King's X

King's X is an American hard rock/heavy metal band noted for its spiritual lyrics and sophisticated music (including vocal arrangements very much inspired by The Beatles).

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Early days

The group traces its beginnings to 1980, when Doug Pinnick and Jerry Gaskill, who had previously met while recording and touring with Phil Keaggy and touring with the Christian rock band Petra, recruited Ty Tabor to join them. Calling themselves The Edge, the group extensively performed on the Springfield, Missouri bar and club circuit. The band specialized in Top 40 covers. By 1983, the name of the band had changed to Sneak Preview and they started to record original material. Sneak Preview released a self-titled LP with all original material in 1984.

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The group relocated to Houston, Texas with the promise of a recording contract, but the deal fell through. However, it was there that the group met Sam Taylor, then vice president of ZZ Top's production company. Taylor quickly became the group's mentor and convinced them to change their name to King's X. Taylor was instrumental in helping the group secure a contract with Megaforce_Records in 1987. Taylor would soon become the group's manager, producer and mentor, and was declared to be the fourth member of the group.

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King's X arrives

The group released its first album as King's X entitled Out of the Silent Planet in 1988. Despite being hailed by music critics, the album did not fare well commercially, peaking at #144 on the Billboard album charts. The band's 1989 sophomore release, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska, fared slightly better from a commercial standpoint. Significantly, the video for Over My Head received moderate airplay on MTV and radio. The increase in exposure would prove beneficial when the band released their third album, Faith, Hope, Love, in the Fall of 1990.

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The brink of a breakthrough

Faith, Hope, Love was the group's first album to crack the US Top 100, with the help of the successful single It's Love. The band landed a gig opening for AC/DC in the US and Europe for the first half of 1991. They also toured with Living Colour, themselves near the peak of their popularity. The band was signed to major label Atlantic_Records for their next release.

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The band released their fourth album, King's X, in the Spring of 1992. But rising tensions with Taylor led to the group's most unfocused effort, and the album did not sell as well as Faith, Hope, Love. The only single from the album, Black Flag received only moderate airplay on MTV. Not long after the release of King's X, the band parted ways with Taylor. The details of the split have not been made public, but it was believed to be rather acrimonious.

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In any case, by 1992 Grunge was at the peak of its popularity and the group's trademark sound in no way resembled that of commercially successful acts such as Soundgarden or Pearl Jam. Looking for a new sound and flavor (although not necessarily grunge), the band enlisted producer Brendan_O%27Brien, who had recently produced Stone Temple Pilots' first album and Pearl Jam's second.

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The resulting album, 1994's Dogman, showcased a much more muscular and heavy sound from the group, along with less abstract and spiritual lyrics. The record received a heavier promotional push from Atlantic and the band enjoyed a very successful tour, capped by an appearance at the Woodstock 1994 festival in August. But despite a return to the Top 100 for the group, the album failed to sell as well as Atlantic had hoped, and the label's support for the group quickly faded.

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After Atlantic

The band's third release under Atlantic, 1996's Ear Candy, would also be their last (not including a subsequent compilation) for the label. Although it sold to the band's sizeable core following, it lacked the mainstream success of previous efforts. The record was soon out of print, and it seemed that the group's chance for commercial success had come and gone.

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The group moved to Metal Blade Records in 1998 and released five albums under the label. The members of King's X (as a group and individually) have been musically prolific since then, releasing a number of group albums and side projects. A new album, entitled Ogre Tones, was released in September 2005 on the InsideOut label.

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Christian rock?

King's X has in the past struggled with being identified as a Christian metal band. Many of their lyrics have a clear Christian influence, but this comes from the individual faith of the members rather than an attempt to tap into that market in the way groups such as Stryper did. Their albums used to be marketed highly in Christian book stores, but after Pinnick announced in 1998 that he was a homosexual, their albums were removed from such places.

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The spiritual/religious lyrics found in early King's X releases are not typically found in later ones.

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American: :This page disambiguates the many uses of American. For an article about those various uses, please see Use of the word American....

Hard rock: :Hard Rock redirects here. For the restaurant, please see Hard Rock Cafe....

Heavy metal: Heavy metal may mean:...

King's X related Images and Photos (experimental)

King's Ransom (DVD) (WS)	King's Crown	Stephen King's It! (DVD)	King's Ransom
King's Theatre Haymarket	The King's Speech	Stephen King's Cat's Eye (DVD)	King's Views of New York
Sea King's Chariot	Stephen King's The Shining (DVD)	The King's Daughter	All The King's Men