FAITH HOPE LOVE

King's X: Ty Tabor (vocals, guitar); Doug Pinnick (vocals, bass); Jerry Gaskill (drums, background vocals). Personnel: Ty Tabor (vocals, guitar, sitar); Doug Pinnick (vocals, bass guitar); Jerry Gaskill (vocals, drums, percussion); Max Dyer (cello); Kemper Crabb (recorder, soprano recorder); Erik Ralske (French horn); Little Willie Sammy Taylor, Sam Taylor (organ); Dane Sonnier, Ben Huggins, Alan Doss, Monty Colvin (background vocals). Recording information: Rampart Studios, Houston, TX. Unknown Contributor Role: Wilde Silas Mass Choir. On their third release, 1990's FAITH HOPE LOVE, King's X stretches out. Only five of the album's 13 tracks are below the four-minute mark, as the trio indulged in their already rich sonic approach. The result wasn't quite as focused as its predecessor, GRETCHEN GOES TO NEBRASKA, but FAITH HOPE LOVE remains one of the trio's finest and most ambitious releases. The album spawned the melodic rocker "It's Love," which became the closest King's X ever came to a crossover MTV/radio hit, but FAITH HOPE LOVE is an incredibly consistent album. Tracks such as "We Are Finding Who We Are," the wicked "Moanjam" (which had been a live showstopper for years before its inclusion here), "I Can't Help It," "Talk To You," and "We Were Born to be Loved" capture King's X at the height of their prog-rock apex.