‘Faith Hope Love,’ the album that arguably came closest to breaking King’s X to a mainstream audience, was released 30 years ago today. By early 1991 ‘It’s Love’ was in regular rotation on MTV and the band was booked to tour both the US and Europe as support for AC/DC. Megaforce’s work at radio also finally was starting to pay off, Atlantic taking the foundation they’d built and getting full rock airplay for the band.
Take time to listen to this now-classic record today and read about its creation in ‘What You Make It: The Authorized Biography of Doug Pinnick.’
You can also watch a full set of the band’s performance on the road with AC/DC at the end the post.
Excerpt from ‘What You Make It’ –
King’s X returned to Rampart Studios for ‘Faith Hope Love.’ ‘Moanjam’ was one of the first songs recorded. It was 10 years old and had no words to it. Doug would simply hum the melody. The bass line prompted Doug to refer to it as the band’s “Motorhead song,” while the drum beat lent a gospel tone. Doug’s vocal approach came from the church as well: moaning the melody to a crescendo the way he remembered the singers on Sunday doing when they really wanted to punch things up, then bringing it back down to hook the audience.
When the band decided it should go on the record, Doug felt compelled to add lyrics. Not sure what to write he started with “I want to sing this song for you.” He knew it could be about a person or people but, with the subsequent references to glory, just as easily about God, and ended up penning an unintentional praise chorus.
Chris Smith, Author 