Customer Reviews

Emotional Animal

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Any King's X fan knows that the two albums Doug Pinnick released under the Poundhound moniker were nothing but absolute solo discs that allowed him to explore different aspects of songwriting and offer his great legion of fans a more personal side of his music. Emotional Animal is still a solo album; it just got released under Pinnick's own name (except that he likes to spell his name as dUg rather than Doug) and he is still the man responsible for everything on it. As with the two Poundhound discs, he has written all lyrics and music, played all instruments with the exception of drums, and even recorded and mixed the album on his own. Before going into the details, I have to point out that the production on Emotional Animal is incredibly tight, with great sonic quality and sound separation. You'll hear various elements popping out from all different angles at various times with great dynamics. It's really awesome.

On Emotional Animal, Doug Pinnick continues to use his solo albums as a medium to push his music into unexplored directions. Although the album does share some common themes with the Poundhound records, this one is less groovy and more experimental. The songs are forthright and do not emphasize Pinnick's amazing multi-vocal harmonies heard on King's X stuff. On the contrary, Pinnick opts for a more profound musical statement by disregarding standard songwriting formulas, and forming a solid hybrid of rock, funk, grunge, alternative and pop. His voice is still among rock's most soulful ever and his lyrics are extremely personal. Best seen on the moving ballad "Beautiful", Pinnick actually sings it to himself by just creating an imaginery 'you' person, and the chorus that goes, "Don't forget that you're beautiful just the way you are" is simply haunting, given the way it is worked into the song thanks to a groovy bass bottom. Likewise, the somewhat tongue-in-cheek commentary on "Equal Rights" is actually a very sincere statement, and it is only strengthened by his classic rock signature and gospel-like vocal delivery. He even plays slide guitar on this piece that is nothing short of impressive. As a matter fact, this album is unafraid to borrow a multitude of non-rock instruments. I hear weird percussion work on "Noon", one of the darkest and creepiest songs Pinnick has written that delivers blues guitar licks and blends them with a grungy vocal style. As usual, Pinnick has a knack for melodies and this song is stamped with a very memorable melody through its 5-minute running time.

While the first half of the album contains more straightforward rock numbers punctuated by grinding groove and hard-hitting bass tones, the second half is more varied and experimental. The dirty rock'n roll on "Zepp" morphs into an unexpected trance of psychedelia halfway through, only to feature a long drum solo played by Joy Gaskill. Yes, Joy is King's X drummer Jerry Gaskill's son, and he is an amazing drummer. His style is diverse and rhythm-friendly. However, as on "Zepp", he will also cut loose from time to time. "Freak the Funk Out" is a heavily experimental song that has tribal rhythm anchor, strange voice-overs, mouth trumpet (believe it or not but it really sounds like a trumpet except that it's actually a human being producing it) and some guest back-up vocals from Kelly Watson. The song moves from genre to genre with the blink of an eye; one moment it's a crazy jazz number and then a soundtrack for a cult movie. "Are You Gonna Come" is no different stylistically. However this song has a more defined purpose to it in that it features a lot of interesting guitar work, with unconventional tunings, and a stretched improvised instrumental section that allows Joy Gaskill to once again impress us with his great drum fills.

It is a good thing that Doug Pinnick puts out solo releases in order to push the limits of his own voice and instrumental abilities. Some of the material on this disc would seem terribly out of place on, say, the latest King's X album Ogre Tones, and vice versa. So long as he has the time for both projects, King's X and Pinnick fans are in for a treat. It is worth mentioning that Emotional Animal comes with a nice CD-Rom section plus bonus demos.

If you are here looking at this review, then you probably already know that dUg Pinnick, who recently changed the spelling of his first name from 'Doug' to 'dUg' (emphasis on 'U'), comes from the Texas group King's X. If you know that, then you're probably a fan and if you're a fan then you definitely don't let other people tell you what what you should like! So, reviews probably don't mean much to you! :-)

But, from one King's X fan to another, here are some thoughts and reflections on dUg's new album.

I've always throught of Doug as the heart and blood of King's X. As such, his solo music is kind of like King's X unleashed. Those of you familiar with his PoundHound albums will recall the deep, grungy grooves that he gets into, the massive low-end and the unchecked emotion that pours out. Well, with no less heart (in fact, if possible, more), this album is a ton more sophisticated sonically and a bit more beautiful and rounded in terms of the music itself.

The songs themselves are works of art with all of the low-end you would expect, more rich beauty than we're used to and some absolutely beautiful vocal harmonies (my personal weakness). dUg achieved more varied sounds throughout the album this time around and his legendary voice always finds that nerve that leads right to your ears to your heart.

