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From the Vault...
05/13/2007
#1046 |
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info
King's X
"Tape Head"
© Metal Blade Records
Year of Release: 1998
Rating:
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track listing
Groove Machine
Fade
Over And Over
Ono
Cupid
Ocean
Little Bit Of Soul
Hate You
Higher Than God
Happy
Mr. Evil
World
Walter Bela Farkus
(Live Peace
In New York)
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King's X related sites:
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King's X
"Tape Head"
The more and more I hear King's X, the more I want to listen to them.
King's X makes their 4th appearance on WSVNRadio, with their 1998 release,
Tape Head. At the time of this release in their career, they had
moved to a new record label, after leaving Atlantic. It seems they didn't
lose their touch, (from my point of view, after reading their previous
self-titled
release didn't receive positive reviews from the critics.) And as I mentioned
about listening to them more and more, the first track off of Tape Head
just fits that emotion.
"Groove Machine" kicks it off with a great Alternative sound, where
most of this century's hard rock Alternative bands SHOULD sound. Even the
next track, "Fade" has the same effect, yet "Groove Machine" is
the better song of the two. King's X gets a bit mellow pop with "Over And
Over," as the lead vocals and sound for the whole song compares to that of
Hootie & The Blowfish. "Ono" has a mixed feeling; it's a fairly
appreciative song to listen to, and no, from my reading the lyrics, it is not
a song about John Lennon's wife, Yoko.
"Cupid" pretty much leads where "Ono" left off. It seems
that most of the songs after "Fade" relates more and more to Hootie &
The Blowfish, yet with a harder rock edge. I'm not complaining, but King's X's
music sound much better on the harder rock style, as heard especially on
"Groove Machine." Once again, a much pop rock-sounding King's X continues
with "Ocean," and like any song so far from this release, it just keeps
wanting me to listen more.
A hard rock grit returns with "Little Bit Of Soul," where it doesn't
sound like Hootie & The Blowfish, instead it has a groove such as the mid to
later releases of Lenny Kravitz. The harder rock sound that King's X is best for
keeps rocking with "Hate You." "Higher Than God" catches your
attention in a very position way, as this style of this band's music is what
makes them great, wanting to hear more of them.
"Happy" has a common sound heard in today's most hard rock bands --
a hard rock edge, Alternative style. "Mr. Evil" has the common King's X
sound their fans remember them by -- good hard rock, yet mysterious as well.
"World" maybe the least favorite, it's fast hard rock, almost punkish,
almost speed metal too. A live track ends the album, as they announce, "and
now for something completely different" -- "Walter Bela Farkas" sounds
like a nightmare -- hard thrashing music, with screaming. (Yes, it was
different, but in some bands of today, they have that same distinct sound.)
With the exception of the last two tracks, Tape Head is a very
good release. The hard rock style is there, in which King's X is famous
for, and the Hootie & The Blowfish sounding songs evens out the mix, giving
this release an interesting approach. King's X IS a band worth checking out,
and like any other bands, some of their release were/are better than others.
But all in all, King's X is an interesting band of Chrsitians, rather than
being a Christian-Rock band.
© WSVNRadio.net. All rights reserved.
Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Metal Blade Records
and is used for reference purposes only.
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