Review Summary: In the words of the members themselves, this was an album full of hits that their label demanded. Does that take away from the songwriting ability, musicianship and subtle complexities that King's X is known for? Not one bit.
So maybe King's X WAS under heavy label pressure to create an album full of hits when they wrote 1996's Ear Candy, but did that stop them from losing their signature sound? No. In the words of bassist/vocalist dUg Pinnick, "We gave them hits." Though the band feels they did supply the label with ample amounts of radio-friendly tunes, it didn't take away from the quality songwriting and musicianship that King's X came to be known for.
What Ear Candy does best is have a completely unique sound that no other album in 1996 had. The crunchy, melody-laden guitar was there, the thick, bottom-ended bass was there, the pocket-style drumming was there, and last but not least, the soulful vocals were there, but it still managed to stand apart from everything else out at the time.
On songs like Thinking and Wondering (What I'm Gonna Do) and A Box, frontman dUg Pinnick struggles with the hardships of life, making choices on what he wants to do with himself, and how he wants to break free from this metaphorical box that his then-current religion had him locked in. On slower songs such as Lies in the Sand (The Ballad of...), guitarist/vocalist Ty Tabor wonders what religion is really about, with lines like 'There's a man / Who says there's a light in the sky / All my friends say he's telling a lie / But he speaks with such passion that I have to think about.' Drummer/vocalist Jerry Gaskill also gets a song on this album, entitled American Cheese (Jerry's Pianto), one his 3 solo-written songs in the King's X catalogue (bonus points to who can name the other 2).
Overall, the album never really loses steam (maybe because the first song is called The Train?), though the 2nd half seems to have the slower songs on the album. There are minimal to zero weak spots to find throughout the entire CD, but are there ever any in a King's X album?
