King's X

[Rick and Roll]

Originally Posted by Andyyyy

I loved it! You don't see that kind of brutal honesty and well thought out positions too often from artists....

I just got the OK from Carl Groves: Here is said diatribe (warning - it's NOT for the thinned skinned).....

I read this posting from Doug and although it saddens me greatly, it
doesn't surprise me.

I fear that some of you may get pissed that I venture into
political/religious waters here, but it's related.

I always loved King's X for a couple of reasons: They were smart
musically, and they were smart lyrically. What blew me away was that
unlike the other rock music that boasts smart music and lyrics--
Prog, King's X grooved--they've always really grooved--and so their
music is very "boppable" by the consuming public. But they wrote
songs that required listeners to think. Oftentimes, they required
listeners to think about what was being said *both* musically and
lyrically. And, since about 1980, that simply isn't something that
Americans--especially the "music-buying 16 to 25 year old
demographic"--have the ability to do. So although it frustrates me
to see incredible art being ignored by the masses, it comes as no
surprise. Don't cast your pearls before swine, indeed. But sadly,
when it comes to livelihood by art, the swine determine success.

We want quick. And if we can't get it quick, we go somewhere else.
If somewhere else doesn't have it quick, we whine. And after we
whine, we shut down. We want gas at a dollar a gallon. Quickly. And
we're absolutely enraged that "our leaders" can't wave their
political wands and make it happen. We want a "quick solution in
Iraq." Nevermind that the speed at which the US military is able to
accomplish things is unprecedented. It isn't hard to imagine that
when the Revolutionary War got into it's second year, a modern
mindset would've called the Colonial Leadership incompetent, corrupt
and evil, and would've begged the King's forgiveness. We want a
quick solution to poverty, to disease, to environmental concerns.
But we expect *someone else* to solve these things quickly. We want
to drive 90 and as we pass him, we flip off the guy in the left lane
doing the speed limit. We don't have time to hang out with our kids.
Hell, that's what TV is for, eh? A human being raised by an 8-foot
tall, yellow bird. Gonna make for a swell addition to the species,
eh?

Gimme everything I want in life, and give it to me quick. Where
these solutions don't appear overnight, what is the reaction of
modern America? Vote out the bastard. Vote in a new bastard.
Protest. Write a letter to the editor. Call a talk show. Whine to
friends. And eventually, leave the process entirely. After all,
solutions didn't happen quickly, so what was the use anyway?

We don't want to be told that there's a heaven and a hell. We live
for right here, right now. Piss on tomorrow, I have a belly full of
desire wanting attention *today*. Don't talk to me of morality or
spirituality as that requires deliberation, weighing consequences,
considering the well-being of others. And that takes time. It
doesn't fit my world view of quickness.

And art? Puh-lease. Gimme a nice photograph. Don't gimme something
with 3 eyes. Gimme something I can hum. Don't give me more than two
verses. Please repeat the chorus over and over. And don't alter it
any. If it's over three minutes, you lose me. If you're gonna "say
something" like Dylan, Springsteen, Neil Young, or
other "visionaries", you better present it with three or four chords
and a pedestrian melody. (Rolling Stone magazine says so!) Better
yet, don't try and say anything at all, you pretentious bastard. We
don't have time to think about things, and if we did have the time,
we don't have the desire to consider anything of importance anyway.
It might require us to change, and humans can't change *quickly.* We
want to feed. We want to frolic. And we want to f***. Sadly, for the
fairer gender of our species, we want to do the latter quickly, as
well.

Stepping down off the soapbox, but felt the need to respond to
Doug's post--what I believe to be one of the myriad symptoms of a
pervasive, and if not treated, ultimately fatal disease to the US
and Western civilization.

C

[progdirjim(Admin)]

hmm.

A lot of ground has been covered here, and I have a lot of opinions on most of it. What's most relevant?

First, since this is a rare post that STARTED as a King's X post, and wasn't hijacked to that place, I'll start there.

King's X is arguably the best band that isn't (and probably never will be) on Aural Moon. They play hard rock. Incredibly melodic, intelligent, catchy, and just plain GREAT hard rock. Listen to them. Listen to their riffs, lyrics, and instrumentalism. One of the few bands that will have you saying "wow" while you're tapping your feet.

So, let it be known, I'm a huge King's X fan. Thanks to Yesspaz. I too, am depressed, with Doug's message. I know that many good bands will never achieve the same level of success as the media darlings. But to hear someone who seems like a good man being THAT depressed, is depressing.

