Artist: PRONG
Album: "BEG TO DIFFER REISSUE (CD)"

Year: 1990/ 2020
EAN/UPS: 8718627230701
Media type: CD

They have been among the elite of influences on modern metal. Theirs was a potential and sound that was truly formidable. For, have no doubts, New Yorkers Prong were one of those who helped shape a style and sound in the late 1980s that has propelled others to glory, especially in the metalcore arena...

The trio had groove, aggression, brutality and a sense of experimentation, one that took their hardcore roots, twisting them through a bolder soundscape.

Prong started in a low-key fashion during 1986, at New York’s legendary CBGB’s club. House sound engineer Tommy Victor (guitar/vocals) teamed up with bassist Mike Kirkland, the venue’s doorman at the time, who’d previously been with thrashers Damage. The line-up was completed with arrival of drummer Ted Parsons, a former member of cult band Swans.

Their debut album, ‘Primitive Origins’, was released in 1987 on the independent Spigot label, with Victor as producer. Its animated, ferocious punk-metal stance immediately got the fledgling threesome a lot of attention on the underground. This was augmented a year later, when the ‘Force Fed’ record appeared via the same label, this time produced by the whole band. But things were about to be significantly shaken up for the band. Not only were they to find their stylistic niche, but also get the chance to move on to a major label.

“We already had a reputation on the live circuit in the New York area, “ says Victor. “So, a lot of the larger independent labels were starting to sniff around, as they tended to do with a buzz band. Then one day we supported the Cro-Mags at a show, and afterwards this guy came up to us and said, ‘I love what you do, and I want to sign Prong’.”

The man in question was one Bob Feineigle, A&R man at Epic Records, and someone with a reputation for being a serious metalhead.

“Bob loved the music. Which is one of the reasons why we were keen to sign to Epic. Of course, once word got out that they were talking to us, other big companies also became interested. But, to me, it was always gonna be Epic, because of Bob.”

It was Feineigle who suggested that Prong bring in an outside producer to develop their sound, and take things to a new level. The man he backed most strongly was Mark Dodson, who had only recently finished working with Anthrax on their ‘State Of Euphoria’ album.

“I think Mark was one of a bunch of guys Bob put forward, but he was really enthusiastic about him. So we started to meet up with Mark and rehearse, get the songs sorted out, but you know what, we still hadn’t signed to Epic. Eventually, on Friday, October 13, 1989 we got the contracts and signed. The very next day we drove to the studio, and began work on the album. Seriously, we were in Normandy Sound Studios in Rhode Island within 24 hours.”

Things happened so fast that the band didn’t even have time to get their equipment together. And Victor, in particular, was suffering.

“I had to borrow someone else’s amp. And I wasn’t the only one. You could say that ‘Beg To Differ’ was recorded on borrowed stuff. We used to rehearse in this one place with four other bands, so we were always lending and borrowing equipment. In the end, we had to find what we could and drive down to Rhode Island.”

For three weeks, Prong and Dodson worked 12-hour shifts per day, getting the album into shape. It was a tough regime, made even harder by the studio conditions.

“In those days it was all done on tape, you never had digital desks. So, you had to put so much work into getting what would be comparatively easy to achieve today.”

With no social life in the area, the band based themselves above the studio, and found their own amusement. Mind you, who’d have thought that a game of ‘Monopoly’ could possibly have led to paranoia, major accusations and meltdown arguments. But it did…

“We had this one game of ‘Monopoly’ that went on for ages – I can’t even recall how long. Anyway, things got so bad that I was convinced that Ted was stealing my money – my ‘Monopoly’ money, you understand. And I took to hiding my stash around the studio, so he wouldn’t find it. The game, you see, had become very aggressive, and did lead to titanic rows between us. But that’s how we’ve always been: very argumentative.”

By the time the album was ready for release, in March 1990, Prong faced another dilemma. Bob Feineigle, who’d championed their cause at Epic, had been fired, leaving the band at the mercy of executives who neither knew who the band were, nor cared.

“To be honest, Bob was gone almost as soon as we signed,” sighs Victor. “And with him went any hope of making the deal work. You see, a lot of diehard fans thought we’d sold out anyway. Bands like us didn’t belong on a big label. With Bob in there pitching for us, we had a chance. With him gone, that was it.”

The record was released to a crescendo of interest, at least from the media. More than one publication at the time believed that Prong could be the band to take metal through another revolution, and there were even claims that, five months before ‘The Black Album’, Prong were ready to take over from…ulp!…Metallica themselves.

“We never believed it for a moment. But it was gratifying to know that we had the support of the media. The disappointing thing is that the powers-that-be at Epic couldn’t give a shit, If only we could have made them see what we could achieve.

“No-one at Epic understood what we were trying to do, and nobody bothered. And then, just to make matters worse, along came grunge and stabbed us again. We might have been the right band with the right album, but we were in the wrong place.”

There’s little doubt that, with hindsight, ‘Beg To Differ’ opened up a new world for metalcore, or alternative metal. It was vibrant, aggressive, and yet had production values that put it above everyone else in the field at the time.

“A lot of that is down to Mark Dodson,” praises Victor. “He made us really professional. He got us to think more about the vocals, which before we hadn’t give a toss about. He got a great guitar sound for us, and in the end he was vital. I still think we had a lot of our old hardcore approach as well. But Mark has to take some of the credit for helping us to step up.”

So, nearly two decades on, how does Victor view the record? Does he see it as a landmark, a majorly influential record, one that has inspired two generations? Amazingly, he’s very downbeat about the whole affair.

“Look, let me explain something. I was in a well-known rock hangout in West Hollywood recently, called The Rainbow Bar & Grill, and I was with a certain person who I won’t name, but he’s in a very popular younger band right now. The guy was drunk, but he was being arrogant and obnoxious. And eventually, his large girlfriend started to talk on his behalf, and their lack of interest and knowledge of the scene, of the bands who helped shape the style that they’ve adopted, was frightening.

“Do you think they’d never heard of the Cro-Mags? Have they even heard of Megadeth? So, what chance do you think there is that people like these would have ever heard of Prong?”

Astoundingly, despite the cult impact Prong have made, and the fact that ‘Beg To Differ’ is respected by so many of the band’s peers, it would seem that, if the trio’s main man is to be believed, their heritage has been somewhat lost.

“I hate to say it, but this is definitely true. How many of today’s bigger metalcore-style bands have ever acknowledged us, or the importance of that record? Very few, I’d say.”

Yet, despite this pessimism, it must be said that ‘Beg To Differ’ did make a difference. It’s remarkable harnessing of force and style, monochrome hardcore values and a more mainstream metal attitudes paved the way for the nu metal epoch.

So, with the benefit of hindsight, how does Victor evaluate ‘Beg To Differ’ in the Prong world?
“I’m too close to all of our albums to rate them like that. It’s up to others how they see it. For me, it did take our sound further and helped to define a style.”

For Prong fans this remains arguably the band’s greatest achievements, and it’s impact can still be felt resonating around the metal world in the 21st Century. The album might not have been a major commercial success, but the artistic value has been remarkable.

TRACKLIST:

01. For Dear Life
02. Steady Decline
03. Beg To Differ
04. Lost And Found
05. Your Fear
06. Take It In Hand
07. Intermenstrual, DSB
08. Right To Nothing
09. Prime Cut
10. Just The Same
11. Third From The Sun

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