Album Review — KXM
KXM — Circle of Dolls
Chemistry is hard to define. I’m not talking high school Chemistry, but chemistry between musicians. It’s a word everyone throws around when explaining how much they like playing music with other musicians. But to me, it’s more than that. Chemistry in a band is when the sum of the individual musicians is greater than the individual pieces. Sometimes you put a few great musicians in a room and you get something even better. And sometimes you don’t.
For me, the latter is true with KXM. Ray Luzier (Korn) is a fine drummer. George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) is in so many bands I can’t keep track and is a guitar legend. And Dug Pinnick (King’s X) is one of my favorite vocalists of all-time and quite a good bass player. When I heard these three guys were getting together I was so excited.
But I found that the first two records are just OK. I really like the musicianship but the songs just aren’t there. With the band’s latest release, “Circle of Dolls”, it has happened again for me. There’s some impressive playing on this record, but I’m just not a fan of the songs.
According to the band, they just get together in a studio and jam. No pre-written ideas, just whatever comes out is what you get. Each day in the studio begins with the band jamming and ends with a finished song (minus the lyrics and lead solo). It seems to work musically as there are some interesting musical moments on the record, but the songs feel a little all over the place with no real center for many of them.
From the outset of the record, we get that familiar double bass drum as Luzier really shines. The sound of the band is hard to describe. It’s not King’s X, definitely not Dokken, and not exactly Korn. I’ve seen it described as alternative metal. Maybe. There’s quite a bit of the three guys jamming. Lynch is impressive, although it’s definitely different than his Dokken style of playing. Maybe the closest comparison to any of their back catalogues is some of Pinnick’s solo work.
However you want to describe it, it is based on the three musicians much more than on the songs themselves. So much so that as I’ve listened to the album, no song stands out. There are interesting musical moments in many of the songs, but they just don’t come together for me.
I am a song oriented listener. I’m always looking for a great song. So this record isn’t for me even though I can appreciate the impressive musicianship. But if you can appreciate musical nuances and time signatures and a good jam record, this may be for you.
I can appreciate that these guys like playing together and experimenting. They each make their living in other bands, so this can just be fun for them. More power to them. I’ll just have to wait a few more months for the next King’s X record.
80 out of 100
Track Listing
01. War of Words
02. Mind Swamp *
03. Circle Of Dolls
04. Lightning *
05. Time Flies
06. Twice
07. Big As The Sun
08. Vessel of Destruction
09. A Day Without Me
10. Wide Awake
11. Shadow Lover
12. Cold Sweats
13. The Border
Bonus Track
14. War of Words (Radio Edit) — CD & Download Versions Only
*Best Songs