Review Summary: Just when you thought it was safe to go out clubbing…
2004, the year when The Prodigy failed to establish any connection between the jilted generation’s music at all. They had become fat in their own land, outnumbered, and ironically, outgunned. It was as if all experience had slipped away overnight, and delivered a package from the devil himself. To keep things simple, they went simple, and to disastrous feedback. Have they found redemption at last after the horrific release of their last album? I would think so.
Invaders Must Die suggests what the title says; “if you don’t the music, we don’t like you”. Keep this message in mind while listening to the album and you’ll see a side of The Prodigy unfold like never before… again. What Liam and the boys have done this time is kept true to their roots, but I have this worrying feeling in my gut as if Mr. Howlett was one day browsing through his old record collection and came across
Music For The Jilted Generation, played it on his CD player and suddenly thought, “damn, I gotta do something like this again.” Sometimes, roots aren’t worth going back to. But The Prodigy have proven us wrong… twice, at least. Rave-goers, clubheads, metal fans, and electro-junkies alike united to the release of IMD. Immediately you will notice striking similarities to the classics, very definite and creative. The sound is much more in-your-face and violent, the lyrics are mediocre as usual and the replay value is favourable. Yet,
Invaders Must Die possesses strong magnitude, and you’ll be listening to it more than you anticipated to. So how does the jilted generation range in the modern music scene?
1.
Invaders Must Die: The opening title track,
Invaders Must Die is quite a trip. You can spot the difference in sound as soon as the ultrasonic beat kicks in, with a voice introducing in a radio-friendly voice, “we are The Prodigy”. The beat is flat, but at the same time wants you to dance like a junkie introduced to a new street drug. The synth effects and samples are typical Prodigy material, squeeling and overpowering listeners to the point of irritation, even with the added kick of a background voice repeating the title. You can hardly find originality here, but is immense fun to get pumped to.
3/5
2.
Omen:
Omen is not easy on the ears. The introduction kicks in immediately, and leaves you dazed after a bass hit and rolling synth wheel suddenly break the tension. Keith Flint is back with his maniacal screeching vocals again, announcing “writings on the wall, it won’t go away”. You might think after all these years that he’d want to make an entrance in style, but sounds drowned out and tired. However, you can find solitude in
Omen with two short breaks in between the hard rave, the first being an electronic guitar solo and the second is wine glasses being smacked with a plastic spoon. [b]2/5[/i]
3.
Thunder: If theres one thing the Prodigy know how to do right, is use a Jamaican sample wisely.
Thunder is a standout track on the album, a pulsing repetition of incredibly deep bass hits and many electronic breaks. The best way to describe it is by its own name; loud and insane. Theres no doubt that this will be a major hit in live performances.
4.5/5
4.
Colours: Lets take a trip back to the Outgunned era, when
You’ll Be Under My Wheels was the only track that managed to get my feet tapping. Problem with
Colours is, it sounds vaguely similar to it. The breakbeat is unoriginal, boring, and predictable. Even the 80’s Atari breakdowns sound drained of all inspiration, and what you’re left with is an empty shell. Prodigy frontmen Maxim Reality and Keith Flint don’t do much of a bang-up job either. If you haven’t given “Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned” a listen yet, then this track will be worth your money. Otherwise, just remember, the skip button is your best friend.
1.5/5
5.
Take Me To The Hospital: Its one thing to name a song after your own record label, but Liam Howlett made it seem almost effortless and… normal. The beat is not your average 2-stepper, and at points you might feel that Liam went overboard with it. Not to worry though, the keyboard sample is well balanced and smooth-running, keeping true to the rave goers every need. Flint finally impresses with his crazy antiques, and does it in a way that’s not a simple carbon copy of
Firestarter. “Along came a spider/ He was creepy like dracula/ He spoke like he was a friend/ So then came adrenaline”. No idea what it means, but its sounds fresh.
4.5/5
6.
