King's X - Tape Head

After 1996's Ear Candy ended King's X's major label run without any noticeable surge in popularity, the band took some time to reconvene and refuel as the members devoted more time to solo records and side projects than rushing out the next big King's X record. dUg dropped Massive Grooves... and provided guest vocals to a track on Dream Theater's 1997 release Falling into Infinity Ty provided his own debut solo album, Moonflower Lane, along with a starring role in supergroup Platypus' first album. When the group began putting together the material that would become Tape Head, they eschewed the direction of an outside producer and wrote nearly entirely in the studio as a collaborative effort between all three members.

The most obvious result of this more free-flowing method of songwriting is that Tape Head is a much more consistent album than Ear Candy as the heavier songs and the lighter ones are all much closer together in terms of tone - "Fade" and "Groove Machine" crunch hard, but "Over and Over" and "Ocean" sound nearly as big in their own right, retaining that distinctive King's X mix of world weary yet hopeful lyrics - the psychedelic word salad of Ear Candy is put on the back burner as the group opts for a more down-to-earth approach. The band has always worn its influences on its sleeve, those ingredients are distilled into a much more distinct flavor with Tape Head.

That said, this is still a post-Dogman record - the focus, as hinted at by track one, is one the groove. "Fade", "Cupid", and "Hate You" are excellent blends of darkness & light a la "Pretend" or "Run", while "Ocean", "Ono", and "Higher Than God" get in and get out before you have a chance to lose interest. The only really weak area of the disc is the end - "Happy" is King's X firing on all cylinders, but "Mr. Evil" and "World" can't quite provide the same kind of payoff of "Pillow" or "Silent Wind". "World" might be the only King's X song that is saved from blandness by a guitar solo, but dUg and especially Jerry are the real prime movers of Tape Head, and they've never sounded better. Between dUg's chocolate cake bass tone and Jerry's propulsive percussion Tape Head sounds like a band that's truly comfortable and in their element, and remains one of the brightest spots in their discography.

B+