"War Ensemble" and the title track are incredible; everything else feels like they went on cruise control. The former song is a jokey take on the classic "Angel of Death" while the latter is IMHO the best track they ever cut. I'm not saying the rest of this is bad but if there ever was an album that you needed to hear for two cuts alone it is this one.
Prong was one of those late 80's/early 90's metal bands that straddled the line between a lot of different hard rock and avant-garde type genres - which was a big part of their attraction. By the time the grunge era came and went, they were crammed into the "groove metal" camp with Pantera and White Zombie. I've heard bits and pieces of their earlier works, but this CD and the next one were really their most impactful on a commercial scale. The consensus was, trim 4-5 songs off of this and you have yourself a classic. I'm not so sure I would go that far but this is definitely a front-loaded affair.
The quirky package of Primus - which boiled down to the progressive lead bass-style of playing and far-out sense of humor from band leader Les Claypool - was never more accessible than on this record. On the debut (Frizzle Fry) it was a little too gruff, while on Pork Soda and Tales From The Punchbowl the overall sound began to get a bit too long-winded. I don’t even want to get into how the band de-volved after those two records.
There were progressive rock conceptb albums, and then there was Stormcock (which references a birdcall, apparently) which is a little over 40 minutes of Roy eloquently airing his grievances against a litany of evils. One listen you could bore you to tears, the next could be revelatory. But it's a defiantly unique work of art.
