OK, so I had intended to come back later in the day there, and I obviously did not. However, I did remember to post something, so I am back once again to post that writing I did back in March. I'll be right back with that - not that you'll notice the time I spent getting my USB key, opening the file and pasting the contents in here, but still it's nice to talk about it like you know what's going on, right?
...
March 11, 2009
It has been several iterations of eternity since I was last here to grace the pages of blogspot and post myself an entry. I don’t know why it is that I get into writing my blog for a while, and then suddenly I lose complete interest and post nothing for ages. I keep talking about wanting to be a writer, but when it comes right down to it, I seem to suffer from “epic fail” syndrome. It’s time to set myself a daily quota of at least 500 words, no less, if I want to get myself back into my writing, and make it something useful and interesting.
I know, I am just talking to myself, more-or-less, since I know very few people ever read this blog so far, but that’s alright - I do intend to change that! It’s kind of like a diary that is open to the public to view, if they so desire, so why not. Maybe someone – one of those three people who has ever read my blog – finds my daily spewing to be somewhat of a relief from the daily tensions of their own life. Something to think about, laugh about, or get angry about. And maybe that torch will pass to one of the thousands who will read it in the future. Whatever – I am simply here to make my opinions known and hopefully have someone think something about it; whether they agree with me or not isn’t really the point.
So, for today’s topic I thought I would talk a little bit about one of those bands that I love to listen to. There are a few that I really enjoy, and this one is probably the fourth or fifth band I really took to (the first ones being Manteca, Phil Collins and David Bowie – later would come Metallica, and Dream Theatre). And by “took to” I mean that I became almost obsessive over listening to the songs so often, back-to-back-to-back that I knew pretty much all of the nuances of each song, yet I would continue to listen.
It started around 1988 or 1989, I guess. I had been to the recording studio with my own band, and the owner of the former Tamarack Studio of North Bay (I forget his name) had actually mentioned that, based on the types of music I liked listening to, I might like this little known band called King’s X. I thought – 'yeah, sure buddy! Whatever! We just met, you know almost nothing about me, yet you are recommending me some music to listen to.'
Well, for fun, I went out a few days later and found the current album (the third studio album for the band under this name) called “Faith, Hope, Love”. Now, I was told this was metal, and here I have the words from First Corinthians, 13? (Yes, even then, as little as I paid attention to my faith, I knew where that came from.)
But, I thought, what the heck, let’s give it a listen. There’s always the chance it could be some good Christian Metal, though I had never heard any I had really liked before.
Now, here’s a picture to get you going and give you a laugh for the day:
I’m 18 or 19 years old, working for my dad doing construction work, and I am driving an Oldsmobile station wagon – one of the ones with the faux wood panelling on the inside, and possibly along the outside too, but I can’t remember that part for sure. OK, so you have the picture of the six-foot tall, skinny, long-haired (I liked 80s hair metal, ya know) 18 year-old kid driving his grandparents’ station wagon? Now, add in some heavy metal music blaring with all 5 of the windows rolled down! Yeah! That was me! I was soooo cool! You can imagine how many girls I picked up with THAT shaggin’ wagon.
Anyway, I got the tape and popped it into the car stereo and blasted it. And I was instantly hooked. Sure, there were elements of Christianity thrown into it, but it wasn’t just the words that drew me in, it was the music. It was heavy, but it was melodic. There was funkiness to it, and three part harmonies! It was intoxicating.
That was the beginning of my love affair with the music of King’s X. I listened to it constantly, memorizing the words, trying to pick out the hidden meanings, but also trying to hear all of the little hidden melodies and counter-melodies and counterpoint in the music as well. From the opening track to the title track of “Faith, Hope, Love” to the anti-abortion song “Legal Kill”, it was a rush from beginning to end!
The first song, “We Are Finding Who We Are” was just the tip of the iceberg that the album held. It starts with a seemingly out of place opening riff that was interesting, but short and confusing at first, then a grinding bass note – the signature King’s X bass sound – that lead into three part harmony for the first verse. It was strong, with hard punctuated rhythms and that gritty voice of Doug Pinnick with squelchy Hendrix-esque vocals that were perfectly on pitch. I was at a loss for words to even describe what I was listening to. It made the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stand up, and I was just blown away.
...
and that was the end of what I wrote on March 11. So here is my continuation of the examination of King's X's album 'Faith, Hope, Love'.
...
Next came "It's Love" with a similarly out-of-place introduction that went into more of the same punctuated rhythms and 3-part harmonies. It's a lighter song, sung by guitarist Ty Tabor, but with the driving guitar and bass, the drums filling in the spaces so cleanly. The main guitar/bass riff of the song is beautifully syncopated to the melody. Somewhere in the middle, there's suddenly an airy bridge of "aaah"s and slower rhythms from the instruments, but it maintains the hard rock feel as it plays out. And then there was that whiny, flanged guitar solo sound that Ty likes to use. It was my first experience with it, and it was both disturbuing and wonderfully fresh at the same time.
Following the abrupt and unexpected end of "It's Love", "I'll Never Get Tired of You" starts up with a whole new sound. Slow, light, a love song of sorts - as close to one as King's X is going to get, I suppose. The lyrics don't come right out and say all of the poetic things that you hear in most of the popular love songs, it's straight to the point that "Hey, I love you, and that will never stop. K? Kewl, now let's go have a beer" kind of thing. Not those words, but that is the basic idea that I get from it.
