Scooter Chronicles

King’s X - “Dogman”

Tracks:

1. Dogman
2. Shoes
3. Pretend
4. Flies and Blue Skies
5. Black the Sky
6. Fool You
7. Don’t Care
8. Sunshine Rain
9. Complain
10. Human Behavior
11. Cigarettes
12. Go to Hell
13. Pillow
14. Manic Depression

Since this is the third time King’s X has shown up on my list, I will be brief. MTV introduced me to them, and I have been a huge fan every since.

(From left): Ty Tabor (guitar, vocals), Doug Pinnick (bass, vocals), Jerry Gaskill (drums, vocals).

King’s X came from the Christian rock scene in Houston that also gave us the Galactic Cowboys and Atomic Opera. They had worked with Sam Taylor as their producer, and almost fourth member of the band, on their first four albums. “Dogman” is the band’s fifth album, and was produced by Brendan O’Brien. (He was the producer for Rage Against the Machine’s “Evil Empire” and mixed Soundgarden’s “Superunknown”, which have both been part of this series).

“Dogman” is both harder then anything King’s X had done to this point, but also, possibly, more accessible then anything they had done, too. I think some of that comes from O’Brien being involved, and also the band’s maturity. To me, I see it as quite a shame that the band didn’t really start making waves with this album.

The opening and title track is a killer! Now, that’s how you start a hard rock album. BAM! It still goes down for me as one of the best rock songs I have ever heard.

“Shoes” is a great example of how well all three members can sing. They harmonize at the very beginning of the song, without music. “Flies and Blue Skies” shows the band being able to grasp some bluesy roots. “Go to Hell’ is not even a minute long and tips it’s hat to punk and hardcore.

The rest of the album is pure King’s X brilliance. “Black the Sky”, “Pretend”, “Don’t Care”, “Sunshine Rain”, and “Human Behavior” would all be the best song on an album. But here they are all on the same one, along with the title track, which eclipses all of them. Again, it amazes me that this album didn’t launch their careers.

This album also is proof of two things when it comes to drumming. First, you don’t need a big flashy kit. Gaskill has one eighth the kit of Neil Peart and sounds amazing playing it. Second, it proves just how good Gaskill is. I wouldn’t say that he’s up there with the talent of Peart or Portnoy or Ulrich or Carey based on skill. But he does so much, with so little, and does it with big sound. His arrangements are nearly perfect. His use of cymbals, for some reason, always amazes me. His placement of using the ride is unmatched. He adds so much to the music of King’s X. The band as a whole has a sound all to themselves. Some bands like that could replace their drummer and still retain that sound. I don’t think King’s X could without Gaskill.

This is a fantastic hard rock album that still sounds incredible today, even as it approaches it’s 15th anniversary.

Final Note: The album was released with four different color versions of the cover. Blue, red, green, and yellow. I got a blue one because that was all the store had at the time of my purchase. (Probably the color I would have taken even if I had a choice of all four.)