Since their early days as The Edge in Houston, Ty Tabor (guitar), Doug Pinnick (bass) and Jerry Gaskill (drums), also known as King's X, have crafted finely-tuned guitar rock and beautifully moving ballads. Their newest album Please Come Home...Mr. Bulbous continues the 11-year tradition in fine style.
This, the band's ninth album, opens with a bang. Doug's solid, lower-than-ever bass thump accompanies one of the finest complaints ever about being under the public's microscope in "Fishbowl Man." An interesting interlude in the song is Jerry's beat-poem spoken piece.
Ty's shining moment comes in "She's Gone Away," which contains quite possibly the finest King's X guitar solo ever committed to tape. Ty's soaring tones, powered by his new signature-model Yamaha guitar, have never sounded better.
Doug continues his tradition of punchy, super-low bass that still has a melody. Pinnick was one of the first bassists to employ a low-B tuning, and now that that's become common, he's taken it down another step. This disc is a great workout for your system's subwoofer.
Jerry has long been the unsung hero of King's X. Here, with his poetic interludes, he finally gets his chance to take the forefront, prompting the question, "When will Jerry follow Ty and Doug's footsteps and make a solo album?".
Everybody gets their moments; all these moments together form one of King's X's best albums to date. Production (by the band, particularly Ty) shines. My only complaint? Perhaps spoiled by albums like Faith Hope Love and Dogman, I find this album, which barely clocks in at 45 minutes, slightly short. I guess I'll just have to go get the guys' solo albums to tide me over to the next one.
4.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #83Reviewed by Doug Van PeltSo, the new King's X album is out. What's it sound like? What are they saying on this record? Musically, like the title implies, the band is exploring their esoteric roots again. The album starts off with some noisy dissonant ramblings before settling into a song. We even hear an interesting rapcore-like delivery in the verses of "Smudge," followed by rocking waves of sound we've come to expect…Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestOkay, the first time I listened to this album I had to laugh. You can hear all kinds of weird ramblings in between songs, like a few in my own language: Dutch. I'm sure some of you will freak out when they hear Achtentachtig Prachtige Grachten or Hottentottententententoonstellingen. Yes, it's Dutch! Well, I'm not reviewing those ramblings so let me introduce you to the music of Please Come Home…Similar sounding releases
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