It’s Easier Said Than Done

I don’t remember the date but I do remember the day I first heard about King’s X. It was late 1989 and I was at my buddy Roger’s house. We had been in a band together and liked the same kind of music. I don’t know what we were listening to when Roger said, “Hey, check this out.” He popped a VHS tape into the VCR and mashed play. The tape was volume three of video “magazine” called Hard ‘N’ Heavy. He fast-forwarded it until it got to a section on Megaforce Records. They are primarily known as a heavy metal label and at the time were the home of Anthrax. The clip was mainly an interview with Jon and Marcia Zazula, who founded the label, but also featured brief interviews with M.O.D. and King’s X. I was captivated by the snippet of Fall On Me playing in the background but was amazed to hear them talk about following Jesus Christ. I knew that they were going to be one of my favorite bands. I borrowed Roger’s VHS and watched that incredibly short clip over and over. Now that I think about it, I don’t believe I ever gave it back.

My next exposure to the Texas trio was seeing the video for Over My Head on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball a short time later. I honestly didn’t know what to think. They didn’t sound like any other band I was familiar with and they sure didn’t look like any of them. From that point on, I was hooked. I bought each album as it was released and even picked up the Chronicles video compilation. Sadly, at some point it disappeared with all of my Rush VHS tapes.

I have been fortunate enough to see King’s X live twice but it’s been over twenty years since the last time. I would love to catch them again at least one more time but they rarely play close enough for me to make the drive. I don’t believe I am exaggerating when I say they are one of the most underrated bands ever. Doug Pinnick’s bass guitar and vocals, Ty Tabor’s guitar and vocals, and Jerry Gaskill’s drums and vocals mesh together perfectly to create one of the best power trios ever.

To date, King’s X have released thirteen studio albums, four live albums (that I know of), and one compilation album that contained three new songs. They also had one song on the soundtrack to Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey that isn’t available on any of their releases. There is also a 2023 compilation called In The New Age which contains the six albums they released on Atlantic Records along with eight bonus tracks compiled from radio edits and live versions of existing songs. I will point out that they released on album in 1983 while they were still called Sneak Preview. It is nearly impossible to find a copy. They aren’t terribly proud of the album but did re-record some of the songs for later albums. I managed to get a decent rip from the vinyl and I do listen to it every now and then for fun. It’s not great but is an early glimpse into the musical magic that would become King’s X.

I am not the biggest fan of live albums and I have only heard two of theirs so I will only be ranking the studio albums. I will mention the four songs not found on those albums as I get to them. Here goes nothing.

#13 – Black Like Sunday (5/20/2003)

I confess, I don’t listen to this album much. These fourteen songs are from the time before they were King’s X. You can go online and find demos and live tracks from both The Edge and Sneak Preview. This collection was done to appease fans. These are all re-recorded and slightly written versions of much older material. You’re The Only One actually made it on the official Sneak Preview album and is probably the best song up here. I found the original demos of four others (Working Man, Dreams, Johhny, and Save Us) floating around out there but these re-recorded versions are better. The rest of them may be out there as well but I haven’t attempted to locate them. Overall, this isn’t a bad album. Sonically it’s closer to the newer albums but not quite as developed (especially in the lyric department). The album artwork was done by a fan and chosen during a contest.

#12 – Ogre Tones (9/27/2005)

Released two years after Black Like Sunday, this one was promised to be a return to the “classic” King’s X sound. 2001’s Manic Moonlight had been a slight departure from what fans expected and this was supposed to bring it back home. In my opinion, it got close but ultimately missed the mark. There are some good tracks up here but I had to give it a spin in order to remember most of them. Alone starts things off on the right foot. Next up is Stay and it keeps the groove going. My favorite track is Fly and it probably comes the closest to old-school King’s X, unless you count the unnecessary re-recording of Goldilox. I don’t believe King’s X have a made a bad album and this one is no exception. It’s definitely a missed bag and several of the songs are unforgettable. One highlight is Ty’s acoustic ballad Honesty. I do like the album cover. It’s like a darker, grungier take on Ear Candy.

#11 – Please Come Home…Mr. Bulbous (5/23/2000)

There are some really cool songs up here but for the most part, it is uneven and unfocused. After switching to Metal Blade for Tape Head in 1998, King’s X were able to get out from under the umbrella of a major label and the pressure of having to produce hits. That freedom may have fueled them at first but two years later they were sounding a bit bogged down. This sounds like a band trying to rediscover its identity. Lyrically this is a dark and weird album. Doug, Ty, and Jerry are great musicians and that doesn’t change here. However, the cohesiveness that fans had come to expect is missing. I do like She’s Gone Away, Marsh Mellow Field, and the nu-metal banger Smudge. While they have always had some quirky lyrics, the abundance of them here is somewhat distracting.

