Invaders Must Die

by The Prodigy

Overview

Twenty years after England's Summer of Love, rave had made a comeback -- at least in indie circles -- and Liam Howlett's Prodigy, the only original rave group still going (anyone remember Altern-8?), could hardly have done worse than jump aboard. But Invaders Must Die is a curious nu-rave record, as though the sound of 1991 (such as their Top Ten hit "Charly") has been filtered through the sound of 1996 (such as their number one, "Firestarter") to emerge as nothing more than a hodgepodge of uptempo dance music with extroverted beats and grimy basslines. If that sounds basically like your average electronica record circa the turn of the millennium (albeit produced by one of its greatest heroes), then you're a long way towards understanding what this nu-rave record from the Prodigy sounds like. Add a few period-appropriate cues -- unfiltered synth or keyboard runs, ring-the-alarm effects, samples of divas or ragga chatters (sped-up and slowed-down, respectively) -- and you get a strange album indeed. The single "Omen" is a good example, although it has few qualities to recommend it beyond its basic energy; tellingly, it's a rare co-production, with James Rushent from Does It Offend You, Yeah?. The other two tracks with the most rave signals are "Take Me to the Hospital" and "Warrior's Dance," which both sound like follow-ups to "Charly" or "Out of Space" filtered through the darkside strains of latter-day hardcore techno (aka 4Hero's "Mr. Kirk's Nightmare"). And as usual with the Prodigy -- going back to Music for the Jilted Generation -- there's plenty of polemics and struggle, most of it delivered in shouted, sloganeering fashion by Keith Flint and Maxim (who are both back in the fold after being absent from the previous Prodigy record, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned). Howlett is no slouch in the production chair, and the sounds are mostly blinding, but the songs are strictly by-the-books. ~ John Bush

Product Details

Release Date:	09/30/2010
Label:	Cooking Vinyl
UPC:	0711297880113
Rank:	41688

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Prodigy   Primary Artist
Dave Grohl   Drums
Liam Howlett   Keyboards
Maxim   Vocals
Brother Culture   Vocals
Tim Hutton   Horn,Guitar
Keith Flint   Vocals

Technical Credits

Billy Childish   Composer
Jeff Mills   Composer
Liam Howlett   Mixing,Composer,Producer,Audio Production
Maxim   Composer
Bridgett Grace   Composer
Manfred Mann   Composer,Composer
Kim Deal   Composer
Peter Thomas   Composer,Composer
Neil McLellan   Mixing
Tim Hutton   Composer
James Rushent   Producer,Audio Production
John Fortis   Composer
Nick Halkes   Composer
Damian Taylor   Mixing,Pre-Production,Audio Production
Anthony Srock   Composer
Jari Salo   Composer
Live ID   Composer
Paul Malmstroem   Composer
Rajesh Roshan   Composer
Sameer Anjaan   Composer
Scrapper   Composer
Trevor Joe   Composer
John C.F. Davis   Mastering
Keith Flint   Composer
Marcos Salon   Composer
Paul Dugdale   Photography