Come 1991, the majority of Prophet are in still in place, except the drum stool has changed. Now without a major label, this CD was produced by bass player Scott Metaxas.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Prophet
ALBUM: Recycled
LABEL: Halcyon
SERIAL: 9-61234-2
YEAR: 1991
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Russell Arcara – lead and backing vocals * Ken Dubman – guitars, backing vocals * Dave Dipietro – guitars * Scott Metaxas – bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Joe Zujkowski – keyboards * Jim Callahan – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Run With The Pack * 02 Call Of The Wild * 03 Street Fighter * 04 Peace Of Mind * 05 Sides * 06 Restless Hunger * 07 All I Need * 08 Brightest Star * 09 Kick It Out
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Prophet Background
I think most of us here are aware of Prophet, and their two efforts: ‘Prophet’ and ‘Cycle Of The Moon’.
Come 1991, the majority of Prophet are in still in place, except the drum stool has changed. Now without a major label, this CD was produced by bass player Scott Metaxas.
Not quite sure what he was up to in the studio, because this sounds like a muddy heavy metal mess. And that’s a shame, as there are some reasonable songs here.
I say reasonable, but nothing here can touch what the band achieved before unfortunately.
The debut saw the band compared to Kansas. The second saw them compared to some of the best examples of the AOR genre going on at the time.
‘Recycled’ sees the band in no mans land. Not quite sure where to turn to musically, Prophet’s fortune favored the brave. They ventured (or should that be ‘strayed’?) down the heavy metal path.
If this was an independent release, they should have stayed in the prog/AOR lane. At least their fans would have had something to hold onto.
Certainly, they didn’t have Record Exec’s hanging over their head like they probably did at Atlantic/Mega force. So there was no excuse for a drastic change really.
The Songs
Most of the tracks here are pretty heavy. There’s no subtlety about the material here, and I guess this is because of the musical climate of the day
It was 1991 after all, the pre-cursor to grunge and most melodic bands were on the way out.
You can tell with song titles like ‘Run With The Pack’ and ‘Call Of The Wild’. Third track ‘Street Fighter’ is so similar to Kal Swann’s Lion, this could’ve lined up on their ‘Dangerous Attraction’ LP.
‘Peace Of Mind’ is a slow-burn rocker in the mould of Whitesnake, but nowhere near as good.
For all you AORsters looking for the change-up moment, it comes in the shape of ‘Sides’. This album’s equivalent of ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’ from ‘Cycle Of The Moon’. It’s a lovely track actually, reminding me of how good this lot were back in the day.
For the rest of the album, Prophet revert back to a melodic metal style.’Restless Hunger’ for example is a KISS styled romp.
‘All I Need’ has a few fragments of their prog/AOR past, similar to a track like ‘You Can’t Hide Love’
But then I am trying to compare coal to a diamond.
Finally Joe Zujkowski gets to let rip on synths and organ for ‘Brightest Star’. It’s a pity the track is so heavy and lacks dynamics and subtleness.
‘Kick It Out’ is a kick ass finale, and completes what is a mixed bag all round.
In Summary
In saying all of this, I still own this on CD and I am not about to get rid of it anytime soon. Call me a completist, and Prophet are a band I hold in the same category as Strangeways.
I will buy anything by them, regardless of whether it is mediocre or gut-bustingly bad. ‘Recycled’ is hardly the latter, I have heard worse.
One wonders whether the originals are still around, and whether a remix might salvage some pride in the future? Only Scott Metaxas can answer that I guess.
Prophet on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