#10 – Manic Moonlight (9/25/2001)

Following the somewhat oddball Please Come Home…Mr. Bulbous, King’s X got back to the groove on this one. While utilizing loops and samples on nearly every track, this is still one of the most organic albums in their catalog. This is also the least heavy album that they have produced so it’s somewhat of an anomaly. Believe, False Alarm, and Static are my favorites but there is an element of funkiness that weaves its way all throughout the album. Doug sounds like he is channeling the recently departed Sly Stone. Ty plays some of the slinkiest riffs imaginable and Jerry lays down a solid backbeat. The trademark King’s X backing vocals are there. I won’t lie, it took a while for this one to grow on me but once it did, I kept coming back.

#9 – XV (5/20/2008)

No one in 2008 knew that this would be the last King’s X album until 2022’s Three Sides Of One. I remember getting this when it was released and being somewhat excited because it felt like a slight step back in the right direction after a series of underwhelming albums. That’s not to say that that I didn’t like the ones that preceded XV but it just seemed like something had been missing since 1998’s Tape Head. Right out of the gate they hit you with Pray, a heavy and funky number that has Doug pleading for people of faith to pray for him if they truly believe. There are plenty of heavy riffs and thundering drums to go around. Jerry Gaskill takes lead vocals on Julie and it may be one of my favorite moments. However, the stand-out track in Go Tell Somebody. It feels like the spiritual sequel to Over My Head. It’s one of my favorite King’s X tracks.

#8 – Three Sides Of One (9/2/2022)

After a fourteen year wait, fans got what is possibly the best King’s X album since 1998’s Tape Head. Based upon interviews with Doug and Ty, preliminary work on this one began back in 2010. All three members released solo albums and contributed to a multitude of projects between 2009 and 2022. Doug put out at least nine albums (solo and side projects) and Ty was involved in at least twelve. Jerry did release one solo album but he also lost his home in Hurricane Sandy and suffered two heart attacks. For a time, many believed King’s X might be done. I was one of them. I was overjoyed when the title of the album and first single (Let It Rain) were revealed in June of 2022. Two more singles (Give It Up and All God’s Children) were released before the album dropped in September. It’s my opinion that this album takes the best of what each member has to offer and utilizes them to maximum potential. All three take turns at lead vocals. Jerry actually sings three and makes you realize he is a solid singer. Everything I love about King’s X is here. Ty’s underrated playing and the rock-solid rhythms of Doug and Jerry. I recently played my vinyl copy for the first time and I have a feeling this one may climb higher in the ranking before long.

#7 – King’s X (3/10/1992)

This is the last of the Sam Taylor produced albums. There are a lot of things I love about this album. The guitars (especially the riffs and solos) are out of this world. Lost In Germany has one of the coolest riffs ever. Doug and Jerry are clicking on all cylinders. The vocals everything that the fans fell in love with at the very beginning. The production is perhaps a bit too polished and it feels like a last-ditch attempt to get hit song on the radio. Prisoner should have been that hit but for whatever reason, it just wasn’t in the cards. Personally, I blame it on Beavis & Butthead. In their typical fashion, they lambasted the video for Black Flag and I think that killed any chance for mass appeal. Chariot Song and Ooh Song both rock but are a bit goofy in the lyric department. Atlantic should have included Junior’s Gone Wild on the U.S. release but it was on the soundtrack to Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. That’s a shame because you only a snippet of it in the movie. It’s another personal favorite of mine. The aforementioned Lost In Germany and the oddball Not Just For The Dead are also top tracks for me.

#6 – Tape Head (10/20/1998)

Until their most recent effort, this was the last King’s X album that I felt was strong from start to finish. Let me slightly amend that, it is solid for twelve songs. Album closer, Walter Bela Farkas (Live Peace In New York), is a nonsensical jam recorded live and features Wally Farkas (ex-Galactic Cowboys) shouting gibberish. Outside of that, there isn’t a weak track. They still perform album opener (Groove Machine) live. Tape Head continues the darker groove began on Dogman and mixes in the tasty harmonies of Ear Candy to perfection. Ono, Over And Over, and Ocean are three of my absolute favorite King’s X songs. World is a Sneak Preview track that they dug out and reworked. There is a demo out there called Quality Control that was reworked as Happy. This was supposedly due to the nature of the lyrics, especially the use of the F-word. Interestingly enough, that word does show up on Get Away from 2005’s Ogre Tones.

#5 – Faith Hope Love (10/23/1990)

This may be the one where I lose some of you. Let me begin by saying that I love this album. I love it. In case you missed that, I love this album. This is the most commercially successful album they have released. It contains one of their most recognizable songs (It’s Love). This was probably the last of their albums to be openly embraced by many Christian fans. It was ranked #52 in a 2001 book listing the top one hundred Christian albums of all time. In spite of the spit-shine production, some of King’s X heaviest tunes are up here. Moanjam, We Were Born To Be Love, and Faith Hope Love showcase their metal side. Many have described them as “Beatles meets Black Sabbath” and they live up it. The trippy lyrics of some songs may seem artsy and pretentious to some and I get it. To this day I have no clue what Jerry is singing about on Six Broken Soldiers. Mr. Wilson is one of my favorite tracks even though it has some of those weird lyrics. Album closer, Legal Kill, is a beautiful acoustic ballad featuring Kemper Crabb on recorder. This was the last album released while still signed to Megaforce.

