Faith Hope Love (1990)I first heard a King's X song listening to the radio in 1990. Yes, there was a time when you could actually hear a King's X song on the radio...occasionally...and that song...that one song...was "It's Love" from Faith Hope Love. I was immediately intrigued by the hard rockin' sound and the tight vocal harmonies. I picked up the album soon thereafter.
This album is one of the finest pieces of rock art ever produced by an incredibly talented band that was in their prime in the early '90s. King's X epitomizes the concept of the "power trio;" bass is handled by Doug Pinnick, guitars by Ty Tabor and drums by Jerry Gaskill. All three sing lead, all three sing harmony. In their entire catalog, Doug problems sings lead on about 70 percent of the songs, Ty leads most of the rest and Jerry leads about 3 (but he had a solo album where he did all lead vocals--the guy really can sing).
One thing to address is the question "Is King's X a Christan band?" At the time that this album came out, I think the answer would have to be "Yes." Besides the title of the album, a reference to 1 Corinthians 13, there were several other overt references to God and Jesus on the album, including "Talk to You," "Moanjam," and "Everywhere I Go" not to mention the snippet of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" at the very tail end/fade-out of "Legalkill." They later maintained that they were never a "Christian band" but simply a band made up of Christians, but the distinction really didn't make any difference when their early albums were littered with worshipful words and C.S. Lewis references.
The title of the album defines the themes: Faith is talked about and struggled with in "Mr. Wilson," "Moanjam," and "I Can't Help It." Hope is expressed in "We Are Finding Who We Are" and "Legalkill." Love overflows in "It's Love," "I'll Never Get Tired Of You," "The Fine Art of Friendship," and "We Were Born To Be Loved." The vocal harmonies are tight and the musicianship is incomparable throughout, with tasty guitar solos, crunchy bass (with a smattering of 12-string bass in some songs), and rock-solid drumming anchoring everything.
I can't talk about this album without mentioning "Legalkill." I have for many years believed this song to be a straight-out anti-abortion song. I still believe that. Ty sings lead on this one and I think he's saying that he believes abortion to be wrong, but he has a hard time dealing with some of the people on our side of the argument.
King's X is still together and still putting out great music. It's not quite as avant-garde as it was 20 years ago, but they do still sound great. These days, all three guys have rejected organized religion while maintaining their belief in God. All three have gone through some tough personal issues in the last 15 years or so, and some of that gets reflected in the music, which isn't nearly as positive as it was on Faith Hope Love.
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