The best band you've never heard/ King's X doesn't mind reputation as

With a career spanning more than 20 years, King's X are hailed as the pioneers of the sound that became grunge.

They're credited with influencing bands such as Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, originating a sound that's powerful yet melodic and lyrically internal.

They've created a worldwide fan base and produced nine studio albums. The band comes to the Gardens nightclub on Sunday.

You'd think with such a lengthy resume, King's X would be a household name. But when the band emerged on the scene in the early 1980s, they set the music scene on its ear.

"The public was not ready for it - I know that," singer and bassist Doug Pinnick says by phone from Pittsburgh.

The band drew on rock influences from the '60s and '70s, producing an original sound with thundering guitar riffs, introspective lyrics and muscular harmonies. The new sound garnered little radio support or chart success. But fellow musicians took notice.

With their first LP release in 1988, "Out of the Silent Planet," King's X paved a new path for rock music.

Pinnick acknowledges his band at first was more popular with other artists than with the general public.

"They call us the musician's musician band," he says. "In the beginning, (superstardom) is what we hoped for and wanted, but now I look back and I'd rather be called a legend than a has-been, and I'd rather have respect, you know, when I die rather than a where-are- they-now."

King's X's accomplishments haven't gone unnoticed. VH1 recently named them in its Top 100 Hard Rock Bands of All Time, a list compiled by musicians. The band spent seven years producing six albums with Atlantic Records, and they're still touring, performing almost every night. They've created a fanatic King's X following.

Their ninth and most recent album, "Manic Moonlight," contains their signature sound with more of a funk influence, a la Sly and the Family Stone, Pinnick says. Most songs have a softer feel. At the shows, though, "we do old and new," he says. "We do something just about from every record."

For fans concerned that King's X is getting soft with age, Pinnick says not to worry. It's not a trend - just the direction the band wanted to take for this album.

"'Manic Moonlight' was sort of a weird record that wasn't real heavy and aggressive, but that doesn't mean the next record won't be so brutal, in-your-face you can't deal with it."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: King's X in concert

WHEN: 9 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: The Gardens nightclub, 2945 E. Galley Road

TICKETS: $10, 597-2900

Copyright 2002
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