Prophets Of Rage – Self Titled (Album Review
Prophets Of Rage – Self Titled
Released: 15th September, 2017
Prophets Of Rage Lineup
Chuck D – Vocals
B-Real – Vocals
Tom Morello – Guitar
DJ Lord - Turntables/Samples
Tim Commerford – Bass
Brad Wilk – Drums
SCENE:
Dad is sitting at his computer, his fortress of solitude, his escape from the mundanity of life. He is listening to the new Prophets Of Rage album from his flash new speakers. After a few thumping riffs and raps his daughter appears.
Daughter: Dad, what are you listening to?
Dad: The new Prophets Of Rage album.
Daughter: Who are the Prophets Of Rage?
Dad: Who are the Prophets Of Rage? Who are the Prophets Of Rage? Well sit down and let me tell you who the Prophets Of Rage are. Ever heard of Public Enemy?
Daughter: No, should I have?
Dad: Well they are probably the single most influential hip-hop group in history. They had the attitude, the politics, the dope rhymes of Chuck D bringing the news, the comedic timing of Flava Flav, the intense beats of Terminator X; they recorded some of the greatest hip-hop, nay greatest albums of all time: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, Fear Of A Black Planet, Apocalypse ’91: The Enemy Strikes Black. They also acknowledged the similarities between hip-hop and metal with one of the greatest collaborations, sorry, collabs, of all time.
Daughter: Nope, never heard of them. Have they collab’d with Drake?
Dad: What? What’s a Drake? I can’t believe you’ve never heard about P.E. What about Cypress Hill?
Daughter: Oh yeah! They were on The Simpsons?
Dad: Yes, that’s right. You probably heard stuff like “Insane In The Brain”, “I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That” and “Hits From The Bong”. Actually I hope you haven’t heard that ‘cause drugs are bad.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RijB8wnJCN0&w=640&h=360]
Daughter: Yeah, I’ve heard them. They sound weird. A bit like Kendrick sometimes.
Dad: Yeah sure, whatever. And what about Rage Against The Machine? Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me!!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWXazVhlyxQ&w=640&h=360]
Daughter: Mum!! Dad’s swearing.
Dad: Shhhh. Don’t tell you’re mum. It’s a song, “Killing In The Name”. We were all singing that in 1993.
Daughter: Really? That’s so old.
Dad: No, but, yeah, but, no it’s still cool. Listen to this…
Turns stereo up so she can absorb the pounding sound, the dope rhymes of Chuck D and B-Real, the scratching guitar of Tom Morello, the insane sampling of DJ Lord and the heavy rhythms of Timmy C and Brad Wilk. Dad is seriously grooving along to this as it’s pretty damn great.
Dad: Well guys from all those acts have gotten together to form this supergroup. Like one big collab. And they’ve combined all their skills to produce this killer record.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ad4MH7fMLs&w=640&h=360]
Listens for a bit longer
Daughter: You really like it, huh?
Dad is seriously headbanging and saying, “Yes, yes yes” to the beat.
Daughter: It’s not too bad. By the way, can I get tickets to Niall Horan?
Dad is too lost in the music to really care what Daughter has asked.
Daughter gets up, kisses him on his head and disappears to ask Mum for Niall Horan tickets.
Dad is once again alone in his fortress of solitude, grooving along to Prophets Of Rage. An album he seriously likes as he was clearly a fan of all the aforementioned acts. He is back in a time when his life was a little different, when he stayed up later than he does now and he was able to jump around his living room without doing permanent damage to his knees and spine.
Dad: Seriously good!!
Told Dan Brixey (@DanielJBrixey)
Prophets of Rage - Self-Titled is Out Now via Sony Music Australia
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzAvPcM7Vw0&w=853&h=480]
