King's X - Out of the Silent Planet

The debut album of King's X in what would prove to be their permanent lineup and band name is a record that is both noticeably dated and yet unmistakably ear-catching. An uncommon mix of gospel, funk, and hard rock with a progressive flourish, Out of the Silent Planet put the band on the map after nearly a decade of gig work and showcased the particular blend of styles they had been honing. As with most first albums, it's a mixed bag in terms of quality, but the balance of good to bad on display here is impressive - truthfully, the album's biggest problem lies not with its material but its production, which is easily the element of King's... X's (?) sound that has aged the least gracefully - at the end of the day, this album was released in 1988 after all.

Song-wise, Out of the Silent Planet has the same consistency and self-editing issues that will follow King's X for most of their career. The front half is basically perfect, with songs that come and go in just the right amount of time while showcasing the group's MO terrifically, and tracks like "Power of Love", "Wonder", and "Sometimes" are solid gold as Ty Tabor's guitar snarls out chunky riffs one after the other underneath dUg Pinnick's powerhouse vox. The record starts to lose momentum in the home stretch and never really climbs back up to earlier highs, with some overlong pieces that don't have the same spark as prior songs -  "What Is This", "Far, Far Away", and the barely-tolerable-as-a-closer "Visions", with only the infuriating earnestness of "Shot of Love" saving the day - incidentally containing a similar chorus structure with "Power of Love", featuring dUg imploring the crowd to help him sing along - can't say I miss this element of their sound. Jerry Gaskill does his best with his kit (featuring that 80's darling, gated reverb) which sounds like it was replaced at the eleventh hour with a pair of chopsticks and a plastic bucket while dUg's bass sounds like it was recorded underwater at times - this is a guitar and vocals-based record, plain and simple, striking a balance between the burgeoning progressive/death metal scene of the early 90's and the progressive rock revival of the same period, arriving a bit too early and sounding way too idiosyncratic to be lumped into any specific subgenres. While this first step garnered them a good amount of press, it wouldn't be until their warmly remembered 2nd disc a short year later that really began to make waves. Beyond that, Out of the Silent Planet still holds up well as the band's first major release.

C+