Pinnick is frontman for legendary prog-rock act King's X, and this solo album begins with the confessional "What You Gonna Do?". From there, the anthemic and personal "If You Fuk Up" continues until the heavy rock of "Speeding Love" brings out the metallic heaviness. If not for Pinnick's soulful vocal stylings, there would be some competent metal here. But with Pinnick's strong lyrics and diverse vocal stylings, "naked" moves beyond simply heavy rock and enters a more unique and inventive rock arena. It's a great mix reminiscent of stuff like Living Colour or some of the material on Bill Laswell's Black Arc label of the 90s.
"Courage" features some seriously heavy downtuned guitars, but alongside Pinnick's melodic vocals, it's not only heavy but heartfelt. "The Point" approaches a psychedelic driftiness, while the remaining 4 tracks don't let up the intensity. Having not been too familiar with his past work (shame on me), "naked" proves he is an expert songwriter and top-tier musician. Bravo, Mr. Pinnick!
