Prong – Ranked Albums

First off, this is an incredibly hard list to make.  Prong’s history is steeped in quality heavy metal.  Each album is as strong as the other and each one a little bit different.  Well, this is the attempt to rank Prong’s work from bottom to the top.

 

Songs From the Black Hole

Yeah, it’s a covers album.  I think it was an unexpected move for the group.  Maybe they were trying to follow up 2014’s excellent ‘Ruining Lives’ too quickly and figured it would be easier to do covers.  Either way, it’s not a bad album by any means.  In fact, in a huge world of veteran metal bands doing covers albums, this one stands out as one of the stronger releases.  Two others being Def Leppard’s ‘Yeah’ and Queensryche’s ‘Take Cover’.  There are some interesting choices of songs to give the Prong treatment to.  The big standout is Neil Young’s ‘Cortez the Killer’ which is unexpectedly excellent.  Although, it’s Prong so that’s to be expected.  The rest of the songs make sense.  However, instead of going with the more obvious choices of influence:  Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, The Big Four.  Tommy Victor and crew go for their less on the nose punk influences:  Fugazi, Black Flag, The Butthole Surfers.

Scorpio Rising

This album came out at a weird time for the band.  They had just reformed after a five year hiatus.  The metal scene had changed significantly since their last release, ‘Rude Awakening'(1996).  Prong found themselves in the middle of a confused heavy metal world.  Industrial was out, all of heavy metal was basically not in fashion.  It was a time when people ran away from metal as much as possible give or take a few bands.  The result was Prong trying to move forward in their sound to create something original, yet traditional.  The album has some phenomenal moments despite the confusion.  The opener ‘Detached’ is one of Prong’s strongest standout tracks as well as ‘Assurances’.  ‘Reactive Mind’ and ‘Regal’ are two short tracks that really serve as one epic Prong song.  ‘Embrace the Depth’ is probably the most noticeable track.  We can hear where Tommy Victor wanted to go with the sound of Prong.  It’s the first time we hear Victor really singing melodies which would become the dominant sound of their second comeback in 2012.

Prove You Wrong

Up next is Prong’s sophomore major label album, ‘Prove You Wrong’.  The year following their major label debut was a tough one for Prong.  They had fallen into the all to common “our first album was really really really good, it’s successful and we have to follow it up right now with an even better album”.  Well, this doesn’t usually work.  But it’s business never the less.  The result is a typically rushed album that is inconsistent and forced in areas.  Having original bassist and co-creator John Kirkland jump ship didn’t help matters either.  However, that doesn’t mean the album is a dud.  It has some of Prong’s most signature songs on it including ‘Unconditional’ which is still used in their set lists.  The title track is also still used and a crowd favorite.  ‘Torn Between’ is a personal favorite and one of Prong’s most honest songs.  There is no such thing as a bad Prong album and this is a terrific album.  But on the Prong standard, it’s a touch weak in areas overall.

Rude Awakening

In 1996, Prong were in in the middle of the industrial metal revolution; which they helped to create.  They decided to accommodate the times with their most industrial sounding effort, ‘Rude Awakening’.  It’s one of the albums that is recognized to be their signature.  Many fans and heavy metal experts will claim that this is the Prong sound.  I humbly and completely disagree with that statement.  Their last four releases are proof of that.  Prong is a thrash metal band that tampers with other touches of metal in the mix.  That’s why ‘Rude Awakening’ isn’t really a true industrial metal album.  It’s more of a groove metal album with industrial and pop elements scattered here and there.  The focus is on the jackhammer riffing, pounding drums and slamming bass; as it is with all Prong albums.  The first two tracks ‘Controller’ and ‘Caprice’ measure up to the Prong standard and stand out as some of the most brutal riffing in their catalog.

X – No Absolutes

Prong roared back earlier this year with their tenth release ‘X-No Absolutes’.  Since reforming in 2011 Prong have released three unbelievable albums of original material.  This is the third installment of strong strong records.  As strong of a record as it is, it is the weakest of the three.  Again though, it’s one of the best heavy metal albums of the year so far.  It’s set a very high bar for others to reach for the remainder of the year.  It starts off with the effective yet relatively bland ‘Ultimate Authority’.  The album picks up quick with the next three tracks which are more Prong than Prong.  ‘Sense of Ease’ is anything but while ‘Without Words’ represents classic heavy metal in the highest quality.  ‘Cut and Dry’ is thrash metal that’s completely worthy of the big four.  Metallica should be jealous.  Unfortunately the energy dwindles for a few songs before returning to the true Prong standard which remains throughout the rest of the album.

