Editing King's X (section)

===Megaforce era (1988–1991)===
The group released its debut album as King's X, ''[[Out of the Silent Planet (album)|Out of the Silent Planet]]'', in 1988. Despite being hailed by music critics, the album did not fare well commercially, peaking at No.&nbsp;144 on the ''[[Billboard 200|Billboard]]'' album charts. The songs "King" and "Shot of Love" were released as singles, but failed to garner much attention. The album derives its name from the [[C. S. Lewis]] novel ''[[Out of the Silent Planet]]''. This appears to be the band's first of multiple references to the British author. King's X promoted ''Out of the Silent Planet'' with its first major tour, playing with the likes of [[Cheap Trick]], [[Blue Öyster Cult]], [[Robert Plant]] and [[Hurricane (American band)|Hurricane]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/majesty-mystery-tour-6412569|title=Majesty Mystery Tour|last=Pacenti|first=John|website=[[Phoenix New Times]]|language=en|date=September 13, 1989|access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://innocentwords.com/kings-x-debut-album-out-of-the-silent-planet-turns-30/|title=King's X: Debut Album 'Out of the Silent Planet' Turns 30|website=Innocent Words|date=March 28, 2020|access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref> as well as Megaforce labelmates [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]], [[Testament (band)|Testament]], [[M.O.D.]], and [[Overkill (band)|Overkill]].<ref name="metallipromo.com">{{Cite web |url=http://metallipromo.com/anthrax.html |title=Anthrax Tour Dates |publisher=metallipromo.com |access-date=May 26, 2016}}</ref>

In 1989, the band released their second album ''[[Gretchen Goes to Nebraska]]''. Considered by many fans to be their landmark album and most creative period, the album fared only slightly better from a commercial standpoint than ''Out of the Silent Planet''. The band played with a wide variety of acts while touring in support of it, including Anthrax, [[Suicidal Tendencies]], M.O.D., [[Living Colour]], [[Billy Squier]] and [[Blue Murder (band)|Blue Murder]].<ref name="metallipromo.com" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://metallipromo.com/st.html |title=Suicidal Tendencies Tour Dates |publisher=metallipromo.com |access-date=May 26, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tourdatesearch.com/tourdates/artist/459/kings-x?p=25 |title=King's X tour dates |publisher=tourdatesearch.com |access-date=May 26, 2016}}</ref> The album contains many fan favorites such as "Summerland", "Mission", and "The Burning Down". The song "The Difference (In the Garden of St. Anne's-on-the-Hill)" appears to be another C.S. Lewis reference, this time to a scene in the book ''[[That Hideous Strength]]'', third and final installment of the "science-fiction" trilogy begun by ''Out of the Silent Planet''. The song "Pleiades" is credited by Ty Tabor as being the genesis of the King's X sound when he presented the demo to the other band members a few years earlier. Significantly, the song "Over My Head" received moderate airplay on [[MTV]] and radio.

The increase in exposure would prove beneficial when the band released their third album, ''[[Faith Hope Love]]'', in late 1990. It was the group's first album to crack the U.S. Top 100, with the help of the successful single "[[It's Love]]". Another track, the funk-rock "We Were Born to Be Loved", enjoyed a long life on ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'' as a [[commercial bumper]] instrumental favorite of [[Paul Shaffer]]'s [[CBS Orchestra]]. King's X was featured in the February 1991 issue of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' (RS598).<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/kings-x-keeps-the-faith-19910221 |title=King's X Keeps the Faith |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=February 21, 1991 |access-date=February 9, 2018}}</ref> Still, with major mainstream success continuously eluding them, King's X began questioning Sam Taylor's management vision for the group.

The band landed the opening slot for [[Iron Maiden]] in Europe on their ''[[No Prayer for the Dying]]'' tour in late 1990,<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.ironmaidencommentary.com/?url=tour08_npftd/dates08_npftd&lang=eng&link=tours |title=No Prayer On The Road 1990–91 |publisher=The Iron Maiden Commentary |access-date=May 26, 2016}}</ref> and [[AC/DC]] on their ''[[The Razors Edge (AC/DC album)|Razors Edge]]'' tour in the U.S. and Europe for the first half of 1991.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ac-dc.net/archive/acdc_tour_history.php?date_id=2945 |title=1991 "The Razors Edge" European Tour, Leg 1 |access-date=May 14, 2021}}</ref> In the middle of that year, their song "Junior's Gone Wild" appeared on the soundtrack to the movie ''[[Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey]]''.<ref name="Powell_Fe">{{Cite book |last=Powell |first=Mark Allan |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofco00mark/page/489 |title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |year=2002 |isbn=1-56563-679-1 |edition=First printing |location=[[Peabody, Massachusetts|Peabody]], [[Massachusetts]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofco00mark/page/489 489–493] |url-access=registration}}</ref>