Album
line-up :
Tommy Victor
| Lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars
Troy Gregory
| Bass guitar, backing vocals
Ted Parsons
| Drums, percussion, backing vocals
With Mark
Dodson - additional vocals
Review :
Tommy Victor is a master of all
he surveys. Throughout his 25+ year career, in good times and bad, he has
played guitar, mixed, produced, worked with other musicians (Danzig, Ministry,
Rob Zombie) and toured and recorded with his mainstay Prong. Album number
three, ‘Prove You Wrong’, is a standout amongst the many great records that
Prong has created. My top five would be rounded out by ‘Beg to Differ’ (#2), ‘Cleansing’
(#3), ‘Carved Into Stone’ (#4) and ‘Power of the Damager’ (#5).
Dropped at a time when the music
world was about to be dominated by the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and
Soundgarden, ‘Prove You Wrong’ was 13 tracks of raucous, post-thrash,
punk-tinged heaviness that stood tall amongst its grungy counterparts. The massive
Tommy Victor riffage, the loose dirty bass of Troy Gregory and the echoing
cannon-like drum work of Ted Parsons had the band firing on all cylinders. They
were a force to be reckoned with.
While Prong’s most commercially successful
release wouldn’t come until their next album, 1994’s ‘Cleansing’, which hit
number 126 on the Billboard 200, fueled by the song “Snap Your Fingers, Snap
Your Neck,” ‘Prove You Wrong’ was the perfect stepping stone on the bands uphill
climb towards the heavy metal spotlight it was so deserving of. No other band
of the like at the time had the dirty sound that Prong was producing. Tommy’s
vocals were unique in a time when most grunge singers were moaning away.
Every song on ‘Prove You Wrong’
is great. Most of the time, an album has a song or two that makes you go, “What
were they thinking?” Such is not the case here. From the opening bass plucks
and snare drum of “Irrelevant Thoughts,” to the churning rhythmic riff of “No
Way To Deny It,” ‘Prove You Wrong’ destroys in every way possible. My favorite
tracks include “Brainwave,” “Unconditional,” “Hell If I Could,” “Torn Between”
and “Prove You Wrong.”
‘Prove You Wrong’ was one of the dominant
heavy albums of my middle twenties. It sounded great spinning on my turntable, or
through my headphones, and most importantly, it made my car rumble and vibrate
like never before. Windows down, stereo cranked up, and “Unconditional” blaring
away. To me, it has stood the test of time, and it sounds just as great if not
better today than it did 23 years ago.
Words
& Recommendation by : Ken Kopija
Album Details
Prove You Wrong is the third album by the metal band Prong. It is their only
album with Troy Gregory on bass guitar. Released: April 2, 1991
Track
list :
- Irrelevant Thoughts 02:37
- Unconditional 04:45
- Positively Blind 02:43
- Prove You Wrong 03:31
- Hell If I Could 04:00
- Pointless 03:07
- Contradictions 04:10
- Torn Between 03:11
- Brainwave 03:01
- Territorial Rites 03:31
- (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) 03:05
- Shouldn't Have Bothered 02:39
- No Way to Deny It 04:41
Music videos were made for Prove You Wrong and Unconditional.
Reissued by Steamhammer on October 28th 2008 remastered in a digipak.
For
more information :
