They should let Doug sing the first verse/chorus, then let the crowd sing verse/chorus, then let Doug (& everyone) sing along together. Or something like that. Just not the audience for the whole song anymore. Please....
Man I love love LOVED this band for the better part of a decade. Discovered them when MTV played "It's Love," then went backwards to discover the earlier albums. Saw them live three times between '92 and '96 I think, each time a different small club in Atlanta. My band in college also covered some of their songs, which was a frustrating exercise: You have to really WORK to make them sound right (more or less), and then the audience would have no idea what we were playing! (Years later, I had older friends in an excellent local trio that never got signed. They were all top-notch players and did a perfect cover of "Goldilox" that got as much reaction as any song they played.) I just snagged a super-clean pressing of the original Gretchen to go with my original Megaforce Planet, so I'm back in King's X mode again. These albums sound magnificent on vinyl BTW. (Gotta grab Faith Hope Love next!) "Goldilox" remains one of their all-time great songs and perhaps a huge breakthrough hit in a parallel universe... but not ours. More than any other song on the debut, it's the one that could've fit seamlessly onto Gretchen. It has that slightly bittersweet, end-of-summer vibe like the best ballads on Gretchen do. I never met the guys in person, so here's my King's X story: I was front-row for the Atlanta show where the "Goldilox" sing-along first originated. Midway through the set, Doug's bass rig blew up.... and then his BACKUP blew too. There was a long break where we feared the show was over, but these guys are troopers. They eventually came back with acoustic instruments and played the rest of the set "unplugged." When they broke into "Goldilox," people went nuts.... and just as Doug was about to sing the first line, the crowd took over, unprompted. And they just.... kept going. The whole thing was purely organic, and one of the best concert experiences of my life. The guys were visibly moved by the end of it, and "Goldilox" singlehandedly redeemed what had been a really tough (and costly) night for them. Now that the "singalong" is a ritual, I fully understand being exhausted with it. But the VERY first time it happened? That was magical. So I don't blame the guys one bit for wanting to recreate a bit of that magic each time out.
What a great thread to find. Love these reminders to go back and listen to bands. I was early in high school when Out of the Silent Planet came out. My cool musician uncle worked at Cellophane Square (record store in the Northwest) and would give me random promo tapes that he thought I might like. I was beginning my obsession with music, so always listened to them, but some were better than others. Out of the Silent Planet totally grabbed me. I was mostly into hard rock/hair metal but heading toward grunge, and this music really seemed so unique, even to my young ears. I listened to a ton of Gretchen and Faith Hope Love. I kept listening on and off over the years, but you know, you start to listen to so much other music and it gets tough. But I think I have most of their CDs, and bought that live album. Ty's tone and style are enough to always keep me interested, but they are great songwriters and I love Doug's voice and bass too. It's hard to say bands are truly unique, but King's X fits that description for me. EDIT: Oh man, listening to Goldilox again for the first time in ages. Reminds me of high school of course!! What a great "ballad"!
I'll have to find those vinyl reissues. I don't have any of their albums on vinyl. My first show was in Atlanta - Cotton Clu, '98. It must have been a really awesome night when that happened for y'all!
There was show at B.B. King's in NYC, I forget what year, when dUg lost his voice completely. He was near tears and at one point stopped mid song and said to Ty, 'Ty, man, what am I gonna do?" Someone in the crowd yelled, "we're here for you dUg!" and they cranked into the next song with the crowd singing every word. dUg was beside himself and Ty's jaw almost hit the stage. dUg seemed to gain strength from this and gutted out the rest of the gig with our help. To this day it's one of the best KX gigs I've ever seen.
When I saw them in '98 Doug was sick and struggled. When they launched into "Fade" the crowd overwhelmed Doug. He stepped back and let us sing it all, although the band sang the chorus part.
Last I heard, the new album is just about ready for release. dUg has posted a few teasers and just the other day posted a picture of himself wearing headphones and said, 'new music is coming y'all!! Hang in there!! I can't wait!! Good things come to those who wait.' It will be released on the Australian label Golden Robot.
