nonsense lyrics of “Bebop be alive ya’ll. Awhop boba lo bop a wop bam boom!.” While it’s not their best work, it’s certainly catchy as anything, and I give them credit for throwing in some experimentation. And frankly, it’s pretty fun if you loosen up a bit.
The next few tracks play with the basic formula of the album, until you get to “Sooner or Later” which, lets Ty noodle around on the guitar for 5 or 6 minutes, like an extended jam off of Faith Hope Love. “Mudd” ends the album proper with a really touching, sweet song. It could easily fit on Gretchen.
The last two songs I don’t really count. “Goldilox (Reprise)” is, as you might guess a remake of “Goldilox.” I don’t know why they’d remake one of their most beloved songs. Aside from the fact that they’ve been playing it since 1987, and the band has changed their style somewhat, they could show everyone what it would sound like if they made it now. Otherwise, why bother. It does sound good, mind you, but the original sounds better. The last track, “Bam” is a historical recording of Thomas Edison’s phonograph. It’s a weird way to end a record. But nothing can take away from the fact that King’s X are back in form and they still sound great.
[READ: October 24, 2008] “Whyte Avenue Blue,” “Just the Thing,” “Terminal City,” “Red Carpet Caper,” “Beyond the Overpass,” “The End of Pinky”
I had put off reading these stories because I was in the middle of a couple of other things at the time. When I finally got around to reading them (and they’re all very short…about a page or two each) I had forgotten that the “theme” behind the stories was noir. When I started reading them, I kept thinking…none of these stories is even remotely believable. It’s like the authors are trying really hard to craft stories that are transgressive, almost beyond belief in some way. Well, when I re-read the sub-heading for the stories, I realized: “The Walrus asked Canadian novelists to sketch their cities as grittier, sexier, and darker than you might ever have imagined…” So that explained it. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 