Rethinking Dogman.

After getting into Ear Candy lately, and having been working on these web reviews around the same time, I've gone back and listened to Dogman with an open mind and gave it the first serious listen I've allowed myself since the first couple times a few years ago.

I must immediately apologize to myself and anyone who's heard me rag on this album: I'm quite wrong. The band's low point is pretty well the self-titled, slightly commercialized, Atlantic debut (which I still like, mind you). Dogman competes well with Out Of The Silent Planet and the newest (EC). This album deserved more of my time.

The problem, really, is that I missed Sam Taylor's influence. The difference is obvious at first, but all the writing and playing is still there. It's just that when this came out, it sounded an awful lot like everything else that was coming out at the time. I mean, Brendan O'Brien was pretty busy for a while there. Given some time to get away from that fact, I can now judge it on it's face value, relative to the rest of the bands material rather than the rest of alt.rock.radio.overplayed!

The solo in Flies And Blue Skies gives my beloved solo in Everywhere I Go some serious competition. The bridge in Pillow hails back to Pleiades or faith hope love's title track. The vocals on Sunshine Rain are equal or better to anything on Gretchen Goes To Nebraska, and anyone who knows me knows how much I love that album.

And as for the elements that define King's X, those prog-rock riffs are all over Shoes and Human Behavior, the experimentation comes out in Cigarettes and the rant of Go To Hell, and the emotions just drip off of Flies And Blue Skies and the title track. We don't really get too many extended jams, but then again I guess that's what Manic Depression was for.

All around, I'd have to say that I don't know why I didn't get into this album before, and plan to get into it much more in the future.

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