Customer Reviews

Beg to Differ

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What was so great about these guys was the tribal repetitiveness of the interplay between the guitar and drums. It sounds like a war dance, and it should, because they were proteges of Killing Joke. The lyrics are excellent and intelligent, which is a rare thing nowadays. No love ballads, no cries out for radio-play (like they could hope to get any in 1990) just a gut-level, relentless hardcore/thrash assault.

Best Songs- "Your Fear", "Beg to Differ", "Take it In Hand", "Prime Cut", "For Dear Life"

This and "Force Fed" are the ones to get. "Prove You Wrong" and "Cleansing" are ok, but too industrial and commercial for my liking...

Prong's "Beg to Differ", released in 1990, still holds its own after eleven years. Tommy Victor's guitar playing on this album is melodic yet still heavy and powerful (though it sometimes does flirt with 1980s hair-band multi-note classical scale soloing); Ted Parsons' drum playing has interesting fast-slow tempo changes on almost every song; and Mike Kirkland's bass playing unobtrusively grounds the heaviness of the music for ensured head banging. I would say the music on "Beg to Differ" verges on sounding "light" compared to some of the speed-metal and metal-punk that has proceeded it, but I think this album can still go head to head with some of these releases too. In terms of the lyrics, Victor's words convey an adolescent anti-authoritarian/anti-capitalist "sell out" anger mixed cryptic imagery pointing to the vacuousness of consumerism. While I now feel (at the ripe old age of 34) these lyrics sometimes take themselves too seriously, I would say that for the most part, they still work. Songs like "Right to Nothing" and "Prime Cut" have great angry imagery and metaphorical language that will either appeal to your sense of humor or your sense of adolescent angst. Check out "Beg to Differ" if you like speed metal with a melodic touch. It's definitely still worth a listen and can help cleanse you when you want to get that head banging, air drums/guitar anti-authoritarian release.

This album encouraged me to pick up a guitar. The production on this album is so pure, cold and sparse...might seem lightweight compared to their later work but has some killer riffs. "Your Fear" is a masterpiece, very original in its structure and probably my favourite prong song ever.

Quite possibly their best album. I've had it on cassette for many years but unfortunately it's begun to wear down and lose sound quality. If you've never listened to Prong before, this is a great album to start with.

I am always wary of five star reviews for any album - let's face it, only a fan of the music would bother writing a review anyway, right? However, this album deserves every star it gets.

Like a lot of other reviewers I was sixteen when I first bought this album (on cassette) the year it was released. I can't remember why I decided to buy it, i think it was due to the cover artwork by Pushead - who did the cover art for Metallica's 'One' single, among others. On the first listen I was instantly impressed and hooked. It became part of the soundtrack to my last two years of high school, along with '...And Justice For All', 'The Real Thing', 'Frizzle Fry' and 'Nevermind', just to name a few (gee we were spoilt in the late eighties/early nineties).

Recently I found my old box of tapes and 'Beg To Differ' was the first one I grabbed and put in my stereo. I thought it might have sounded a bit dated, but it hasn't aged a bit. The album is as heavy as it is catchy and contains some of the most memorable metal riffs ever recorded. Tommy Victor shreds and his guitar has an incredible tone, while Ted Parsons (the most underrated drummer ever?) and Mike Kirkland lay down a such a thunderous rythym section that it's hard to believe you're listening to a three piece.

I cannot recommend this album highly enough to any fan of thrash metal or hardcore music. You're gonna love it. Trust me.

Prong's early work only hinted at the success that Prong would endure on such later releases like CLEANSING and RUDE AWAKENING. The unit of drummer Ted Parsons, bassist Mike Kirkland, and guitarist/vocalist Tommy Victor began to show signs of coming together on FORCE FED, but with BEG TO DIFFER, they truly are coming into their own as a thrash unit of primal metal. They are smart musicians, and no doubt BEG TO DIFFER was on a path to prove that statement to be true.

Cuts like the ham-fisted title track and "Steady Decline" showcase the intricate riffs and powerful rhythms that Prong are truly capable of. The interesting addition of a live cover ("Third From The Sun") is actually welcome...Prong is a punishing live unit, and back in the days of BEG TO DIFFER and even during RUDE AWAKENING, Prong truly would rock on stage. Noteworthy cuts include the opening bark of "For Dear Life", the punish of "Your Fear", and the textured instrumental humorously titled "Intermenstrual D.S.B".

Prong would further advance their metal sound on PROVE YOU WRONG and the definitive CLEANSING, but BEG TO DIFFER was the album that truly showed that Prong was beginning to come together as a thrash-metal trio. BEG TO DIFFER remains an important piece of the Prong catalog.

There are not words to do this album justice. It's simply one of the greatest albums of all time. If you like hard rock or heavy metal you must hear this album! These guys are easily the most underated band of all time. The energy captured on this record must be experienced to be believed. The first time I heard these guys, it was by accident. I picked up a cd single of a song off of this album in a bargain bin for like $1.50 and after hearing it one time, I was hooked for life. I immediately went out and bought the whole album(this album)and I couldnt believe my ears. Every song on this cd is a masterpiece! Go get it now!

This is an album that will not disappoint. Even though it is not as heavy as recent releases, it is still an excellent album. There is not one throw-away track on here; it is too hard to pick a favorite song because they are all good. Prong definitely does not disappoint, even though they don't get the exposure they deserve.

I'm glad I could find this here because I couldn't find it anywhere else. I'm a long-time Prong fan...Thanks amazon.com!

prong started out punk and move more metalically as time wore on force feed,this and prove you wrong were essentisallt ground breaking work because no-one at all played their brand of music they had hardcore fans and thrash fans but never were able to be cornered by sterotypes till later on after tommy was the sole surviver of prong(and they were still good but very machine like/industrial sounding with drum loops and keyboards.but these three cds were great new exploring and cutting edge and they were not overlooked by many buy pushed into better and bigger recoed labels that may have distroyed the band late.the drums were super charged and hard to not see the talent and inspiring others to rethink their playing and style. the guitar cut threw the mix and even with one guitarist and tommy heald his own easy and keep you guesting not a lot of leads but when he did they stood out and they style was groove and then cut and original always new.and the original bass play kirk? very good heavy and out standing but not overbeareing but noticably incredable( on prove you wrong kirk was repaced troy gregory another great bass player of flotsam & jetsam would replace him years after jason newstead.I find this cd best in my eyes show prong before big companies payer for muddy production of PYW cd and better song writting and recording of force feed cd.