Cleansing

After 1991’s ‘Prove You Wrong’ was less than expected, Tommy Victor disbanded Prong and went on a short hiatus.  Two years later he reformed the group as quartet instead of a trio and then released ‘Cleansing’ the following year.  The idea seemed to pay off as ‘Cleansing’ sounded like the proper follow up to ‘Beg to Differ’.  The riffs are relentless, the grooves are infectious and the industrial undertones set up textures that weren’t heard on previous records.  That didn’t make the album any less heavy though as ‘Another Worldly Device’ and ‘Cut-Rate’ are some of the greatest songs ever written in all of thrash metal.  The grooves on ‘Broken Piece’ are huge and the funky grind of the album closer ‘Test’ will get anyone on their feet.

Carved Into Stone

2012’s big comeback, ‘Carved Into Stone’ set the tone for hopefully the rest of Prong’s career.  Not only is it one of Prong’s best albums, it’s one of the greatest and purest heavy metal albums in the entire genre.  I don’t think anyone expected this to happen, it sort of came out of nowhere.  After 2003’s ‘Scorpio Rising’ quickly faded, Tommy Victor once again disbanded Prong for a second time.  This time, the hiatus would last seven years.  After not really hearing anything about the group for years many thought they would never again tour and record.  Then bang!  ‘Carved Into Stone’ happened returning Prong to the heavy metal world saying, “we aren’t going anywhere now.”  The album kicks off with the barn burner ‘Eternal Heat’, one of the finest thrash pieces of all time.  Then the albums goes up, up and away as the songs get better and better.  ‘Keep on Living in Pain’, ‘Revenge…Served Cold’ and the title track all stand out as some of the most invigorating songs in Prong’s catalog.

Ruining Lives

After ‘Carved Into Stone’ exceeded expectations, Prong were determined to follow up even stronger.  They delivered in every respect.  ‘Ruining Lives’ is ranked by many to be Prong’s best release.  It also was ‘That Metal Show’s’ best metal album of 2014.  That was actually my introduction into the group.  I simply heard about it, trusted TMS’ judgement and decided to check out the album.  Needless to say I became an instant fan.  It’s a perfect heavy metal album from top to bottom.  The opener ‘Turnover’ instantly mind blowing.  It only gets more intense as Prong stretch their musical abilities to the limit.  They have moment of progressive metal on ‘Windows Shut’, while ‘Remove (Separate Self)’ and ‘Absence of Light’ further Prong’s ability to write extremely catchy, classic heavy metal.  The title track along with ‘Chamber of Thought’ are perfect example of clean thrash.  Even though it’s clean it doesn’t take away at all from the heaviness.  Simply put, expect this album to be in the ranks of the greatest heavy metal records in the years to come.

 

Beg To Differ

Prong’s first major label debut is also their best album.  A fury of classic heavy metal perfection.  It also serves as one of the most innovative metal albums of all time, inspiring thousands to stretch their metal imaginations.  I like to think this is what Metallica would have sounded like in the 90’s had Bob Rock not gotten his hands on the band.  38 minutes of riff after riff after riff, not a dud in the bunch.  Every song sounds as fresh as the first time you hear it.  None of the material gets old.  It’s a complete album, there are no specific stand out tracks.  Tommy Victor’s guitar tone set a long standard of crisp, heavy melodies that nearly every metal band from the 90’s copied.  ‘Beg to Differ’ is a must for any metal heads collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Alex Wyatt

Alex Wyatt is a metal blogger, musician, and lifelong metal fan. Visit his site at https://www.alexrox.com.

3 thoughts on “Prong – Ranked Albums”

    1. Totally correct. Embarrassed that I missed it. I can’t believe it’s not on i-tunes. Listening to the album now on youtube. It’s great Prong without a doubt.

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