Now, Carl Groves's post. Umm, what exactly is his point? He starts with what I interpret as a compliment to KX - so far, so good. He switches to a valid complaint about today's (and, I think, every era's) desire for quick solutions. Again, I'm agreeing. Then, the subtle topical switch: The war in Iraq makes sense. WHAT? Read the post. That's what he's saying. As someone who is confident in the knowledge that we are being governed by the worst president ever, I cannot let that rhetorical device go by unchallenged. (OK, I admit, I'm not a historian. There's an outside chance that Zachary Taylor was a worse president, but I doubt it. )

I agree with about 90% of Carl's post. I sorta addressed (dissented with) the 5% that was political. I'll save the other 5% that is religious for someone braver than me.

[Rick and Roll]

Originally Posted by progdirjim

There's an outside chance that Zachary Taylor was a worse president, but I doubt it. )

Maybe a King's X post that is hijacked into a Zachary Taylor post?

Nah, just kidding

[Andyyyy]

Originally Posted by progdirjim

...
King's X is arguably the best band that isn't (and probably never will be) on Aural Moon. They play hard rock. Incredibly melodic, intelligent, catchy, and just plain GREAT hard rock. Listen to them. Listen to their riffs, lyrics, and instrumentalism. One of the few bands that will have you saying "wow" while you're tapping your feet.

So, let it be known, I'm a huge King's X fan. Thanks to Yesspaz. I too, am depressed, with Doug's message. I know that many good bands will never achieve the same level of success as the media darlings. But to hear someone who seems like a good man being THAT depressed, is depressing.

Interesting position about their music (which I have yet to hear). And this is why I do like AM. I don't really care too much for hard rock, and if I get in the mood for it, there are many other places where I can hear it. Thanks for what you do here Jim. I would only add that I think Doug can be entitiled to his feelings after all the work it took to do what he and his band do....that took a chunk of their lives, and sweat and dedication, and to feel like it's underappreciated could be very depressing. I saw this more as a moment of frustration and blowing off steam.

Originally Posted by progdirjim, who opines that:

Then, the subtle topical switch: The war in Iraq makes sense. WHAT? Read the post. That's what he's saying. As someone who is confident in the knowledge that we are being governed by the worst president ever, I cannot let that rhetorical device go by unchallenged.

We'll have to discuss this one at the next concert over a beer or three.
Speaking of that, I believe Pat Mastoletto was at the Coach House with a band I never heard of recently... (ooops, that's a topic switch!)

[Yesspaz]

Originally Posted by progdirjim

The war in Iraq makes sense. WHAT? Read the post. That's what he's saying. As someone who is confident in the knowledge that we are being governed by the worst president ever, I cannot let that rhetorical device go by unchallenged. (OK, I admit, I'm not a historian. There's an outside chance that Zachary Taylor was a worse president, but I doubt it. )

Jim, I like what you're doing with prog music, but I gotta tell you I just love the fact that you're "confident in the knowledge that we are being governed by the worst president ever." Whew! I'm glad you're not a historian, because putting that in a book would be to forget a lot of presidencies. I'm a conservative in every sense of the word, and am the first to admit that GWB is not turning out quite the way I'd hoped. Frankly, I'm disappointed in him. But he was (and still is) the lesser of two evils when compared to either Gore or Kerry (my opinion). The closest I can get to your line however, is "confident in the knowledge that we are being goverend by the worst president since Bill Clinton."

Ok, now we've gone and hi-jacked this KX thread into a political thread, and since I really don't want to get anymore into that than I already have, I'll leave it all to you folks.

PS: I haven't commented on the KX stuff because I mostly knew all that before anyway, having been a fan for about a decade.

[Rick and Roll]

I posted this as something that sounded interesting...I've been with these fools since their beginnings....

Reading Doug's rant, then Carl's, then Andy's, gives a very good perspective to it all.

To me, that's the beauty of this thread...

As for the other stuff:

I found out Carl Groves wrote a 500+ page book of fiction called "Falling Into Grey" that looks fascinating. I'll be getting it for Father's Day (even if have to buy it myself)! It touches on some sensitive issues of race relations.

I am not too passionate about politics. Not all politicians are assholes, but the process is faulty. Still, it beats living in North Korea....

and I stopped worrying about it since the 2000 election. There is no plausible explanation of how Al Gore went from almost president to buffoon in a week. That's the horrific reality of our labelling, do it now society.

We're talking about a guy who champions environmental issues and other intelligent topics. Isn't that what's lacking about most politicians? When Al Gore got kicked to the curb, politics lost me.

Didn't he get the popular vote? Do all these people who voted for him have amnesia?

They're the same people who live and die by American Idol. What's scary is there's millions of them!