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Please Come Home...Mr. Bulbous | 
 enlarge | Artist: King's X
Label: Metal Blade
Category: Music
New (10) Used (19) from $2.00
Rating:  68 reviews
Sales Rank: 129191
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 039841429824
EAN: 0039841429824
ASIN: B00004T48I
Release Date: May 23, 2000
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| Tracks:
| • | Fish Bowl Man | | • | Julia | | • | She's Gone Away | | • | Marsh Mellow Field | | • | When You're Scared | | • | Charlie Sheen | | • | Smudge | | • | Bitter Sweet | | • | Move Me | | • | Move Me, Pt. 2 |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 63 more reviews...
Pointed a finger straight into the sun. October 13, 2008
There are many reasons for a quick dislike of this album. Ty's magic guitar tone is gone. The production is not as tasty. It's introduced by dissonant stacatto guitar over a beating drum--very un-KingsX-like. The cover itself looks cheap & photoshopped. The lyrics inside seem nonsensical and uncharacteristic.
Time brings it all together, though, and some of KX's finest melodies are here. They may be at their most beatles-esque, and this is their magical mystery tour or their seargeant peppers. It's like KX decided to be a different band for an album, but its just their doppelganger in an alternate universe. The lyrics are dream-like and full of images, wordplay, fairy-tale nonsense but emotionally focused nonsense. Mr. Wilson even shows up from the Faith Hope Love album--a nod to their most psychedelic record before Bulbous.
It's alternatingly very pretty and very heavy with more dissonance than guitar solos. (There is one awesome one on "When You're Scared"). There is passion here. It just works differently. Its kinda proggy but poppy...until they riff like its 1994. Not sweet like Ear Candy, not power pop like Tapehead or the later Ogre Tones. The parts are kinda pasted together sometimes--surely a product of the collaborative on-the-spot writing they started with Tapehead--but they work here (though it does sound like the songs Ty sings are by his own pen). They're having fun. Gets better after the first song, though that's a good song, too; the drummer does a beat poetry parody and I think its safe to assume it's not meant to be too serious. This ultra-goofiness is uncharacteristic of the album, though. The show-stopping "Charlie Sheen" is all jabberwocky but must be the most majestic song they've ever done. It soars just on pure feeling.
And it's not all meaningless. Some great lyrical moments: "All of your ornaments fall to the ground when you're scared." "If she gave me a sword in a lake would I mistake it?" And there seems to be more thought behind even the weirder verses than is apparent at first glance. And check the simply beautiful "Bittersweet" about a breakup. This is a serious album. If there's not an obvious concept, there is a feeling of wholeness to it. Doug almost interrupts "Marsh Mellow Field" to yell "Oh won't you take me out of my mind?!" Being a "Fish Bowl Man" means not seeing the big picture and going around and around in your little world wondering about something beyond the mundane--God? Fantasy? Getting high? What do you do after you lose an ideal? This cynicism is the dark undertone of the entire album. It's the shadowy opposite of FHL's heartful theological optimism (with sharper songwriting but not superior musicality) and it updates and answers the themes of the pre-Dogman era records more than its predecessors. There's a desire to escape into dreamland, or knowlege of the beyond--the feeling of *searching* for the Mystery is there even in the cut-up "Charlie Sheen"--yet it keeps "coming home" ("When You're Scared," "She's Gone Away") to the things that make them want to escape in the first place. And finally does in the last song "Move Me" that is one of the most sincere and moving things the band has ever done. It's a prayer born of disillusion. "Once I was told there's a race to be won, pointed the finger straight into the sun to be blinded. And I minded."
I hated this album when I first bought it, but now I love it. It's dark, but never depressing; the beauty of the music keeps a hopeful light on things. Give it a try.
 u should own this album!!!!! September 21, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
mr.bulbous is the most brutal thing i ever heard from king's x!! the stand out tracks for me are smudge( ty's sound is sick!!!!) fishbowl man( great spoken word by jerry!) and she's gone away. doug has so much bottom that my windows rattle when i turn my stereo completely up!! dont compare this with GRETCHEN or DOGMAN, this album stands out on its own. a must have for all king's x fans!!!
Kings X - A Nice Return To Form July 19, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Kings X at the turn of the century was a band that had tasted commercial success in the mid-90's, but was pretty much back to playing clubs for their loyal cult audience by this time. They were on the independent label Metal blade after being dropped by the majors. For me "Bulbous" was a return to form after the rather average "Manic Moonlight". Ty Tabor seems to be a lot more involved on this one and the material is some of the band's most melodic. There is also quite a bit of experimentation to be found here as well, as the band fools around with different sounds and textures that for the most part work. There are lots of good songs to be found here including "Fish Bowl Man", "Marsh Mellow Field", "Julia", and the very clever "Charlie Sheen". The rest of the album is all strong as well. For me "Bulbous" is the bands best work in a significant length of time and would be enjoyable for anyone into Kings X.
Their most misunderstood album (4.5 stars) July 12, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
On Please Come Home...Mr. Bulbous, King's X went into a more psychedelic direction as opposed to the heavier sound of albums like Dogman and Tape Head. Ty Tabor's softer vocals are more in the forefront and his guitar sound overall is more based on mood and space than previous releases. Their harmonies, which have always compared to the Beatles, are at their best on this album. As for the songs, nearly all of them are top notch. The tracks "Julia", "She's Gone Away", and "Marsh Mellow Field" combine hard rock and psychedelia flawlessly. "Charlie Sheen" is very melodic and has those great backing vocals during the verse that you never hear anymore. Other great tracks include "Smudge", which sounds downright spooky during Doug Pinnick's spoken verses before getting almost poppy during the choruses, and "When You're Scared", a very slow track that gets heavy during the solo. "Bittersweet" is also a very good track. The closing "Move Me" and "Move Me" (Part 2)", which is basically the long ride out of "Move Me", is one of their best songs ever. The guitar line sticks in your head the second you've heard it and the ride out feels like the end of Beatles' "Hey Jude." It's the same thing over and over but it sounds beautiful. The only song that doesn't work here, and this is surprising, since King's X usually start their albums with a killer track, is the opening "Fish Bowl Man." If it weren't for this track, I would put this in the same league as Gretchen Goes to Nebraska. Please Come Home...Mr. Bulbous reminds you of their self-titled fourth album in that it doesn't grab your attention immediately. However, repeated listens reveal this to be one of their best albums.
this one really grew on me June 16, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When "Bulbous" was first released, I wasn't into it at all. But as some time has passed, it's really grown on me. The mix kind of sucks, way too bass-heavy in a bad way, which does detract from the music. The bass has to be turned down to even listen to the album, really. But there are some real standout tracks on this one, incl. "Julia", "Charlie Sheen", "Marsh Mellow Fields". An album that differs a bit from what some people expect from the band, but IMO it doesn't really deviate from the King's X "sound" as much as some fans seem to think.
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