Kings X are a relatively obscure band, they have been around for nearly 30 years now, but the first album of theirs only come out in `87, the legendary `Out of The Silent Planet`, which they followed up two years later with the completely bizarre and warped `Gretchen Goes To Nebraska`.
Their best album besides their stunning debut would have to be the more new metal-grunge influenced `Dogman` from 1993, their fifth album.
They`re officially still a band and still recording to this day, but realistically the solo outings of the band members in the last ten years has been better most of the time
than what Kings X has released.
than what Kings X has released.
`Come Somewhere` has a very typically
Kings X like detached soundscape, Gaskill wasn`t use to being a lead vocalist and it shows on most of the tracks.
Kings X like detached soundscape, Gaskill wasn`t use to being a lead vocalist and it shows on most of the tracks.
He played on most of the instruments which feature on the album, he wouldn`t win a prize for picking a guitar but he always had Ty Tabor, the lead guitarist of Kings X, there to give him a hand.
Considering Tabor`s involvement, it would not be unreasonable to consider this album an `unofficial` Kings X album and a rather
mediocre excuse for Gaskill to put his name to a collection of songs which might have been Kings X leftovers at some stage.
mediocre excuse for Gaskill to put his name to a collection of songs which might have been Kings X leftovers at some stage.
But despite the rather abstract lyricism and at times rather forced tempo changes in the songs,`Come Somewhere` still has some redeeming qualities, and I might say, mainly because of Ty Tabor`s presence.
Tabor`s brooding bass playing and dynamics on the keyboard filled in many of the blanks which would have categorised the album if he weren`t around.
`Crazy` and `Gallop`are my favorite tunes, two of the more untempo tunes where Tabor
rips into a mean grungified riff and Gaskill brings out the biggest guns he has on drums.
rips into a mean grungified riff and Gaskill brings out the biggest guns he has on drums.
The final track on the album `Face The Day` is a very angry song which belies Gaskill`s chronic introspectiveness, but it does feature one of the meanest guitar riffs on the album.
Probably the best guitar workout on the album, in terms of melody and sonic delivery, is the finale to the mostly acoustic ballad `No Love`.
All in all, the album is too convoluted for its own good, the songwriting just isn`t up
to scratch, but with the the help of Tabor, Gaskill can lay claim to having a half respectable post-grunge metal/prog album under his name.
to scratch, but with the the help of Tabor, Gaskill can lay claim to having a half respectable post-grunge metal/prog album under his name.
No comments:
Post a Comment