King’s X – Ogre Tones
InsideOut Music – IOMCD 222 – 26.09.05
By Anna Novitzky
There’s a fine line between radio-friendly accessibility and mind-numbing, snooze-inducing blandness. Sad to say, with Ogre Tones, King’s X have not only crossed that line, they have travelled so far beyond it that they need to send it postcards to stay in touch.
There’s nothing actually wrong with the music, per se. It’s nicely melodic, with fat sludgy riffs, passably throaty rock vocals and everyone-deserves-equality PC lyrics. It sounds good too; the production values are high and the whole thing slips through your aural tract as smoothly as a greased earwig. Then it slips right out again. There’s nothing particularly memorable here – Ogre Tones is repetitive and inoffensive and, well, safe. It could be played at a family wedding and the grandmother of the bride would probably smile and nod along (assuming she wasn’t involved in a punch-up with a distant cousin over What Your Terry Said About Our Sheryl). The occasional song raises the bar a little – the mock Little Richard-styling of ‘Bebop’ and the with-freedom-comes-responsibility message of ‘Freedom’ stand out briefly – but they are all too soon subsumed into the general morass of uninspired rock-by-numbers.
King’s X have the technical talent and, with thirteen studio albums, the experience to be interesting, but as long as they carry on phoning it in like this they aren’t going to impress anyone fast. Perhaps one day we’ll see them back on the civilised side of that line.
4/10
King’s X's Official Website
InsideOut Music’s Official Website
InsideOut Music – IOMCD 222 – 26.09.05
By Anna Novitzky
There’s a fine line between radio-friendly accessibility and mind-numbing, snooze-inducing blandness. Sad to say, with Ogre Tones, King’s X have not only crossed that line, they have travelled so far beyond it that they need to send it postcards to stay in touch.
There’s nothing actually wrong with the music, per se. It’s nicely melodic, with fat sludgy riffs, passably throaty rock vocals and everyone-deserves-equality PC lyrics. It sounds good too; the production values are high and the whole thing slips through your aural tract as smoothly as a greased earwig. Then it slips right out again. There’s nothing particularly memorable here – Ogre Tones is repetitive and inoffensive and, well, safe. It could be played at a family wedding and the grandmother of the bride would probably smile and nod along (assuming she wasn’t involved in a punch-up with a distant cousin over What Your Terry Said About Our Sheryl). The occasional song raises the bar a little – the mock Little Richard-styling of ‘Bebop’ and the with-freedom-comes-responsibility message of ‘Freedom’ stand out briefly – but they are all too soon subsumed into the general morass of uninspired rock-by-numbers.
King’s X have the technical talent and, with thirteen studio albums, the experience to be interesting, but as long as they carry on phoning it in like this they aren’t going to impress anyone fast. Perhaps one day we’ll see them back on the civilised side of that line.
4/10
King’s X's Official Website
InsideOut Music’s Official Website
