Published on Oct 15, 2001
For over a decade, the guys in King’s X have not been afraid to
wear their beliefs on their sleeves. Nor have they been afraid to
show their musical influences in their own work; lately, each of
their albums sounds like the band – bassist/vocalist Doug Pinnick,
guitarist/vocalist Ty Tabor and drummer/vocalist Jerry Gaskill –
have been trying to create their own Sgt. Pepper without mimicing
or copying the original.
Now, King’s X seems to be wearing their hearts on their sleeves;
their latest disc,
Manic Moonlight, is the most personal effort they have done
in their career. It is also one of the most difficult to listen to
– not because it is bad, but because it sometimes feels like you’re
listening to the audio version of a diary, expressing some of the
most private feelings one can have.
Things start off easy enough with “Believe,” a song which dares
to even flirt with the semi-religious undertones earlier King’s X
music had. If you listen to this song in passing, it would probably
come off as an enjoyable pop number that you’d expect to hear on
the radio. However, if you sit down and read the lyrics as the song
is played, you’d understand that this particular tune has the power
to influence lives, moreso than songs like Billy Joel’s “You’re
Only Human (Second Wind)” ever could have imagined. To achieve
something like this without becoming corny or neglecting the
rock/soul/funk influences the band has is an amazing
accomplishment.
The rest of
Manic Moonlight – with the exception of the throwaway
18-second track “Water Ceremony” which closes the disc – all feels
like it revolves around a theme of fear, heartbreak and loss. Oh, I
can speculate about what I think some of the songs are referring
to, knowing a little bit of the band’s history… but, no, I’m not
going to do that. Not this time, anyway. It’s partially out of
respect for the group, but mainly because each listener may choose
to find their own meaning in these songs, and to label them as
being written in a specific mindframe isn’t fair to the band or the
listeners.
Be that as it may, it still is a difficult, emotional listen.
“Yeah” is a funk-filled number which has much deeper undertones
that may have more meaning than what the words themselves say
(sample lyric: “Please forgive me for my attitude / I’m choosing to
stay on my side / LIfe with an addict you pick up a habit / Of
letting them destroy your life”). It’s interesting that King’s X
would create a song like “Yeah” with minimal lyrical usage, but in
this case, it works well.
The emotional purge that is
Manic Moonlight continues on songs like “False Alarm” (“If I
could wave a magic wand / and make my dreams come true / I’d make
my feelings go away / and make you want me too”), “Static” (another
song whose minimalist style works with the lyrics), “The Other
Side” and “Vegetable”. Still, there is a side to these songs which
makes them a tad difficult to take part in; it’s like you’ve walked
into someone spilling their hearts out on tape. It’s often
beautiful, occasionally painful, but all in all worth the
effort.
It is at a time like this that maybe King’s X is thankful they
never became a supergroup – meaning simply that they don’t have to
live up to anyone’s expectations with their albums. If, say,
Britney Spears wanted to put out an album as personal as this (and
assuming I’m correct with some of the suspicions I have regarding
it), her record company would put the kibosh on that quicker than
Vanilla Ice’s career. But King’s X have more of a license to
express themselves like they have on
Manic Moonlight, and it’s a freedom I’m sure many artists
would kill to have.
Manic Moonlight is not the kind of album that newcomers to
King’s X can walk into and expect to be comfortable with. Even the
long-time fans might feel like they’ve walked into something they
don’t belong in. But King’s X seems to know exactly what they’re
doing, and
Manic Moonlight serves as some kind of inner demon purge
they needed to make. As challenging of an album as this is, it’s
still an experience worth taking part in.