The engineering is tremendous. I have no idea how this was done, but the sound spectrum is completely utilized producing richness that is unlike anything I've ever heard in an album of this kind. Sounds are always popping out from different directions and dUg's voice is doubled with a stereo separation that makes it sparkle like a diamond. If you put this album in a nice home theater system, the rear channel picks up a lot of these incidental sounds producing a truly unique and entertaining sound experience. I actually emailed dUg to ask him how he did this and he responded typically, "I have no ideah, I just mixed it in stereo... guess I got lucky??" :-)

The lyrics to most of the songs on this album are real, beautiful and personal. The song's "Beautiful" and "Missing" are the most tender thoughts I've heard from anyone involved in the entertainment industry. My four-year-old little girl runs around all the time now singing, "Don't forget that you're beautiful just the way you are..."

A great buy. Highly recommended!

I made sure I listened to this cd a few more times before I wrote my review...'cause I was pretty sure what I initially thought about this record would not last. Doug Pinnick is far and away my favorite musician. And having listened to him for oh so many years now....I've learned that so often his and King's X's material just keeps growing on me the more I listen to it. Such is the case with Emotional Animal. Pinnick's lyrics are always very personal and equally thoughtful. If you were to go through the entire King's X catalog(along with Poundhound), you can hear it all unfold like his autobiography, early on with his beliefs in religion and eventually evolving into belief in himself. Emotional Animal is the latest chapter and is in fact one his best efforts. My only reason for not giving it five stars is simply because there is one or two songs that didn't do much for me and quite franky, I think he missed greatness on a couple of others by stopping too soon. "Wrong" is a one minute a capella melody that is so rich and so good. Could have been the best song on the cd. But it's over before you can say "Great song!". "Mr. Hateyourself" is also a nice groove that ends way too soon. Other than that, just a great, great record. "Beautiful" is the one I can't stop singing. Other highlights are "Crashing", "Change", "Missing", and the atmospheric "Noon". Also check out "Haven't Been Here Before", which aside from "Beautiful", would be my second favorite. There are also two bonus songs found when played on your computer, "Saturdays" and "Die". "Saturdays" is fantastic. It's a shame this record will undoubtedly not be heard by the masses. It deserves to be.

I'll probably invoke the ire of many a diehard fan here, but I have to say that I was disappointed in this album. For one thing, what happened to Doug's voice? I know he's older and his voice is deeper now, but that can't be it. Just listen to this album back-to-back with King's X's latest, Ogre Tones. I know that stylistically the music is different but there's a huge difference in the quality of his singing.

Some of this may be due to the fact that they used an outside producer on Ogre Tones. Self-production can be liberating, but also present other problems. For one thing, this CD suffers from volume creep (AKA "fader creep"), which is an increasingly common problem in today's music world. It was simply recorded *way* too loud and as a result, listenability suffers.

On to the songs. The album started really well; I like the first five songs but after that I lose interest. I like Doug's idea of playing leads on slide guitar, which really worked on several songs, but I think doing so exclusively throughout the album worked against him because, frankly, he just doesn't have the chops to pull it off consistently, without repetitiveness, over a whole album.

I know I sound really down on Doug Pinnick, but here's a fact: I love the vast majority of the music he's created over the years. He's very, very talented. At the same time, he's entitled to a "less-than-stellar" solo album once in awhile. So if you're new to Doug's solo/Poundhound work, start with Poundhound's Massive Grooves or Pineappleskunk. Two and a half stars.

This is one of those albums that doesn't grab you on the first listen, but doesn't let you go after the third! The songs on this disc are a bit experimental at times and very creative and soulful. Songs like "Crashing", "Are You Gonna Come", and "Zepp" could fit in easily on a King's X record while other tracks like "Equal Rights" and "Change" find dUg treading new ground with acoustic and slide guitar. The drum tracks on this album are played phenomenally well by Joy Gaskill, son of King's X drummer Jerry. This is a must for all dUg Pinnick fans and for anyone interested in something straight from the soul.

After Poundhound had ended, KING'S X singer/bassist put out this proper solo album and it is a strange, unusual, rock journey to be sure. It is all very fine, interesting, rocking tunes, but is definately unique, different and totally Dug. Very cool, unusual rock metal journey.

This is a good album, and I am a huge King's X fan and a dUg fan. Though not a great album, It has the characteristic voice of dUg as well as his hooks and licks. I would recommend his 1st PoundHound effort before this album, but I enjoyed this album more than Pineapple Skunk, so in the end this is his 3rd album, and 2nd best rated from me. Definitly would recommended this album to any Prog Rock fan, King's X fan, or dUg fan. Anyone else, I would say get PoundHound first, and if you love that album then you will like this one as well.

This record is AWESOME!!
Doug has one of the greatest voices in rock music.
His voice and music have been an inspiration since I first heard King's X music on the Faith Hope and Love record.
Definaltly buy this one...

I always like to hear what dUg is up to when not performing with King's X. He always brings many different styles and sounds to his side projects and stays true to his fans.

This CD from Dug is good, but it's going to probably take you a few times listening to it to fully digest some of the things that he's doing. He's very expressive in the lyrics, as always, and really plays with the sound that has become his trademark. He's a great rhythm man, but sometimes there is no layer of guitar work that puts the punctuation on the songs. It left me a bit flat at times. There are some gems here similar to his Poundhound Pinappleskunk CD, but you got to dig to find them.