I lived through the 90s, a decade in which some of the most terrible musical trends were huge, whether I am referring to the boy band explosion or the birth of Nu Metal, either way we should all be ashamed of ourselves for collectively supporting either one. There were a few shining moments, fanny packs, pogs and I have a soft spot for N’Sync and that first Korn record didn’t make me want to murder anyone, other than Jon Davis’ dad, but at no point do we need to walk back any trends to that boring decade.
With one of the most covered songs from the 90s, Prong was difficult to consider a powerhouse of metal although their two decade history might prove otherwise. Cleansing hit the shelves in 1994 and became the birth canal to the screaming malady we now know as Nu Metal. It had many distinct things about it, the way it was tuned, the outstanding bass lines, the cleanest of clean vocals of Tommy Victor all became triggers for those bands who crept in near the end of the decade.
After disbanding in 1997, Prong appeared to fade into the memories of gen Xers who really liked that song on their Bevis and Butthead VHS tape, until they came back to the fold in 2002 and the lineup of the band other than Victor became a blur around the same time, and they subsequently put out three records in the last ten years that were mediocre at best. A few songs were pretty decent, but overall nothing that cut through with anyone other than their diehard aging following.
Which brings us to their latest effort Ruining Lives, following in the same paths carved from the last decade it sounds weary. You cannot mistake Victor’s vocals, and that has never been an issue for me, clean singing works if done well, but his distinct style is viewed through the "I wish it sounded more like 'Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck,'" lens. Everything they have ever done is weighted against that one song or that one album if you want to go that far.
With the current members of his band, the longest of whom has only been in the band for five of their 25 years, musically they try to update it, slick production, well balanced mixes, tough sounding guitars and riff riff riff, even working in some metalcore sounding bits in the back end of the record with “Chamber of Thought” it starts to feel forced. Like their records of late, a couple songs shine through, but overall, not on the top of the food chain.
Ruining Lives does win over its recent predecessors in that it plays more cohesively that either Carved Into Stone or Power of the Damager. Not that the songs must be taken as a whole, Prong is not writing concept records or anything, but song to song, it seems like this direction is heavier than some of the music they have flirted with recently and the unity of how this album sounds is unmistakable in a side by side comparison to post hiatus work.
As someone who holds Prong and its patriarch in such high regard, I feel like I need to justify not having the best time with this album, but honestly, Tommy Victor is a legend in the world of rock music, I think he is a great dude trying to carry on a historical band, but if you are looking for something breakthrough to grab you, or you were one of those bros who thought that last Korn record ruled; Ruined Lives might be for you. For everyone else at least Justin Timberlake got a little more tolerable.
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