| Musical Style: Rock | Produced By: John Phelps |
| Record Label: Heartland / Retroactive | Country Of Origin: USA |
| Year Released: 1984 / 2018 | Artist Website: Prodigal |
| Tracks: 10 / 6 | Rating: 80% |
| Running Time: 41:42 / 39:40 |
Despite the fact Cincinnati, Ohio based Prodigal was musically ahead of its early to mid-eighties time, it did not always receive similiar accolades as its contemporaries - in the form of recognition and commercial success - and by and large (and sadly) has fallen beneath the radar of the current hard music landscape. One would not be out of line to suggest, for instance, that cohorts from the period such as DeGarmo & Key, Petra and Sweet Comfort Band potentially attracted a wider audience and were household names to the greater extent in comparison. Prodigal, on the other hand, did the better job stretching and pushing itself from an artistic standpoint by the manner in which it stepped outside the worship and evangelism boundaries that typified the contemporary Christian music scene of the era. Helping set Prodigal apart in this regard are its multifarious style capabilities, which made it difficult to pigeonhole when factoring it reflected influences diverse as AOR, pop, funk and groove, hard rock and even progressive rock.
Dating to its 1982 release, I always held the Prodigal self-titled debut in high regard, noting how the 85% Angelic Warlord review of the spring of 2018 Retroactive re-issue to Prodigal commends its ‘varied songwriting, choice musicianship and excellent production’. I also think highly of the groups 1984 sophomore effort Electric Eye, also a spring of 2018 Retroactive re-issue, which musically proves the next logical step for Prodigal in upholding the heavier sound in comparison and corresponding rawer although no less able production. Lyrically, Electric Eye might not be concept related, but its prose draws upon a theme of how ‘we have surrounded ourselves with so much to entertain us and consume our time that the difference between reality and artificial are not just blurred but rather the artificial begins to be more real’ (as taken from the groups press material). The eye catching cover art beautifully portrays said theme, referencing ‘how the actual lightning through the window is faded and bland while the same lightning shown on the television set is vibrant and exciting’.
Similar to Prodigal and 1985 swan song effort Just Life Real Life, the Retroactive re-issue to Electric Eye was re-mastered (by Rob Colwell of Bombworks Sound) and comes with a multi-page insert featuring lyrics, detailed liner notes and vintage band photos. The Retroactive active re-issue also includes a bonus disc exclusive to a pair of EE radio specials in addition to three unreleased tracks in “One Of Those Days”, “Small Talk” and “3 Or 4D”. Also of note is the inclusion of the Commodore 64 Code, which acted as a unique promotional idea back in the day as a stop-groove’ at the end of the vinyl release, that if copied to a cassette could be loaded into a C-64 compute to reveal graphics, lyrics and a message from the band.
Opening three Electric Eye cuts indicate the newfound Prodigal heaviness. “Scene Of The Crime” gets things started appropriately to wailing sirens that give way to hard rocking guitars, with the undisguised bearing preserved its remaining distance as rollicking piano and vocalist Loyd Boldman’s expansive baritone galvanize the impenetrable scene. Guitarist Rick Fields gets in on the fray with his lively soloing abilities.
Fields also fronts “Fast Forward” but with a melodic mid-ranged ranged style instead. The song reveals its share of contrasts, with verses smooth and sinuous to Mike Wilson’s assured bass presence and refrain uplifted as guitars and voice synthesizer (an eighties staple) help make an unflinching statement: ‘fast forward, fast forward, time keeps slipping away’. Instrumentally, impetus slows to a standstill as piano and imperious guitars coalesce.
“Masks” is slowest of the three with its dramatic rock opera semblance. The song places strong emphasis on piano - keyboard work of Boldman throughout the album is immaculate - and backs it with periodic outbursts of forward guitars and the group’s tight three part vocal melodies. The Prodigal musical influences from its press material, including, Styx, Kansas, Ambrosia and Sweet Comfort Band, cannot help but permeate on this one.
Also of a heavier nature is albums opening B-side title track. “Electric Eye” comes in at a full but furious five minutes in putting the Prodigal creativity on full display, emanating full on emotion as driving guitars take charge (with keyboards playing a backup role) and drummer Dave Workman puts on a literal clinic with his intense timekeeping. Bass and keyboards carry the closing instrumental minute as changing television channels segue in the backdrop. In the end, “Electric Eye” is not so much albums best track as it is my all time favorite from Prodigal.
As “Electric Eye” ends, “Bobby fades in to a montage of video arcade games (another eighties staple). Moving forward the song mirrors the Prodigal AOR influences, with distinct rhythm guitars (that hint somewhat of Foreigner) and effervescent keyboards burnishing the dramatic scene as Fields lends to the emotion with his easy-going vocal style. As far as melodic rock goes, this one is top of the line in ranking alongside the albums finer cuts.
Also ranking with the Electric Eye best is “Neon” with its outside the box progressiveness. Chilling, theatrical and pensive is the impression left, as keyboards and piano dance its length to Boldman’s at times spoken and others persuasive vocal delivery. The memorable refrain - ‘I want to shine like neon, in the city tonight’ - echoes over pounding drums in hinting lightly of Pink Floyd. Nobody, and I mean nobody, was doing anything like this in the mid-eighties Christian hard music scene.
