The Final Prawn (Got The Thirst - King Prawn)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Got The Thirst - King Prawn
Date:	20/04/08 (63 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An extremely strong album which blends brilliantly a number of different genres of music.

Disadvantages: King Prawn is no more.

'Got The Thirst' is an album which was self financed by King Prawn and eventually got an official release through Golf Records. It is a 14 track album which takes elements from the genres of ska, punk, hip hop and metal. You never knew what to expect with a King Prawn album as the band drew upon so many different influences and this was always reflected in the bands songs as every one was always different with many different genres intertwined to create that sound that only King Prawn could. The band split up in 2003, during the ten years that the band was active however a grand total of four studio albums were released as well as an EP also.

Each and every one of the songs on this album is superb in its own right but for me there are some which really stand out from the crowd. Tracks such as 'The Dominant View', 'Smoke Some S**t', 'Raise The Banner', 'Viva Devi', 'Caught Inna Rut', and 'Satan's Folly' also truly are something really quite special. These are all superb tunes and I feel that these are the key tracks on the album, every track here is excellent however and this truly was a great album for King Prawn to finish with.

'The Dominant View' was once played many an awful lot on the now defunct music channel P-Rock, it is an awesome song with fast vocals and a blinding chorus. It is one of those songs where right from the first line you know it is going to be a blinding tune. King Prawn really managed to create something special here, the track is absolutely excellent and never is there a dull moment. As soon as I heard this track for the first time I knew that 'Got the Thirst' was going to be an excellent album and I was certainly not wrong here.

'Caught Inna Rut' is another powerful tune, it's incredibly fast and coming straight after 'The Dominant View' it really has a lot to live up to. This one certainly does not disappoint, it follows on from 'The Dominant View' extremely well and the excellence here continues. It is an exciting tune and it really impressed me because the drumming is superbly fast, the guitar playing is beautiful and as for the vocals well they just absolutely blew me away. This is an amazing song even by the high standards that King Prawn always set with the music. 'Caught Inna Rut' is packed full of angst and there are some superbly shouted vocals as well as some quite melodic moments also. At just over 2 minutes in length it is quite a short song and leaves you gagging for more. It leads into 'Smoke Some S**t' and once more the music impresses massively.

'Smoke Some S**t' is completely different to anything else on the album and it is this that makes this one stand out here. This is a song about the use of marijuana and it catches your attention as it is an extremely catchy tune which makes blinding use of its chorus. It's not exactly the most intelligent track that this band put together during their ten year spell together, it is however great to sing along to. I always found the music of King Prawn to be at its best when the lyrics were politically charged, this is certainly not the case here but nonetheless the music is well put together and the track most definitely works. The melody is spot on, the vocals are strong, and all elements of the music here just seem to fit together perfectly.

'Raise The Banner' is another great track from this album, strongly put together by King Prawn and put across incredibly well by the band. King Prawn here managed to blend together so many different genres and pull it off perfectly. This song is more of a metal ballad than anything, very different to anything else on this album and strong evidence of the bands eclectic mix of influences. King Prawn proved on this album that they could pull off a variety of different sounds and do so in great style. King Prawn always had so many strings to their bow, so many different genres this band was capable of implementing into the music and never did the bands albums ever disappoint. With this track King Prawn combine a supreme ska sound with some Rage Against The Machine style rapped vocals and surprisingly this seems to work really well here. I really love 'Raise The Banner', a it's such a strong track and always here the music of King Prawn impresses me hugely. Check this one out as it is sure to please you regardless of whatever style of music you tend to listen to.

'Satan's Folly' is another awesome track from the King Prawn lads here, a truly exciting tune with some driving lyrics and slick guitar work. This track made me feel proud to consider myself as a fan of the band, always I greatly enjoyed the music of King Prawn and when the band decided to call it a day it was a very sad day indeed. You instantly get in to this track as it is just such a cool tune and it chucks you straight in to the heart of it all right from the offset. I really love this one and I think that it is most definitely a key track from this album.

'Viva Devi' is again an awesome tune which provides for an interesting and enthralling listening experience. It's extremely well put together and most definitely I would consider this to be one of the best tracks from the 'Got The Thirst' album. Never does the music on this album disappoint, 'Viva Devi' is the penultimate track on this release and provides this album I feel with its final moment of glory. Closing track 'If Dawn Comes...we Ride' is by no means weak, it's just not really one of the strongest tracks on this album I feel.

In the ten years that King Prawn was active as a band, the bands members clearly built up a strong bond and always the bands tightness as a unit was extremely apparent. On this 'Got The Thirst' album the six members of the band combined together incredibly well in order to provide for one final studio album of absolute glory. 'Got The Thirst' comprises of a grand total of fourteen tracks, always the music here is excellent and not once did King Prawn show any signs of weakness whatsoever here as a band. 'Got The Thirst' is most definitely an album that I personally would recommend listening to, I for one absolutely love it and am totally sure that you will too. Ex King Prawn vocalist Al Rumjen can now be found as a central figure in Asian Dub Foundation, whilst former King Prawn bassist Babar Luck has now embarked upon a solo career. There was definitely life after King Prawn, the music of this band always impressed me massively however and 'Got The Thirst' is just one of four brilliant albums that King Prawn released as a band during the ten years spent at the centre of the UK ska punk scene.


Label: Golf Records
Release Date: 5th May 2003

Originally posted by me on my website Alt-UK.com
Source: http://www.alt-uk.com/modules.php?name=Reviews

Summary: An incredibly strong album, the final one the band ever released and certainly not a disappointment.