Las Vegas Critics

The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die

By Nick Manteris · 5 Comments · Leave a Comment

Liam Howlett has rejoined with vocalists Keith Flint and Maxim Reality on Invaders Must Die, once again making The Prodigy a three-person group. I could never figure out exactly what Flint and Maxim were contributing to the music in the past (aside from mostly annoying vocalizations), but they must be doing something because 2004’s Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned proved that a solo Howlett makes the worst music of his career. Invaders Must Die is a better album and, while it isn’t even close to a breakthrough return to form, it is a step in the right direction.

“Invaders Must Die” starts the disc out with a lot of energy after they proclaim “We are The Prodigy” and it has the big beat sound that started with Jilted. “Omen” goes as far back as Experience for inspiration, but the lyrics don’t add anything worthwhile. The ragga-flavored lyrics in “Thunder” are even worse, but both songs are musically better than the (8-bit side-scroller-inspired?) music in “Colours.” The next track, “Take Me to the Hospital,” starts out okay, but the “Dracula” line is worse than any of the lyrics in “Firestarter” and just can’t be forgiven.

Don’t lose all hope because on “Warrior's Dance” they finally get it right…combining a rolling big beat sound with an oldskool breakbeat hardcore vibe and a sample that says, “come with me to the dance floor/you and me, cuz’ that’s what it’s for.” The Prodigy used to make this kind of music before their sound became overly saturated with aggro and punk, but now the most we can hope for is one song per album.

Score

47%

Dave Grohl joins on drums for “Run with the Wolves,” but, unfortunately, the lyrics spoil this song…much like they spoil most of the remaining tracks. “Stand Up” finishes things off at almost the same level as the first song (and this should have been the quality baseline for the album), but, with the exception of “Warrior’s Dance,” none of the other songs are even this average.

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Tags: Music, Nick, big beat, dance-punk, Dave Grohl, Invaders Must Die, Keith Flint, Liam Howlett, Maxim Reality, the Prodigy