Album Review: The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
I’ve never been to a rave. Despite this fact, I do find the lure of certain electronic music unavoidably alluring. Though half a generation has passed since The Prodigy broke free of the underground, and found resounding success as a major tour de force in the dance music business, their uncanny ability to take simple beats, multiply them, and splice them together in new and innovative ways has hardly weakened.
Here’s the thing, though. How can a “band” that sold 16 million records making background music for teenaged kids under the spell of ecstasy still be relevant in a day and age where alternative rock has all but reinvigorated its stranglehold on our ears? Or, a world where James Murphy exists?
It’s impossible to expect a groundbreaking effort from an electronic-machine-assisted act whose heyday has all but faded into oblivion, just as Bill Clinton’s power over subordinate women certainly has. That’s why their fifth studio effort, Invaders Must Die, isn’t a surprise by any means. As expected, the new record isn’t an assortment of what made The Prodigy… well, The Prodigy. Instead, it’s a sexily crafted, forty-minute slew of mega-watt beats that could perfectly compliment a pre-party hosted by young people hoping to “score” at the conclusion of the night ahead. It’s just a question of how much “more of the same” you can tolerate before you put Lil’ Wayne back on.
That’s not to say there isn’t something rewarding here. Certainly, Invaders Must Die has some silver medals inside, it just takes some patience…and a stomach for nostalgia.
For example, there’s this whole 1995 thing that washes over a few of the tracks. Towards the beginning, with “Omen”, you almost feel at certain points that you’ve been whisked away to the center of a dazed, perspiring collection of dance-aholics, all finding the cadence in a hook-laden groove. If that’s your bag, then keep tracking away.
Then there’s “Piranha”, a brilliant exception to the largely monolithic album in question. The fusion of smells-like-Detroit-spirit garage rock surfaces just below the electronically blistering surge of the song itself. It’s a nice break from the predominately club-feel of a record that blinds listeners with incendiary homage’s to the glow stick, rather than the essence of Rock and Roll.
Otherwise, the entire album plays like a DJ Set at Club 720.
Invaders Must Die is loaded with reminders about why you first started admitting dance music was your guilty pleasure. If you preferred going to parties scored by indistinguishable house music in the 1990s, rather than donning flannel and hitting up late-night skate parks with Alice In Chains blaring from your head phones, it’s highly suggested you pick up this record. If not, I’d highly advise against it.
Rating: 
Check Out:
i don’t give a shit about prodigy, i just know what i’m talking about. and whether or not i like them isn’t the question, it’s how i talk about them and why.
“Electronic-assisted” isn’t even a term, it’s some dumb bullshit you made up to try to sound smart.
most music has electronics… what do you think a guitar amp is?
where did you come up with “group of dj’s”? house, jungle and whatever else are composed my musicians. dj-ing is and performative act.
stop critiquing things that you have no real interest or expertise in…
duh.
1: You love Prodigy. Not judging. Yes sayin…
2: I do speak for myself. Who doesn’t?
3: Yes. Electronic-assisted music is amazing.
4: I am too stupid to decihper the difference between a “band” and a “group of DJ’s.”
5: Thanks for knowing more about the “group of DJ’s” than I do.
–please take the time to read better writers. You are the world’s greatest gift.
1: prodigy were never an underground act in the u.s.
2: “indie rock” or whatever, having a “stranglehold on [my] ears] never occured. speak for yourself.
3: James Murphy “exists” almost-entirely in a world that’s “electronic-machine-assisted”, also, all hip hop is “”electronic-machine-assisted”, along with most, if not all, other forms of current music.
4: prodigy is not “house” or “rave” or whatever else. in addition prodigy is not a band, it’s a producer with two dancers-turned-singers.
5: prodigy was the offspring of YBA, Jungle, Acid House, industrial dancecore, and a then current rejuvenation in UK pop music.
–please pretend harder to know stuff about the stuff you write about.
I support the readers, this album is bringing back the rave culture in Europe and anyone who is actually familiar with the band loves the album, it is made to be listened to live and the overall feeling of this actually being a cohesive listen-all-the-way-through album can’t be denied by anyone who knows what they are talking about.
I’ve just listened to this album on Vinyl 3 times in a row and I still can’t find anything wrong with it. Perhaps you had your headphones on the wrong part of your body?
It’s a tough job, but you do it for the children.
HAHA. You would be too if you did this everyday.
That was a rather grandiose and oversensitive response. For a music blog, you guys sure can be cranky.
Ah, it used to be fifteen minutes of fame. Now it’s fifteen seconds…enjoy it readers.
I’m glad that I don’t read this site for the reviews.
IMD is indeed really good. Your rating is slightly off from what I would put, you’re basing your review on some odd stuff.
Warrior’s Dance is the most brilliant tune, it’s Liam going back to his breakbeat roots mixed with the intensity of the normal prodigy sound.
“a pre party album for people looking to score”
.. uh, what? that kind of scene really has absolutely nothing to do with prodigy or their music (or real EDM in general).
This, along with all every other song Liam has done, is meant to be played live. He’s openly said so. When he writes an album, he focuses on the live aspect of it. This album will definitely slay live.
You say you’ve never been to a rave, which is fine, but I’m curious, how much EDM do you listen to?
the last DM record was was great, one of their best efforts in years.
this prodigy record is really good too, and who says it has to be “groundbreaking” anyways?
“It’s impossible to expect a groundbreaking effort from an electronic-machine-assisted act whose heyday has all but faded into oblivion”
I thought Depeche Mode’s last album was a groundbreaking effort. Nothing is impossible.
May 25th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
[...] Howlett, Keith Flint, and Maxim Reality is back and intact, and the group’s latest record, Invaders Must Die, keeps things in perspective, while also responding to the rise in electronic music over the past [...]
Mar 27th, 2009 at 10:35 am
[...] U.S. beginning May 18th for what is currently a nine-date swing in support of the recently released Invaders Must Die. This time around, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Anaheim, and Los Angeles are among the [...]
Mar 12th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
[...] Take The Prodigy for example. Just last month, the English outfit released its fifth studio album, Invaders Must Die, and only now is starting to tour in support of it. Yes, for the better part of well, the [...]