Wow. That was my first KX gig! We were breathing the same air. Don't think I taped that though, I didn't get heavily into taping shows until about 1995 when I bought a DAT deck & some decent mics. Anyways... After that show me & a friend went out in front by the bus to see if we could get things signed, meet them etc. But a large crowd gathered out there waiting & we didn't feel like hanging out for hours or whatever waiting for the band & fighting that crowd. Hmmm. I know let's go around back to the alley where they do the load-in load-out etc. And who do we run into? Doug! He was loading some gear into the truck. We start having a conversation but it started raining. So he has us come up to where he is (I 4get 4sure but think the truck was up a little, like even with the stage height but me & my friend were a few feet below at street level) and we all get in the back of the truck out of the rain, talk about a bunch of stuff, probably helped load some things, I 4get. And that is Doug for ya, he will talk your ears off & always has time for the fans. So do Ty & Jerry but not the same kind of blabbermouth that Doug is! I have a lot of stories from gigs over the years...
Awesome story. That that tradition/ritual/etc came about originally organically makes perfect sense. I don't think the band woulda sat around thinking of ideas and said "hey let's see if we can get the audience to sing Goldilox instead of us every night!". It just happened, worked, and grew from there.
Yes. Another one I remember that I dug (pun intended) was Moke. The lead singer from Moke (John Hogg - also played guitar) later hooked up with Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes and formed the band Hookah Brown (who I've also seen live) then later Magpie Salute (think they are on hold now with the BC reunion going on).
The reissues sound fine, but if you're willing to do a little searching I prefer the originals. Not too pricey even now, probably the cost of new copies actually even with overseas shipping. Gretchen actually sounds great even on a single record.
I'm another one who doesn't like the singalong to Goldilox. I have a dvd of the band doing the song with the crowd singing and it put me off the song a little bit, for a while anyway. However when i saw Brian May in concert and he started playing Love of My Life, everyone began singing. I was one of those singing along and it felt good! It was expected as Queen fans knew that was what normally happened.
2002 show with Dio, King's X, and HammerFall at the 9:30 Club in DC has got to be one of my top 5 shows of all time. I was really into all 3 bands, got there early and grabbed a spot up front on the rail, and really enjoyed that show.
I realize that we're skipping ahead 3 albums and some 35 odd songs, but my word if this live performance doesn't mean everything. Especially amazing is Jerry's drum sound - the vocals and Ty's solo have been oft-heralded and don't disappoint in a live setting.
Power of Love A medium paced track that eases into the verses with some nice atmospheric playing. Then the chorus kicks in and that great Ty Tabor guitar tone comes chugging in behind the vocals. Love the little breakdown before Ty's solo. The end fades directly into the following track, "Wonder". A nice rocker written by Doug Pinnick. Trapped inside, these walls surround me Closing in it's hard to breathe It's okay, I hear the shouting What is left, the will to be The power, power of love Takes me, takes me from here, oh The power of love On my hands I have no scars In my heart's a weary beat If you go I will follow Where you are I will be The power, power of love Takes me, takes me from here, oh The power of love The power, power of love Takes me, takes me from here, oh The power of love On my hands I have no scars In my heart's a weary beat If you go I will follow Where you are I will be Everybody Power, power of love Takes me, takes me from here, oh The power of love Power, power of love Takes me, takes me from here, oh The power of love Doug Pinnick: "When Ty wrote 'Pleaides' and it was drop-D tuned, I remember going home and taking my guitar and drop-D tuning it ... And that was one of the first songs I wrote in drop-D. "Lyrically, I was trying to get that whole sing-along gospel cadence thing, where the singer sings and then the choir sings behind him ... I like to sing about love and unity because I feel like there's not enough of it."
I love Jerry's snare sound on this track, the whole Tapehead album actually. Big thanks to jeff kent for letting me know the song i've been after is Anger.