#4 – Dogman (1/18/1994)

Two years after cutting ties with Sam Taylor, King’s X came crashing out of the gate with the Brendan O’Brien produced slab of down-tuned goodness. Now, King’s X had already been down-tuning for a while but the sleek production was gone. O’Brien, who had already produced Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Black Crowes, brought that same sensibility to King’s X. The result was their dirtiest and heaviest record. In fact, it remains their dirtiest and heaviest. The title track explodes with little intro and the rest of the album follows suit. The lyrics are darker and Doug’s personal struggles with faith are on display for all to see. This is probably where many of their so-called fans checked out. Pretend, Black The Sky, Complain, and Cigarettes are some of the best songs they have ever recorded. Even though I’m not a huge fan, I don’t even mind the cover of Jimi Hendrix’s Manic Depression that closes it out. I had thought about tracking down all four cover variations but have since abandoned the quest.

#3 – Gretchen Goes To Nebraska (6/27/1989)

Now is the time I will probably lose all those who stuck around after I put Faith Hope Love at #5. Let me attempt to defend myself by saying that from here on out, every one of these is a perfect album. This was my introduction to King’s X. This was the first album of theirs I bought. There is not a weak song on it. Two songs (Over My Head and Summerland) had videos in rotation on MTV at the time. The guitar solo in Over My Head is jaw-dropping and still has me wondering why Ty Tabor isn’t listed on every best guitarist list. The lyrics, while not outright CCM material, contain overt Christian themes. Opening track Out Of The Silent Planet mentions the Father speaking and the Son becoming the glory. Pleiades, which Ty says was the “genesis” of the King’s X sound, references Job 38:31 and Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake in 1600 for promoting the Copernican model of the solar system. My favorite song is Don’t Believe It (It’s Easier Said Than Done). To me, it sums up early King’s X. There is a nasty riff, Beatlesque vocals, and a thumping rhythm section. There’s even a sitar solo. This isn’t in the top spot but this is a flawless record.

#2 – Ear Candy (5/20/96)

This album will most likely get a post of its own but for now let me just say that it came out during very pivotal moment in my life. It was released two weeks after I had become a father for the first time. I was one year removed from my first year in Bible college and that had ended badly. I was trying to learn how to be a father and struggling with my heavenly Father at the same time. Doug’s spiritual confessions in songs like Looking For Love and Run resonated with me in a way few songs had done before. I felt what he was singing. I have always been a musical person but the songs on Ear Candy moved me. The dark, gloomy sludge of Dogman had given way to bright, groovy, psychedelic hard rock. The album cover screams late Sixties. Another old Sneak Preview song (The Door) gets new lyrics and becomes Picture, which is another look into Doug’s life. Ty’s Mississippi Moon is one of my favorite tracks. American Cheese (Jerry’s Pianto), as the title suggests, features Jerry Gaskill on lead vocals. It’s a trippy piano-based pop tune with some impressive vocal harmonies. Lies In The Sand (The Ballad Of..) is a brooding, bluesy number that has Ty channeling his inner David Gilmour. The three bonus tracks on 1997’s The Best Of King’s X (Sally, April Showers, and Lover) were recorded in 1996 so they fit here. Any one of them would have fit nicely on Ear Candy.

#1 – Out Of The Silent Planet (3/28/1988)

Here we are, my favorite King’s X album. This is actually one of my top ten favorite albums of all time. It was released near the end of my senior year of high school but I didn’t hear it until late 1989 after hearing Gretchen Goes To Nebraska. It wasn’t until I picked up the Chronicles VHS tape in 1991 that I found out there were videos for King and Shot Of Love. I don’t recall seeing either get played on MTV and that is a mystery to me. They definitely didn’t get played on the radio where I lived. Looking back on it, I think it may have been the overtly religious lyrics and the fact that musically they were hard to categorize. Even though they were ignored in the mass market, critics and musicians sang their praises. The guys from Pantera, who were fellow Texans, were fans. Metal magazines like Kerrang! sang their praises and even put Out Of The Silent Planet in their best albums of 1989. Five of my favorite King’s X tunes come from this album. In my opinion, Goldilox is one of the best songs they ever recorded. It has now become a crowd “sing along” and is mainstay in their live shows.  Sometimes (not to be confused with Sometime from Ear Candy), is the track I find myself going back to. The lyrics yearn for the coming of New Jerusalem while the world continues to go crazy. The fact that there is a ridiculous Ty Tabor solo makes it that much better.

There you have it. I will be honest, this was much harder than I thought it was going to be. I initially jotted down what I thought was going to be my ranking, put on one of my King’s X playlists, and started writing. The more I listened and the more I wrote, the more I questioned my list. As late as last night (Wednesday, June 19), I was rethinking things. After assuring people that this was indeed coming, I buckled down and committed myself to this ranking. I imagine it may change in the future but for now, here you go. Let me know what you think.

Grace and peace.