#ty tabor

[myvinylplaylist]

King's X: Chronicles (1991)

A*Vision Entertainment

Mega Force Records

[vinylspinning]

Supershine: Supershine (2000)

Doug Pinnick and Bruce Franklin ...

The names behind Supershine will barely register a pulse amongst the uninitiated, but hard rock and heavy metal cognoscenti knew they were in for a treat when Trouble's Franklin and King's X's Pinnick announced this one-off side project.

The two men started collaborating on songs in 1999, and the Supershine album officially became an extended family affair when ex-Trouble drummer Jeff Olson and King's X sticksman Jerry Gaskill were tapped to contribute, and the final mix was handled by King's X guitarist Ty Tabor.

So it was no surprise that initial tracks like "Take Me Away" and "Kingdom Come," achieved a true synthesis of each band's signature sounds; simultaneously meshing and contrasting Trouble's traditionalist doom, with its somber, leviathan power chords, and King's X's progressive invention, topped by Pinnick's soulful vocals.

But it's likewise surprising that these "mergers" worked out so well -- particularly when Franklin's trademarked descending riffs and melancholy melodies met Pinnick's wailing gospel ardor on "One Night," "I Can't Help You," and the near-perfect "Won't Drag Me Down."

The latter frames Pinnick's soaring voice against Franklin's driving riff and a swirling, psychedelic guitar pattern that, along with the dragging "Automatic" and the just plain grungy "Love," reflects many of the late '90s' alternative rock devices.

But both men were obviously raised on music from the '60s and '70s, and that's why their cover of Grand Funk Railroad's "Shinin' On" (where Franklin unexpectedly shares vocal duties) and mournful closer "Shadows/Light" (which reminds me of Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs") fit in so well with the rest of the album.

That being said, other second half numbers like "Going Down," "Candy Andy Jane," and the lost snippet "In Mourning" aren't quite as distinctive, but they do little harm to a one-of-a-kind collaboration that's still treasured by heavy rock eggheads of discerning taste.

Like moi, obviously, ahem!

In all seriousness, Supershine is everything fans of King's X, Trouble, or both bands could have asked of a side project, as this LP celebrates its participants' unique talents while producing magical new hybrids of their best-loved musical legacies.

p.s. -- Some of these words were adapted from my All-Music Guide review of Supershine's self-titled LP.

p.p.s. -- Look closely and you'll see that this 2021 Svart Records reissue of Supershine is not pressed on plain black wax, but a super-subtle and super-cool 'Supernova Splatter' pattern.

Related: King’s X's 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, Manic Moonlight, Three Sides of One; Trouble's Psalm 9, The Skull, Trouble, Manic Frustration, Plastic Green Head, Simple Mind Condition.

[rainingmusic]

The Jelly Jam - Strong Belief

[sunset-supergirl]

Happy birthday Ty Tabor

[septictanksam]

Now I always think about it

Yeah I always think about it

There's never nothing left to say

Everybody does sooner or later

[everyrecordtellsastory]

Hard Rock’s “Yesterday”: The Story of Goldilox by Kings X

“Goldilox is the song that people just missed out on… one of the greatest songs that I had ever heard” Charlie Benante of Anthrax.

Resilience has become a fashionable buzz word. Some corporates now provide “resilience training” to help staff deal with what life throws at them. Well, it’s cheaper than just hiring the right number of people to do the work, right?

For the band Kings X, resilience…

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[dodinaslesavage]

Ty Tabor - Johnny Guitar (2017)

[vinylspinning]

King’s X: King’s X (1992)

Things were starting to get serious for King’s X as they released their self-titled fourth studio album, 30 years ago ...

Now signed directly to major label, Atlantic Records, instead of via a distribution deal with independent Megaforce, the band had larger budgets at their disposal, but also far more pressure to deliver, so their response was to dial back some of the creative excesses heard on 1990’s often bloated and self-indulgent Faith Hope Love.

I, for one, was torn about all this, because while I loved the mystical, if not the blatantly religious undertones, threaded through the quasi-progressive visions of those first three albums, I’d felt that F.H.L. had gone a little too far, and thus I mostly welcome this fourth LP’s newfound focus and relative austerity.

All of which was clearly embodied by its refreshingly direct, sub-three-minute opening statement, “The World Around Me” -- a hard rocking epiphany in reverse that addresses the trio’s recent, eye-opening experiences, but hardly abandons their signature sonics.

By which I mean the clinical but imaginative hard rock and heavenly vocal harmonies pulled off with Beatles-esque perfection by bassist Doug Pinnick, guitarist Ty Tabor and drummer Jerry Gaskill -- all still alive and well on standouts like “Prisoner,” “Lost in Germany,” “Chariot Song,” and the hypnotic “Ooh Song.”

In fact, so much was made, at the time, of no-nonsense first single “Black Flag’s” negative outlook, but this too was simply an overreaction to the unfettered, almost grating cheerfulness of its predecessor, rather than its admittedly grumpy lyrics (and AWFUL music video):

“A year in the hole had taken its toll; When I took a good look at me; And what a surprise ... The scope of my eyes could only see black.

There was a black flag on my morning; There was a black flag on my day. There was a black flag on everything around; And I was walking backwards again.”

And it’s not like the softer, even sappier side of King’s X’s had been thrown into a dungeon by the Spanish Inquisition; they were there for all to hear on the autobiographical “Big Picture,” psychedelic rocker “Not Just for the Dead,” and the wistful “Dream in My Life.”

Why, the rudderless, painfully dull “What I Know About Love” is the only true dud (and proof the band’s musical pivot was necessary), while the closing “Silent Wind” saw King’s X at their most anthemic and arpeggiated, despite the media’s good humored questions about lyrical flatulence.

Therefore, while it’s tempting to overly dramatize events in light of what we now know about the trying times that lay ahead for King’s X, the reality is this eponymous LP stands up extremely well, and sounds, not like a traumatic death for dreams and prayer, so much as a pragmatic reset to the clear-eyed invention of Gretchen Goes to Nebraska and Out of the Silent Planet. 

p.s. -- Some of these words were reworked from my All-Music Guide review of King’s X.

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