XV

Born from the ashes of the Christian rock group "Petra", King's X was the response from the breakup of one of the band members coming out of the closet. Suddenly, that well loved Christian band didn't want to back up their band anymore. A shame really, Petra was a decent enough band and actually had more progressive leanings than King's X ever would. However, as proven once again in this album "XV", their rock would become harder and somewhat darker.

"XV" is named for the fact that, counting their live releases, this was their 15th official release. As for myself, I am not real familiar with this band, but I was curious how the band would sound considering their legacy. It's a shame that Dug was judged the way he was by a group of people that are told not to judge others. But he would go on making music, which was his love. The music on this album is well produced, but there is not much here (if anything at all) that is progressive. It is hard edged rock, straightforward and based on blues, and it is also made up of some softer ballads. Some of the lyrics are corny, as on "Rocket Ship", "Broke", and "Blue", but there are some first rate rock music here too. They shine the most on the harder edged songs, but even some of those are kind of "washed-out". They do have some harmonies that are nice and reminiscent of "Galactic Cowboys" as in the song "Stuck" which also has a great, but short, guitar solo.

The vocalists are pretty good, they are a fresh difference from most hard, edged bands, but there are times when they suffer too. I am disappointed somewhat that this band has been around for as long as they have, but not much has changed or progressed from their earlier days. Their are some great guitar hooks, but all the songs are short and don't really have a chance to develop much. Choruses are often repetitive and they sound like they were trying to find the right song to be an anthem, but they haven't been able to come up with anything that can be considered a hit, or showstopper. That is another problem, nothing here or really anywhere in their discography stands out. By the time you get to the middle of the album, you are starting to think things sound the same.

So, overall, this is a good album, but not as far as prog terms go. It's pretty standard rock that tries really hard, but doesn't accomplish anything that makes the band stand out. There will be a lot of rockers that would love this, but it's not "different" enough for my liking. 3 stars.