King's X "Building Blox"

King's X

Building Blox

1994 Atlantic Records

Produced By: Sam Taylor and Brendan O'Brien

front

back (insert)

inside

back

disc

Track Listings

The World Around Me (2:56)

Dogman (4:20) (music video)

Pillow (4:41)

Over My Head (4:47) (music video)

King (3:01) (music video)

We Are Finding Who We Are (4:39) (music video)

Pretend (4:56)

It's Love (4:34) (music video)

Black Flag (4:01) (music video)

Power of Love (4:57)

Complain (3:30)

Goldilox (4:41)

Shot of Love (Acoustic) (3:20)

Summerland (3:17) (music video)

Moanjam (6:05)

Musicians

Doug Pinnick - Bass guitar, lead and background vocals

Jerry Gaskill - Drums, percussionm background vocals

Ty Tabor - Lead guitar, lead and background vocals

Before we get started I know that King's X isn't a "Christian band"...but that what exactly is a Christian band to begin with? I'm an area manager for a self storage company. I'm also a Christian, but do I label myself a Christian area manager? Not really. I just happen to be a Christian that also is an area manager. Now I know the guys in King's X have differing views on faith and they may not line up exactly like mine, but they have their roots in the faith that I share. This is one of the reasons I became a fan of their music in my younger days. While I may not have listened to much of their music since their Metal Blade Records days, I love their early stuff.

I happened to stumble across this promotional CD at a local used record store in Charlotte back while I was in college. I think it was called Ernie's. Not sure if they are still in business, but I still had the original receipt inside the disc's insert. $7.99 I paid...and that was basically because of the one previously unreleased song on the album, Shot of Love (Acoustic). 

This sampler disc was used my Atlantic records to help promote the band. Below is a note from Silvio Bonvini from Atlantic Records

This very special 15-song limited-edition disc is a true celebration of the musical evolution of King's X. Building Blox is an opportunity for longtime fans to rediscover the brilliance and innovation of this exceptional trio, while serving as an impressive introduction to those who don't know what King's X is all about.

Like any groundbreaking act, King's X twists convention into pretzel knots. The ability to weave lush, three part Beatlesque vocal harmonies in and out and blues-based crunchriffs, the popularization of "D-tuning" (for which the band is rarely credited), and rock solid songwriting has allowed King's X to not only push the rock envelope, but to shred it completely.

Critically acclaimed and universally adored by the musical community, their style has always exuded a deep spiritual aura that bristles with elements of the band's influences - The Beatles, U2, Hendrix, Rush and James Brown - yet King's X sounds nothing like any of these.

Please take this opportunity to discover the wonder of King's X by checking out some of their finer moments from Out of the Silent Planet, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska, Faith Hope Love, King's X as well as their most impressive work to date, Dogman. King's X has always been known for taking hard music well beyond the conventional "metal". Here is your chance to follow. 

Personally I prefer the band's Sam Taylor days. Faith Hope Love is one of my all time favorite albums to date for any band, let alone King's X. I love the vocal harmonies and the change off of lead vocal between Doug and Ty. However when Dogman came out I was floored by the change in musical direction. As much as I love the earlier stuff, I gotta say the harder, grittier sound of Dogman still sounds great. Atlantic Records picked some of the best songs off the Dogman album for this promotional compilation.