Prism - Small Change

Prism was a band I loved - right up until I didn’t. But it was complicated, because I still loved the band, but it was conditional. Those first two albums on GRT were foundational for me. Heck, Armageddon was as cool as it got, but if push came to shove, I’d throw the band under the bus without a second thought. Then came Young and Restless, an album with some (one for sure) killer songs, though honestly, I didn’t consider it essential.

When Small Change dropped in 1981, I remember really liking the cover - Norman Rockwell, how can you not? My old friend Robert Baldwin (rest in peace, Robert, you were one of a kind) was the only person I knew who had it (apparently there were 49,999 others who had it too). I remember seeing the record in his room and teasing him for owning it. We sat and listened to the record; the first track sounded like classic Prism, but the rest didn’t. That’s how I remember it. Looking at the back cover there were major changes in the band: Ron Tabak, the vocalist, was gone, and Henry Small was in. John Hall, their keyboard wizard and secret sauce, was also out. For me, it just cemented the feeling that this wasn’t Prism. Small Change my ass.

So let’s recap for those playing the home game of WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE: I loved Prism, but my affection was reserved for the first two records, and a couple of songs from their later albums. I wasn’t all that receptive to anything else the band had to offer. In short, I had zero desire to buy Small Change.

Then in 1988, Capitol Records cooked up a goofy marketing strategy to avoid reissuing old albums on CD- the Over Sixty Minutes With ... series. They compiled a whole bunch of  the band's great songs and tacked on "Good to Be Back" a new song. It wasn’t a big hit, but got some radio play, and I loved it enough to pick up the CD. It was supposed to herald in a new era: it did and it didn't. Man, that collection was good. Even "Cover Girl," the extra hit that wasn’t a hit from their 1980 best of album, was included and sounded great. It was all good, really good. Tellingly, while Small Change and Beat Street were on Capitol, nothing from Henry’s era made the cut.

Eventually, Capitol relented and reissued Prism’s back catalogue up to Young and Restless on CD. I ordered them all from the band's online store, and as a plus got a hat with my order. In 2008, Renaissance Records put out the two Henry albums on CD. That same year Prism released a new album Big Black Sky, which was basically an Al Harlow solo album. I never knew about the Renaissance releases, but I did buy the new Prism disc. Anyway, this is all just rambling, and I’m deliberately avoiding the point. Yes, you’d be right to ask, "What the hell is happening here?"

When I started getting back into records, it didn’t take long to find those first two Prism albums. Before long, I had the first four and realized I’d shortchanged (I almost wrote small changed) the band - and myself. Well, not really; I always liked the radio hits, but it was good to dive into the deeper tracks I had overlooked in my youth. Of course, there were two more albums out there (I'm not counting Jericho, but it does count) from the classic era - and yes, I found them both. Small Change, obviously, is spinning at the moment. I’ve been playing it for a few days now, and it’s a conundrum. Beat Street is something else, but it was officially a Prism release.

Which finally brings me to the point. Small Change.

Small ... change. Har de har har. I get it, Henry Small, Small ... Change. well played, sir. Except it wasn't a small change - it changed everything. There are a lot of stories out there about the firing of Ron Tabak the band's vocalist. However it happened it happened. Prism was a big name in Canada with their albums selling platinum in Canada (100,000) and they were a machine dropping an album a year since 1977. The band released their best of just in time to be a Christmas present in December of '80 and it bought them a little time to sort out some of the band's internal issues. 

When Small Change was released near the end of 1981 the album's first single "Don't Let Him Know" sounded like classic Prism which made sense as it was written by longtime collaborator Rodney Higgs, except he was using his real name now: Jim Vallance, and he was joined by his songwriting partner Bryan Adams. The album would go gold in Canada, but by early '82 the only remaining member of the band was Henry Small ... and since Bruce Allen the band's manager apparently owned the name and the band still had a contract with Capitol records.

Like I said, this one is a conundrum. Small Change is still a Prism record - whether we like it or not. Lindsay', Rocket Norton (RIP) and Al Harlow were still onboard. It's a matter of discussion as to how involved they were with the songs as Lindsay has one co-writing credit on the album, and Al doesn't have any. I suspect John Hall, who left the band during the recording of the record still appears on some tracks. Then there was the small change himself Henry Small.

Henry is a fantastic singer, and a decent songwriter as he wrote three songs on the album and co-wrote "Hole in Paradise" (a killer song) with Lindsay. In short on paper this guy brought a lot to the table. Some bands can transition with a new vocalist, more don't. Prism didn't. 

Small Change was in some ways a logical follow up to Young and Restless which was already a departure from the band's classic arena rock. There were glimpses of Prism's rock side: the opening track is so good. Dang it "Hole in Paradise" should have been a single. However, there were way too many adult contemporary songs and ballads that while enjoyable could have been by any number of other bands. Goodness, I know Prism always threw in a ballad (they were good at it) but there were so many here it was distracting. The album was produced by Carter, and it was slick and it sounded good, even if it was just another generic sounding soft rock record.

So where do I sit with this one after all this time?

I find myself really liking a lot of this. Not so much as Prism, but as Henry Small's debut. There are only a couple of songs where I think, "This is Prism" the rest of the time I'm listening to a decent soft rock album with AOR ("Heart and Soul" is great but isn't Prism) overtones. It's easy to armchair analyze this after all this time, and try and fit together bits and pieces I've read over the years. In hindsight it certainly does seem like the band were on a treadmill and didn't know how to take a break. The lone collaboration between Lindsay and Henry is so good, it begs the question, "Why didn't they write more songs?" Who knows. It's a complicated answer that isn't all that complicated. I suspect the band other than Henry had had enough but they still had a job to do, so they did it.

They say sometimes a change can be as good as a rest. In this case one Small Change marked the end of an era.