Such a bright, many faceted and constantly improving collective as The Prodigy can be talked about forever. The names of Liam Howlett, Keith Flint and Maxim are known practically to any school student as the English guys have been strewing the club audience with immortal danceable hits for almost two decades now and invent something new from one album to another. During the recent years, however, the band has taken a short break after releasing a great record Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned in 2004 and the compilation Their Law: The Singles (1990-2005) in 2005. Many have already thought that the best time of The Prodigy are left in history but the single Invaders Must Die released last November was a real and powerful ray of hope. Finally, at the end of winter the electronic trio casts its fifth studio album on us. For the first time since the 1997’s record The Fat of the Land all members of The Prodigy have taken part in the recording of Invaders Must Die so this creation should be considered a return to form in all the word’s senses.
Whichever track you choose on the new album it will not disappoint you as there are simply no failures here for this is a work of a band that always knows what the dancing audience is waiting from it and each time manages to exceed these expectations. The album opens with the title track and the first single Invaders Must Die, which lets us know at once that The Prodigy are still too far from going to retire and perhaps is even starting a new chapter in its creative work. the single Omen is no less impressive piece with a memorable chorus which is in the band’s traditions the only lyrics in the song whereas quite a heavy composition Thunder proves to be one of the most interesting on the album in the respect of its content. The song Colours is refined with faultless synthesizers and a complicated broken beat and Take Me To The Hospital simultaneously reminds of the band’s best works when it was on the peak of popularity and sounds surprisingly up-to-date. The highlights of the record are definitely such songs as Warriors Dance refined with female vocals by no means making lighter this number loaded with effects, Run With The Wolves on which Nirvana and Foo Fighters drummer Dave Grohl joins the guys and contagiously aggressive World's On Fire. The album closes with another surprise – the most melodious and softest number Stand Up, almost psychedelic, starting with silence, then conquering with happy tubes allowing to relax a bit after this never-ending dance marathon.
There is hardly anybody in the world who would not agree that The Prodigy is one of the brightest and most important bands of the present days. During more than two decades Howlett’s are brought to life driving the whole world crazy and the fans always want some more. There is hardly another electronic collective in the world that could boast the same long term success and moreover quite few bands are able to release more vivid, impressive works of a better quality after each album. No doubt the same is true about the fifth record. This work’s main peculiarity is that everything best that The Prodigy has ever created is concentrated on it so whichever period of its creative work you are fond of you are sure to find what you are looking for on Invaders Must Die. Although there are no guest stars mentioned on the track list which is characteristic of most of the previous albums, some famous personas have taken part in the recording. For instance, the singles Invaders Must Die and Omen were produced together with James Rushent, the front man of Does It Offend You, Yeah?. Eclectic, nervous and unbelievably contagious, The Prodigy’s new album proves to be one of the best in its discography and guarantees that this team will long remain an active leader among its peers so it is well too early to charge it off.
Their Law: The Singles 1990-2005
Loverboy 2011
Brett Dennen's fourth record Loverboy is filled with strong emotions and humor. The slow guitar arpeggios have given way here to powerful acoustic riffs, active drums, playful fiddles and dancing keys
