Editing King's X (section)

===Atlantic era (1992–1997)===
The band was moved up to Megaforce's parent label [[Atlantic Records]] for the release of their fourth album, ''[[King's X (album)|King's X]]'', in early 1992. However, rising tensions with Taylor led the band to eschew the upbeat approach of previous albums and turn out a darker, more introspective effort. Unfortunately, despite critical praise, their new style did not translate well among the record-buying public, thus garnering fewer sales than ''Faith, Hope, Love''. "[[Black Flag (song)|Black Flag]]", the album's lone single, received only moderate airplay on [[MTV]] and radio. Not long after the release of ''King's X'', the band parted ways with Taylor. The details of the split were not made public, but it was believed to be rather bitter. Taylor would admit in 1996 that his company Wilde Silas MusicWorks was growing and, as a result, he was no longer giving King's X, whom he considered "the top dogs," the attention they deserved.<ref name="houstonpress">Hobart, Rowland [https://web.archive.org/web/20160529184126/http://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-resurrection-of-sam-taylor-6571643 The Resurrection of Sam Taylor] ''[[Houston Press]]'' (May 16, 1996). Retrieved January 16, 2011.</ref> In the aftermath, King's X took over a year off to consider their collective future together. The band members followed other, non-musical pursuits; most notably, guitarist Ty Tabor took up semi-professional motocross motorcycle racing.

With [[grunge]] at the peak of its popularity, and Pearl Jam's bassist [[Jeff Ament]] declaring that "King's X invented grunge"<ref name="1999 interview">{{Cite web |url=http://steve.anthropiccollective.org/archives/2007/10/doug_pinnick_in.html |title=Doug Pinnick interview from March 1999 |last=Lawson |first=Steve |date=October 16, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302080100/http://steve.anthropiccollective.org/archives/2007/10/doug_pinnick_in.html |archive-date=March 2, 2008 |access-date=January 15, 2008}}</ref> (despite the group's trademark sound being very different from that of the commercially successful grunge acts), the band went looking for a new sound upon their return. They enlisted veteran producer [[Brendan O'Brien (music producer)|Brendan O'Brien]], who had recently produced albums for [[Stone Temple Pilots]] and [[Pearl Jam]]. The resulting album, 1994's ''[[Dogman (King's X album)|Dogman]]'', showcased a much more muscular and heavy sound from the group, with Pinnick now handling all lead vocals and the lyrics becoming less abstract and spiritual. The record received a heavier promotional push from Atlantic including a compilation promotional CD entitled: ''Building Blox'', as King's X enjoyed a successful tour, capped by an appearance at the [[Woodstock '94]] festival in August. They also toured with bands such as the [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://vk.com/pages?oid=-1082&p=1993-1994_Face_The_Heat_Tour |title=VK.com |website=vk.com |access-date=February 9, 2018}}</ref> [[Pearl Jam]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archive.alternativenation.net/kings-x-drummer-pearl-jam-historic-1994-tour/ |title=King's X Drummer Remembers Pearl Jam's 'Historic' 1994 Tour - AlternativeNation.net |website=archive.alternativenation.net |access-date=February 9, 2018}}</ref> [[Mötley Crüe]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tourdatesearch.com/tourdates/artist/325/motley-crue |title=TourDateSearch.com: Mötley Crüe tour dates |website=tourdatesearch.com |access-date=February 9, 2018}}</ref> and [[Type O Negative]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tourdatesearch.com/tourdates/artist/439/type-o-negative?p=41 |title=TourDateSearch.com: Type O Negative tour dates |website=tourdatesearch.com |access-date=February 9, 2018}}</ref> but despite a return to the Top 100 for King's X, the album failed to sell as well as Atlantic had hoped, and the label's support for the group quickly faded.

The band's third release under Atlantic, 1996's ''[[Ear Candy (King's X album)|Ear Candy]]'', would also be their last for the label (not including a subsequent ''[[Best of King's X]]'' compilation). Although it sold to the band's sizeable core following, it lacked the relative mainstream success of previous efforts. The record was soon out of print, and it seemed that the group's chance for commercial success had come and gone.