LIVE LOVE IN LONDON

I know Ty Tabor from collaborating with The Jelly Jam. KING'S X are a recommended heavy rock band which comprises some prog substance. They have already been on my orbit for some time, which means I've already heard some songs before, but never got into a complete album. After reaching for this live recordings by accident (as a promo) it was about time of course. Now first of all - they surely rock the house (London's Electric Ballroom), please their fans, play a setlist consisting of spotlights from 15 albums in the meanwhile.

Not being familiar with the discography, of course I must fail to point to the corresponding album at present when it comes to each song. It would be a puzzle for me - so I will leave this to the fanboys (and girls). First CD starts with two relatively simple straightforward rock songs which are not really striking, maybe just have the task to handle the band's warmup, to reach for full speed. Which means Pleiades comes much more substantial as for my impression, if only because also provided with some relaxed jamming approach. And at the end they catch their fans with the statement 'This is our favourite place to play' - nothing won't go wrong yet!

Groovy heavy rock with a proper grunge proportion is the name of the game now - starting with the excellent Move Ty Tabors' guitar playing is sometimes psychedelic tinged, which makes the songs more attractive to me. On the other hand - I find the drum playing too simple in the whole. So all in all, concering prog standards, this is often limited, I'm missing trickiness, stylistical variety. Want to point out Dogman especially when it comes to the exceptions - the guitar is striking, very heavy but also Robin Trower styled in some way. And Julie is played very accessible, charming, provided with some pleasant contrast, unfortunately too short because there is so much substance available.

The rest of the songs are not really attractive to me, it sounds too professional and single tracked ... and so we are going over to CD2 with rather mixed feelings .. but that will be more challenging ... they are accentuating the live character from now on. Just take the lengthy Over My Head - groovy, changing time signatures, provided with irresistible guitar work, even drummer Jerry Gaskill comes out of hiding - a highlight for sure ... and the crowd is on cloud nine. They get a band in genial mood, hence, now at the latest, they don't have regreted the coming, I'm sure. Then Goldilox is dedicated to the fans - they simply adopt the vocal parts. This sounds impressing!

The last song Moonjam - obviously an encore - is played with some Jimi Hendrix inspiration - and aimed at getting the last drop of sweat from all attendees .. and the band members too of course. Coming to a conclusion 'Live Love In London' is a good album in its entirety, but only due to the second part of the gig which appears more ambitious. So this can be treated as a couple - the first part is professionally mainstream oriented, the other more seeking into variety and inspiration. A tad heavier - but this reminds me of Phil Lynott's Thin Lizzy in parts. Not really necessary to emphasize - a must have for the fans - but also a good choice if you are interested in some pleasant heavy rock songs played live.