''Rude Awakening'' is the fifth studio album by American metal band Prong. It is an

enhanced CD Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both CD-Audio and CD-ROM players. Formats that fall under the ''enhanced CD'' cate ...

but was also released as a special limited edition on 12" red vinyl. The album was reissued in 2008 as a

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

version, featuring four remixes of the "Rude Awakening" single and a new booklet. ''Rude Awakening'' entered the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

charts at No. 107 and sold 10,000 units in the United States in its first week. It is the last Prong album to feature

Ted Parsons Ted Parsons is an American drummer most notable for his membership in rock/metal bands such as Swans, Prong, Godflesh, Killing Joke, and Jesu. Biography Parsons' early career began in 1985 with Swans, when he contributed to their ''Holy ...

and Paul Raven, as well as the band's last album on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

Background and musical style

Continuing from the developments on 1994's ''Cleansing'', ''Rude Awakening'' sees a further pursuit of the industrial style. Following the departure of keyboardist John Bechdel in 1995, electronic contributions would be managed by Charlie Clouser of

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

. The tracks are also comparatively slower than what could be found on prior releases by the band. The album's opener, "Controller", contains an identical riff to the song "Doomsayer" by

Argyle Park Argyle Park was an underground industrial rock supergroup founded in New York City in 1994 and active until 1996. Members of the group reformed under the name AP2 in 1998, and were active under that name until winter 2000. Signed to Christian m ...

. Frontman/guitarist

Tommy Victor Thomas Michael Victor (born 1961/1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for heavy metal band Prong, which he founded in New York City in 1986, as well as the guitaris ...

had contributed to the latter song and reused the guitar part for the former.

Reception

Reviewing the title track, ''

'' wrote that the single's "assaulting, deviant style" shows why Prong is popular. Jenni Glenn of

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

wrote that the album is heavier and angrier than '' Cleansing'', blending

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

and industrial music.

Track listing

All tracks written by Prong except "Controller" (Prong and Scott Albert) and "Slicing" (Prong and Joe Bishara Kebbe). #"Controller" – 3:39 #"Caprice" – 2:47 #"Rude Awakening" – 4:18 #"Unfortunately" – 3:08 #"Face Value" – 4:09 #"Avenue of the Finest" – 3:37 #"Slicing" – 3:29 #"Without Hope" – 3:13 #"Mansruin" – 3:29 #"Innocence Gone" – 3:11 #"Dark Signs" – 3:22 #"Close the Door" – 4:05 #"Proud Division" – 5:46

Personnel

- guitars, vocals * Paul Raven - bass *

- drums Additional personnel *

Charlie Clouser Charles Alexander Clouser (born June 28, 1963) is an American keyboardist, composer, record producer, and remixer. He worked with Trent Reznor for Nine Inch Nails from 1994 to 2000, and is a composer for film and television; among his credits are ...

- drum programming, keyboards

Chart positions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rude Awakening (Prong Album) Prong (band) albums 1996 albums Albums produced by Terry Date Albums produced by Tommy Victor Epic Records albums