King's X : : : Rock's Best Kept Secret

One of my favorite bands of all time, King's X is on tour with Extreme this summer. This show will certainly kick butt. Period. Get ready to have your face rocked off if you go to this show. I have seen the X 5 times and each time I do I want to either throw away my guitar and give up ofter the show or practice till my fingers bleed.

If you have followed King's X at all you know of their crazy hit and miss career that has kept one of the greatest rock bands of all time on the sidelines of rock. Though the music has never stopped rocking, and the fans are intensely loyal, King’s X has never enjoyed the greatness they deserve.

In the early days (late 70’s) King’s X had it’s roots in the Christian music scene when Doug Pinnick (bass) and Jerry Gaskill (drums) were brought together for a project with Greg X. Volz of Petra fame. The project fell through and the boys spent time touring with Phil Keaggy in support of his Ph’lip Side album (uhhhh, this album changed my life by the way.

The boys hooked up with Ty Tabor sometime after that and became the touring band for CCM artist Morgan Cryar—Ty and Doug even co-wrote some of the tunes on Cryar’s ’86 album “Fuel On The Fire.” If you know anything about Cryar and King’s X you are laughing right about now because the two artists are nothing alike.

In 1988, after renaming themselves, King’s X released “Out of the Silent Planet” (borrowing the title from the book of the same name by C.S. Lewis).

MTV video hits, opening up for AC/DC, touring with Living Colour, a single on the soundtrack for “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” a gig at Woodstock ’94, 13 albums (if you don’t count indi releases), and a swarm of loyal fans . . . and King’s X seems to still be waiting for their big break. They are rock's best kept secret.

Though King’s X has never labeled themselves a Christian band or even tried to break into that market, their undeniable spiritually fueled lyrics, biblical imagery, and alignment with Christian thinkers like C.S. Lewis garnered them a huge Christian fan base.

In 1998, Bass player and lead vocalist Doug Pinnick came out of the closet and announced he was a homosexual. In true Christian marketing fashion, all Christian bookstores immediately pulled King’s X music off their shelves.

King’s X continues to make incredible thought provoking musically intense art. Their new album XV is now available in stores. Buy it.

This month, PluggedInOnline.com published a great article on King’s X entitled, “King’s X Marks Its Spot.” If you are a King’s X fan at all, check this article out. Great stuff to think about.