Discover Top Posts Tagged with #king's x

Phil with dUg Pinnick of King's X, 1990

#phil was 21 here and dUg was 39! insane he looks so young! omg #dUg was besties with all of the band and even wrote the forward in rex's book!#phil anselmo #dug pinnick #pantera #king's x #my edits

Roie Avin: Essential Modern Progressive Rock Albums: Images and Words Behind Prog's Most Celebrated Albums 1990-2016 (2018)

As the editor of The Prog Report website (and a longtime friend and music biz colleague), Roie Avin is one of this planet's preeminent experts about this often misunderstood, sometimes reviled, but obviously enduring branch of rock 'n' roll's family tree.

Punk rock tried its damndest to kill progressive rock in the late 1970s, but it frankly never stood a chance and so-called "dinosaurs" like Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd kept right on selling millions of records long after their assailants had gone extinct themselves or sold out to new wave.

And then, after a relatively quiet 1980s (emphasis on "relative" since the decade spawned the mighty Marillion and many other genre standard bearers featured here), progressive rock grew ever more ambitious and expansive in the decades that followed.

Hence this period frequently being referred to as the 'Third Wave.'

Roie's book makes that abundantly obvious with a chronological survey of over 50 LPs, each of which receives a dedicated chapter full of historical information, band interviews and photos, and the author's own well-informed opinions about each title.

From Queensrÿche's multi-platinum-selling Empire to Opeth's twelfth opus, Sorceress (both obviously pictured above), Roie proves that prog never stopped, uh, progressing in the capable hands of major names like Dream Theater, Tool, Fates Warning, Spock's Beard, Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, and Devin Townsend.

What's more, even a somewhat knowledgeable music fan like me learned a lot about unfamiliar albums by the likes of Scale the Summit, Beardfish, The Flower Kings, The Tangent, Periphery, Haken, Enchant, Riverside, and Karnivool.

If anything, Roie seldom ventures into the extreme metal woods where countless Cookie Monsters beyond Opeth tread, but he had to draw the line somewhere, or else no coffee table would be large enough to support the resulting Encyclopedia Progtannica.

And I was thrilled to see Cynic's incomparable Focus LP included, alongside other personal favorites like Anathema, Ayeron, King's X, Mastodon, Between the Buried and Me, and, of course, Marillion.

So here's to you, Roie!

May you carry on sailing these seas of cheese (it's at least guaranteed to be gourmet cheese) and remain safe aboard all of those crazy prog rock cruises.

Featured Records:

Queensrÿche: Empire (1990)

Dream Theater: Images and Words (1992)

King's X: Faith Hope Love (1990)

Opeth: Sorceress (2016)

Cynic: Focus (1993)

Buy from: The Prog Report

King's X: Manic Moonlight (2001)

In recognition of Pride Month 2026, all my friends in the LGBTQIA+ community, and King's X's own Doug Pinnick, I'm rolling out another round of blogs featuring colored vinyl in a rainbow sequence, continuing with today's orange selection ...

Manic Moonlight? More like tragic lowlight.

After making some of the strangest creative decisions of their career on the previous year's Please Come Home … Mr. Bulbous, King's X injected electronic samples, loops, and beats into their signature dropped tunings and three-part Beatles-esque harmonies on this 25-year-old release.

But whereas 1994's Dogman had successfully reconciled the band's unique sonic hallmarks with grunge aesthetics (a sonic yin/yang conundrum if ever there was one) in the best possible way, Manic Moonlight sunk into the muck with some of the dreariest, most despondent material of the group's career.

This turn of events, coming from a band whose uplifting, virtually transcendent brand of progressive metal, had instilled quasi-religious euphoria upon their faithful acolytes, was at best confusing, and at worst very upsetting.

Which isn't to say that Manic Moonlight didn't produce a few enjoyable numbers in opener "Believe," the familiarly arpeggiated "False Alarm," and the extended funk rock grooves of "Vegetable," which contrast nicely against classic King's X ingredients and a liquid fire Ty Tabor solo.

But other funky efforts weren't nearly as satisfying (more like watching paint dry), with Pinnick either muttering instead of singing on "Skeptical Winds," or monotonously reciting minimalist lyrics on "Yeah":

"I hate the world because of you; The blame is my mistake; Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah …

Please forgive me for my attitude; I'm choosing to stay on my side; Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah …

Live with an addict you pick up a habit; Of letting them destroy your life; Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah …"

Yaaaaaaaawwwwnnn.

"Static" was at least interesting for maximizing the album's organic/electronic hybrid with somber vocals over a techno-style loop, before a driving guitar riff, growling bass, and Pinnick's emotional higher registers conveyed yet conflicting, far from reassuring message:

"Hello, I didn't mean to put my faith in you; I was afraid of losing my place and get nothing from this;

Goodbye, to my heart shaped box in the trash today; I was ashamed, but not anymore so I thank you for it;

I don't wanna do this ... anymore; I really wanna do it."

Luckily, near the very end, "Jenna" sparkled with quavering psychedelics before unleashing a powerful distorted chorus capped by soaring harmonies and a poignant love letter that finally provided listeners with some much needed emotional release.

All these years later, some overly protective fans will still defend Manic Moonlight as some kind of clever model of austerity and simplicity, but I just hear a bleak and dispiriting collection from a listless band starting to question if it was all worth it.

So if this isn't the absolute "lowlight" in the King's X discography, I'd say it's close, alongside '03's vault-emptying Black Like Sunday and '22's incoherent comeback, Three Sides of One, but maybe my opinions will change after future listens.

More King’s X: Out of the Silent Planet, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska, Faith Hope Love, King’s X, Dogman, Ear Candy, Tape Head, Please Come Home … Mr. Bulbous, Three Sides of One; plus Supershine’s Supershine.