I just got pounded into the ground by three guys in Hollywood. No, no, no......don't worry! It's not what you're thinking. I didn't get mugged or beat up. It was a different kind of pounding, and in this case it was a good thing.
It happened inside the Whisky A Go-Go, and the three guys were named dUg, Ty and Jerry, collectively known as King's X. They are experts at pounding people into the ground because they play Sledgehammer Rock. Tonight, I was just one of about 300 victims, and all of us loved every minute of it.
Man, it was brutal. I've seen King's X probably about 12 times by now, going back to 1992, and they just keep getting heavier and more defined as the years go by. It's interesting to note that KX is not a metal band, and yet their sound is heavier than most metal because of the emphasis on the bottom end.
They have been credited as being the first hard rock band to use downtuning as a standard practice, using "drop D" tuning on every song to get a heavier sound. Many bands who might have tried such a tactic would have wound up sounding sloppy or fuzzy, but because King's X are such a tight ensemble, and such proficient musicians, they are able to use their low end background as a kind of Magic Carpet: a thick, plush, rolling layer of sound over which they can paint other colors, which in their case include the two and three part vocal harmonies they are famous for, and lots of blistering lead breaks and arpeggiated guitar chords. It's quite a big sound for three musicians, but Big Sound has often been a trademark for the best three piece bands, because each musician has to cover a lot of ground. Also, in a trio the members aren't competing with other members, like rhythm guitar or keyboards, for wavelengths on a PA system. There's just one guitar, one bass and one drummer. So if the players are really good - like Rush, Cream, Jimi Hendrix Experience or King's X, then they can create a huge sound with no interference coming from other players.
Trios only work if all three musicians are top of the line experts.
King's X are, and what they have besides their industrial strength heaviness and colorful overtones, is syncopation. All three pieces interlock like gears in a fine watch.
Grimsley went with me, and he noted that the guys don't even look at each other during the unusual "stop and start" time signatures in a song like "We Were Born To Be Loved".
I suggested that they don't need to look, because the music is bigger than the band at this point. They have been playing together for 38 years, and - here comes that word again - an intuition develops between players that seems uncanny to the audience.
It's a "look Ma, no hands" thing, because the band is so tight, so interlocking and yet separate - each guy creating his part - and it comes across not as effortless because KX aren't a Flash Band. Instead it comes across as full of effort and passion, which is the key word.
That is why you get pounded when you go to a KX show, because they are using the Sledgehammer approach to get their point across.
Well at any rate, I am doubly deaf now, with King's X coming just a few days after the Judas Priest show.
Grim called them the "Zero Body Fat Band", because you can see how skinny all the guys are, and dUg took his shirt off, and he is skinny but completely ripped at 68 years of age.
How the heck does he do that?
I have no idea. I am just happy to keep my weight down, and I could stand to lose six or seven pounds right now.
I will see you in the morning.
(Holy Smokes and Good Lordy Moses).......
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