Warriors Dance: The first song to break the five-minute mark, and the ultimate high point of the album. The intro consists of a middle-eastern flute floating over a womans voice shouting your average 80’s rave commands. It then breaks into one of the best uses of samples I’ve ever heard. The deep bass rhythm keeps the listener on the edge of adrenaline, consistent and never held back. Its not easy to take in on the first few listens, but will grow on you in time. From start to finish,
Warriors Dance stays faithful to The Prodigy’s whacky style. You can picture this in the next big Hollywood blockbuster involving cars.
4.5/5
7.
Run With The Wolves: “What you gonna do when the hounds are calling?” screams Keith Flint in the introduction. What starts off as your everyday rock song becomes a frenzy of melodramatic vocal hysteria, intense computerized guitar riffs and I’ll-scare-your-grandmother-to-death bass hits. At points it sounds as if all essence of techno had been removed and replaced with your average metal song on crack. The synth effects are shifting fast enough for a person to lose their mind, so take extreme caution in listening. I feel the need not to call The Prodigy’s music “garage noise”, but in cases like this, we all can make an exception.
3/5
8.
Omen Reprise: Nothing to take in here other than a repetition, or in The Prodigy’s case, a two minute “rave ballad”, of the second song,
Omen. Not very original either, since it sounds like your Nintendo 64 backed up after a major Pepsi accident.
1/5
9.
World’s On Fire: The first song on the entire album that moved me, and made me appreciate why I am a fan of their music. There is nothing wrong with it at all. Its ear-candy of the best quality. The introduction, an epic rising siren with a sample repeating the title, sets the mood throughout. Keith Flint and Maxim Reality share their moments in glory with lyrics like “too close to the wire, your world’s on fire!” It surprisingly sounds more satisfying than you can imagine. Many elements of WoF makes it a club hit, including the old-school breakdowns and orgasmic rave beats. Unfortunately, its potential is only experienced to the fullest during live performances, where you can feel the power surge through your body.
Worlds On Fire already has my vote for one of 2009’s best dance songs.
5/5
10.
Pirahna: After the results of the previous track, I had high hopes that the next song would fade into a bang. It doesn’t.
Pirahna just borders on the ridiculously creepy and strange. From all the bad Power Rangers lyrics and old 50’s alien music, you can feel Liam quickly running out of ideas, and its at moments like these that the skip button greets you with a “howdy”. There’s no possible way to describe a song quite like
Pirahna, unless you are stoned out of your mind and have the God-given talent of reviewing albums intelligently. Otherwise, avoid.
2/5
11.
Stand Up: The big bang finally happens on
Stand Up, a song so influenced by the 90’s psychedelic movement that it isn’t even recognized as something The Prodigy would do. (think along the lines of Fatboy Slim). The intro is a slow fade into loud trumpets and drum machines, with the occasional synth break. If you love The Prodigy, you will like this song. If you like Fatboy Slim, you will love this song. It doesn’t give the feeling of ending a techno-rave album, but this is one of those songs that you will keep listening to in your car while on a joyride.
4.5/5
What The Prodigy tried to do is return to their roots by pulling as far away from them as possible, resulting in a mash of expired samples and overplayed anthems. It wouldn’t be fair to say that Liam has completely lost his touch in making music, but he isn’t at the top of his game on
Invaders Must Die. Different people who listen to variety buckets of music might find something on here appealing, but the rest of the songs fade away in time, very much like “Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned”, and presents no memorable moments.
Worlds On Fire and
Warriors Dance will keep the dance floor filled for now, but for serious music junkies like myself it might as well disappear as new music progresses, and what The Prodigy will try to do is revive an already dead style of music. Come to think of it, what we’ve always wanted was for them to make another album that sounds like “Music For The Jilted Generation”, but now that its here, it will leave an unbalanced taste in your mouth.
Definitely check out:
1.
Worlds On Fire
2.
Warriors Dance
3.
Stand Up
4.
Take Me To The Hospital
