The Witching Hour Sessions – 09/02/2018 – X

The Witching Hour Sessions – 09/02/2018

X


X were an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1977, among the first wave of American punk. The original members are vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist/bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake. The band released seven studio albums from 1980 to 1993. After a period of inactivity during the mid to late 1990s, X reunited in the early 2000s.
X achieved limited mainstream success but influenced various genres of music, including punk rock and folk rock. In 2003, X’s first two studio albums, ‘Los Angeles’ and ‘Wild Gift’, were ranked by Rolling Stone as being among the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Tonight’s listening;

1 – Los Angeles (1980)

X’s debut, ‘Los Angeles’, is considered by many to be one of punk’s all-time finest recordings, and with good reason. Most punk bands used their musical inability to create their own style, but X actually consisted of some truly gifted musicians, including rockabilly guitarist Billy Zoom, bassist John Doe, and frontwoman Exene Cervenka, who, with Doe, penned poetic lyrics and perfected sweet yet biting vocal harmonies.


2 – Wild Gift (1981)

For X’s second release, 1981’s ‘Wild Gift’, the quartet followed the same path they had taken a year earlier on their debut, Los Angeles, creating another batch of timeless compositions that merged the energy of punk rock with other musical styles. While it may be a shade less exceptional than its predecessor, ‘Wild Gift’ is nonetheless a classic effort


3 – Under the Big Black Sun (1982)

X’s first album issued on a major label, 1982’s ‘Under the Big Black Sun’, is arguably their finest record. All 11 songs are exceptional, from both a performance and compositional point of view. Again, Cervenka and John Doe supply some great vocal harmonies while Billy Zoom shows off great rockabilly chops throughout. ‘Under the Big Black Sun’ is one of the quintessential rock records from the ’80s.


 

Facebook Comments
0 thoughts on “The Witching Hour Sessions – 09/02/2018 – X”

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: