Customer Reviews
Celebratory return to form..! - By: Lexx, 28 Jun 2008 
Yeah, I'm like a lot of the other reviewers & long-time fans of this band: Great classic run of albums on Atlantic, until the limp Ear Candy & then the departure to Metal Blade & indie-metal obscurity.
Then last year, the word got out that King's X were working with production-god Michael Wagener, & I started to get quietly hopeful that this LP would be the one to return them to the status they held at the end of the uber-Grunge 'Dogman'-era, where they totally destroyed the competition at the Woodstock revival festival. Indeed, anticipation increased when I saw the promo photographs that preceded this release - the band, cladin leather & denim, looking like they KNOW this LP is going to rock.
Now, for the first timein ages, we have a King's X LP that is cohesive, focussed, & succinct. Many of the previous albums felt too noodly & experimental, despite having numerous moments of potential. Perhaps sometimes a band just needs time off to experiment, before they can come back with a bang, & I think that's what's happened here.
'Pray For Me' starts the LP off with a barnstorming Doug opener, that sounds like a gospel tunein some monumentally rocking evangelical prayer meeting. Next up is a couple of Ty tunes - beautiful & well-composed, but without sucking the air out of the album, & then back to some Doug-heaviosity with 'Rocket Ship', & the album pretty much alternates from Doug to Ty, as usual.
For me, the standout track is the seismic 'Move'. Another grooving Doug track, with a stratospheric chorus accompanied by a monstrous grunge riff: it contains the kind of Doug-style passion I haven't heard since maybe the first LP. Listen to the last 30 seconds - I would bet that Wagener made the band sit down & study their early albums to recapture the vibe. Awesome & spine-tingling.
The album rounds off with the pounding 'Go Tell Somebody', another rocking gospel-type tune. This leaves you with no other conclusion than that the band have FINALLY re-located their mojo. About time..!!
Kings Reign Supreme - By: gingerguru, 23 Jun 2008 I think it's important to start the review by putting this latest release from King's X into context. This is, I'm fairly sure, the band's 12th studio album, their debut record being released all of 20 years ago. This shows just how durable the band have been & the vastness of their musical creativity over that period.
The album sort of carries onin the same vein as Ogre Tones, although I would suggest the band sound even fresher on XV than they did on the last release. Michael Wagener has produced again & this time round he's done a better job, as if he's now got a better grasp on the band's vibe.
What we have is a fairly mixed bag of songs. Pray, Alright, Go Tell Somebody & Rocket Ship are all pretty up tempo & straight ahead rockers. Alright is particularly catchy & does remind me of the band's earlier and, perhaps, more exuberant days circa Gretchen & Faith Hope Love.
We also get the usual Ty Tabor led tracks of which there are three - Repeating Myself, I Just Want To Live & I Don't Know. These are typical Ty tracks of the ballad variety & stack up well against his best songs with the band & from his solo albums. Repeating Myself is a quite stunning song with some beautiful vocal harmony lines - a real highlight on the album. As a first, we also get a track with Jerry (the drummer) taking lead vocals on Julie. This is another very strong track with a heavy Beetles hue. It's also very reminiscent of the material on Jerry's solo album which is surprisingly good by the way.
If you get the extended version of the album, you'll get 2 bonus tracks, Love & Rockets which has a great chorus & No Lie which is bluesy & great fun. These make a total of 14 tracks which provides a pretty generous & varied offering.
Of the other tracks not mentioned above, I particularly like Stuck which is pretty original with some surprising dissonancein the chordal guitar workin the verse. This is a well developed track & really grows on you with repeated listens. Blue is another highlight for me with its laid back groove & rich harmonic structure.
Overall, this is another very rewarding album from this critically acclaimed yet little known Texan band. If you're already a fan of the band, you've probably already made your purchase. If not, do so immediately & I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
I've given the album 5 stars. In fairness, 4.5 stars would probably be more accurate if the Amazon rating system allowed it. The half point is accounted for by 1 or perhaps 2 slightly weaker tracks on an otherwise consistently high quality offering. Long may this supreme band continue making music.
A very solid album - By: Tg Hayes, 18 Jun 2008 
This really is a very solid album from King's X. I don't think anyone could be disappointed with what they have produced here. The trademark growling bass & power chords are therein abundance, the songs are as catchy but as challenging as ever & the songwriting is as good as ever. It really is a pleasure to see a band that is so obviously still enjoying itself making music so long into their career.
Well done KX - By: Mr. S. Roxburgh, 05 Jun 2008 I held off buying this 'till a few weeks on from release; I am a long-time KX fan, & was not happy with (OT)Ogre tones, their last effort.Somehow it didn't fit together as an album, even though some songs were great.
This time they have delivered a really quality package.The biggest change to me is that the order of the songs, the album as a whole, works so well. The songs themselves vary greatly but it all fits together.The wayin which the songs run into each other a bit keeps the confident pace up through the album.It is way better produced than OT as well.
Fave' tracks? 'Blue' & 'Free'.So very Kings'x yet (and I know this is controversial) so much more listener- friendly than previous efforts.I am proud to be a fan of the band after hearing this right through 3 or 4 times (not jumping around the cd).
This is a very fine piece of work & a pleasure to listen to.Well done Doug, Ty & Jerry.
Best album this year - By: Mr T, 01 Jun 2008 so far!
This is their best one yet, actually better than 'Gretchen goes to Nebraska'. Every song is just the right length, short punchy, with energetic grooved rockers interspersed with beatle-esque softer songs with some very tasty guitar licks. Everyone has a go on lead vocals-and they can all sing! The production is great - immediate but also bears well with repeated listening. This band is criminally underated artistically & commercially-they should have loads of hits to their name.
