The cries from old… ahem more mature metalheads like myself might suggest metal or hard rock music is dead. The influx of newer metal acts, save Ghost, just doesn’t excite me all that much and my wish is that musicians start returning to the sound of old. Yep, I’m definitely showing my age, but that’s okay. The bands I listened to coming out of high school and college had more promise and in my opinion, still kick more ass than any of these so called newer generation acts do. And hey, I’ve got bands like Prong to back up my claim.
Okay so I’m more than a little bit biased. When Prong started in 1986, I was entering high school. I didn’t actually catch on until the band released Beg to Differ in 1989, but once I did, I was hooked. Tommy’s insightful and snarky vocals to go with Ted Parsons (drums) and Mike Kirkland (bass) proved to be a formula that worked. So much so, Lost and Found was chosen as the theme to MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball into the 90’s. I remember it well. When that song was heard, I planted myself in front of the television and didn’t move until after the last video ended. Lost and Found was my life’s soundtrack.
Prong gained some commercial success from thar, surviving band and record label changes through the nineties well into the millennium. Even with all the modifications, Tommy and the music are a constant. After three decades, Tommy still sings opinionated lyrics and the songs continue to punch you in the gut. I witnessed it firsthand, trying my best to stay upright while rockers young and old, most of them the latter, moshed behind me to hits like the aforementioned Beg to Differ and Lost and Found.
Even with all the time that has passed, Prong still rocks it and dare I say the venue suited them well. A small bar, outside the city limits, that fit around 300 to 400 people and Prong killed it from the first song of their new album Ultimate Authority until the last one, Revenge Best Served Cold. It was the perfect setting for the band that was and always will be my goto when I want to hear pure, unadulterated thrash.
FourteenG 