Another choice piece is closer “Boxes”, a laid back and relaxed ballad intrinsic to a medieval flair with its use of classical guitar. Workman fronts the song and does a nice job with his composed vocal flavorings. Helping bring the album to a fitting end is how “Boxes” transitions to the classic hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” at the end.
Note that Electric Eye is also a bit uneven in that I rate its remaining three tracks a notch below those already referenced. “Just What I Need”, albums fourth cut, is most varied of the three in transitioning between calm and composed verses (fronted by Workman) and a more elevated refrain (to feature Boldman). “Shout It Out” is high-energy manifest with its mirthful tempo and instrumental passage exclusive to a jazzy horn section, while “Emerald City” combines sound clips from the Wizard Of Oz with a Country & Western flair not unlike Prodigal track “Fire With Fire”. Final verdict on the three is good - and by no means skip worthy - but also coming across a bit plain from not capturing the inventiveness to the albums better material (at least my opinion).
In terms of the bonus CD, “One Of Those Days” is an alternate version to “Just What I Need” with different lyrics, while the keyboard based “Small Talk” provides foreshadowing of the direction Prodigal would take on Just Like Real Life. “3 Or 4D” represents the first and only Prodigal instrumental in taking a heading more in line with Electric Eye with its even joining of guitars and keyboards. Of note is how its guitar melody is hauntingly similar to that of the Billy Joel pop hit “Big Shot”.
EE Radio Special Part 1 & Part 2, as their namesakes suggest, are radio promos to feature various Electric Eye tracks interspersed between interviews with Rick Fields and Loyd Boldman. The two go into detail regarding the Prodigal beginnings - Fields responded to a musician’s ad Boldman placed at a local guitar shop - in addition to the general theme behind the Electric Eye lyrics. Specifically, the preeminence of media in our lives to the extent that our values and judgment are too often molded by what is fed through the human eye, and that what is perceived in this world as reality is fantastic illusion when compared to true reality.
Hence, how Prodigal wrote “Electric Eye” from the standpoint of somewhat who has been ‘media blitzed’:
I get my good times from a laugh track
I got my news from professional smiles
I got religion on the cable
I got my name on the micro-files
I don't even have to leave my lounge chair
I change my channels by remote control
Radio stereo video it's all just electric eyes
ABC NBC CBS PBS
All I know is what I read in the papers
All I know is what I see on the TV
All I know is what I hear on the headphones
I wanna know what's right for me - I can't see it
Likewise, “Just What I Need” touches upon the role media plays in the overt commercialized nature to modern society (then and now):
The man on TV tells me I'd be someone new
Drive his car and use his shampoo
Designer dog food, Teflon socks, spandex jeans
All on sale and just what I need
Irresistible, indispensable, unbelievable
And it's just what I need
It's so practical, so affordable, unavoidable
Well it's just what I need
“Bobby” speaks of a young man whose reality ends up obscured by a world of arcade games:
Bobby, Saturday night the arcade lights all burn so bright
Bobby, quarter in the box, you buy another try to beat the clocks
You try to do what your momma tells you all the time
You try to do what your teacher says but you fall behind
You try to do what your friends want where do you draw the line
Oh, Bobby
Bobby, puppet on a string, feelin' like a bird with broken wings
And Bobby, your growin' up scared, wired to your own electric chair
“Masks” also makes reality its theme but by putting on a mask in order to avoid it:
Let's see what mask should I put on today
Perhaps a comedy or tragedy to play today
So the world can't get through to me
So that I won't have to face reality
What kind of game shall I begin today?
I wonder what it is that makes me want to act this way
Trapped inside a world I've built myself
While my life has been left back on the shelf
In terms of comparison, I find Prodigal to be the more musically consistent release of the two (again, noting the 85% Angelic Warlord review) with its smoother, AOR tinged rock vibe. Electric Eye, on the other hand, is top heavy with some of the best-ever Prodigal compositions, but it is also not quite even in terms of deep cuts in deriving upon a heavier if not rawer sound. Where do you draw the line between the two? Actually, you do not in that quality to Prodigal and Electric Eye is such that both represent essential purchases that fully complement one another regardless of style classification. Enter the Retroactive re-issues to the two, which make previously hard to find vinyl releases available on individual CD for the first time and become necessities for fans of Prodigal or the genres represented on either album.
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing: “Scene Of The Crime” (4:45), “Fast Forward” (4:44), “Masks” (4:06), “Just What I Need” (3:08), “Emerald City” (3:26), “Electric Eye” (4:59), “Bobby” (3:22), “Shout It Out” (3:26), “Neon” (5:16), “Boxes” (4:30)
Track Listing (bonus tracks): “EE Radio Special Part 1” (18:06), “EE Radio Special Part 2” (11:29), “”One Of Those Days” (3”06), “Small Talk” (3:10), “3 OR 4D” (3:35), “Commodore 64 Code” (:15)
Musicians
Loyd Boldman - Lead Vocals & Keyboards
Rick Fields - Guitars, Lead Vocals & Saxophone
Mike Wilson - Bass
Dave Workman - Drums & Lead Vocals
