by Greg Prato
By switching from Atlantic Records to the smaller Metal Blade label in 1998 for their Tapehead release, King's X was finally able to call their own musical shots without having to worry about coming up with the &big crossover hit.& Their second release for their new label (and eighth overall), Please Come Home...Mr. Bulbous, shows that this veteran band still has plenty of gas left in the tank. If you're a fan of the band's heavier and slightly darker direction of recent times, then Mr. Bulbous is for you. Although it starts off with one of their weaker album openers, &Fish Bowl Man& (especially when compared to such stellar past opening cuts as &We Are Finding Who We Are,& &Dogman,& and &Train&), King's X quickly picks things up where they left off with such outstanding melodic heavies as &Julia,& &She's Gone Away,& and the mysteriously titled &Charlie Sheen.& While most prog metal bands of the late '80s/early '90s have struggled with their musical direction by the dawn of the millennium, King's X remains true to their longtime vision with Please Come Home...Mr. Bulbous.