"Fine Art of Friendship" goes back to more rhythmic pursuits, with the boys presenting some more of their beautiful 3-part harmonies over Doug Pinnick's fabulously wailing voice - he even throws in a growl at one point that gets right into you. Sweet stuff. The music is minimalist, not too heavy on overdubs or anything extra, but with some counterpoint play between the bass and the guitar in the outro towards the end. One thing I like about King's X is that the bass parts aren't just rhythm, they actually add to the song. Pinnick has as much melodic presence as the guitar or the vocals.
Next up, Mr. Wilson - I don't get this song at all. I have no idea what it's about. It seems to be about someone who is giving orders to kill people and everyone is just supposed to understand. I guess if I looked it up there might be some explanation somewhere about it. But words like:
Although we look like people
And it could be my son on the chopping block
But I'm sure he'll understand
I have no idea what that means. Of course, the more poignant one that really makes you scratch your head is (along the same lines):
Although we look like people
And it could be my head on the chopping block
But I'm sure I'll understand
I'm sure we'll understand
(NO! We don't understand!)
Still don't get it. Anyway, it's a slow song, with confusing lyrics, but somehow it's still haunting enough that it grips you and keeps your attention with the melody and harmonies, and that driving rhythm with the end-of-phrase accents. I dunno, it's one of my favourites from the album, even though I don't get the words. The music is just that good to me.
Next up: "Moanjam". This one is fast, minimalist, and pleasant to listen to. Just a regular 8-beat drum with guitar and bass over top, very regular sounding hard rock for the 80s. Then those freakin' 3-part harmonies come in and you know, there is nothing regular about this 80s hard rock.
"Six Broken Soldiers" was the first song on side two of the tape, if I remember correctly. I don't know why, but I never really liked this song - I don't think it was because of Jerry Gaskill's singing, but I might be wrong (he's the drummer of this fine band). Something about it just got on my nerves, though I really can't say what it is. And it's another one of those songs with lyrics that made me think "Stream of Consciousness anyone?" Here's a sample of the lyrics:
fluently the parrot speaks
six languages not known to man
sixpence for the quarter
as the audience he scans
K... If you say so! The music is kinda plain on this one, and the words made me want to pull my brain out through my nose, but usually I just fast-forwarded through this one. Hey, every band has a dud now and then, right?
So right after the one song I don't like comes on of my favourites - "I Just Can't Help It". The play between the melody/harmonies and the syncopated, driving rhythm of the band just brings a smile to my face even now. It's one of those intoxicating musical moments to me. I sit here playing air drums, kicking that off-beat bass drum when it comes in... beautiful! The song comes to a head in the bridge and then just keeps on moving as if there was nothing that could possibly stop this song. The song just "can't help it"!
Now, another one of those songs that I don't get the lyrics. But even more than what I don't understand is the music which I get completely. It starts with a beautiful opening then goes into this metal-esque chugging rhythm with the melody seeming to careen over top like syrup slowly forming runnels as it slides down that one sideways pancake... It gets right into me, every time. Then, the chorus pulls up with those damn (amazing!) harmonies and this bouncing guitar riff from Tabor that just makes your head swim as it rolls up and down and around in circles.
"Everywhere I Go" is slow, airy and very memorable. This is one that really speaks to Christianity, with words like:
I read the story said you died
I turned the page; you were alive!
Interesting that I should write about that the day after Easter... anyway, this is a great song both because of and regardless of the content. The words, the music; it all blends together to make a very memorable song.
"We Were Born To Be Loved" comes next, and it's another one with driving rhythms and syncopation - if you are into something a little more complex than standard fare such as I am, this kind of music really imprints itself on you, especially when there is more than a single song that follows this "formula" if you want to call it that. There is a riff in this song that goes throughout, even switching up a little at the end, but it also has a tendency to go on and on and on at the ending. Still, there's something compelling about it, creating a sense of tension and "Come on! Do it again!" even as you hope they'll stop it soon.
The title track of "Faith, Hope, Love" is fairly even and light throughout. The one thing about this song (and I wonder if they did this at the end of the album right after We were Born on purpose) that bothers me is that the ending fade-out of "Faith, Hope, Love" repeated ad nauseum gets a little too much, and I have found myself fast-forwarding out of this song a few times. Still, the rest of the song has that "I'm in church and listening to the preacher really belt out a good sermon" followed by the choir singing the recessional. Not bad for rock'n'roll.
The final song on the album is the preachy anti-abortion song "Legal Kill". The title seems a pretty good indicator of what the song is about - either that or corporal punishment, I suppose - and the lyrics coupled with the very folky guitar playing and requisite demonstrator recorder - penny whistle, maybe? - really give you the sense of a "love-in" type demonstration with people sitting around and singing, flowers in their hair, smoking a joint as they preach about the wrongness of abortion. Maybe it's just me, but I visualize a scene in Jesus Christ Superstar, set in the 70s, torn jeans, rainbow headbands, blocking the entrance to an abortion clinic. Despite my personal feelings on abortion, this song is both beautiful and annoying. It's well written, well recorded and arranged, and the message is good in my opinion, but preaching at me about things in music doesn't always work. Sometimes I find the attempt just comes off as someone trying to sound superior, and this is one case where it does bother me a little.
Anyway, that's my take on "Faith, Hope, Love" by King's X
. If you want to check them out, go to the link and buy this album. I highly recommend it.That's all for now. Be good to each other, and spread the word about King's X!
Cheers!
Slyde
