Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned

by

The Prodigy

Edit

Mainly because lots of people want "Fat of the Land". People need to realize that getting another "Fat of the Land" would be just that. The same album, same songs...it would basically just be like every other rock album out there, same guitars, same vocals, same of everything. Yeah this isn't a "rock" album, but others could argue that it stands twice as high on the hill then any of the other mainstream crap that comes outta the record label poopshoot nowdays. This album does exactly what Liam Howllet said it would do. It goes back to the roots of the Prodigy, bringing back the big and loud beats that "Music for the Jilted Generation" brought us. It goes back to a lot of the instrumental and sprinkled vocals we used to get from them. It doesn't have Keith Flint or Maxim, but then again THEY weren't "The Prodigy". They brought the added intensity to the live shows and in "Fat of the Land" the demented vocals that we all know. Keith and Maxim are fun to listen to of course, but it seemed to be more about them and not a lot about what the music was really doing. It's time we got to hear some new blood on a Prodigy album for once. This release is gonna catch a lot of debree from the Keith and Maxim fans, but they're still in the group. They were originally the dancers of the group, not the vocalists. But this album gets back to what Liam did best, pounding the crap out of your ears and making you scream for more raw eletronic mayhem. And he succeeds in everyway. I can't wait for the new albums that will be produced sooner or later. The Prodigy still has balls to kick the (...) outta you.

Who wants to know why The Prodigy are regarded as one of the most important electronic acts of the 90s? Actually, most of you probably already know, but I'll tell you anyway. Their music was always good enough to achieve mainstream success, yet they never milked it seeing as they didn't need to. They released a completely different sounding album each time, all three of them being symbolic of the culture from which they spawned; Experience is the epitome of early 90s rave, Jilted Generation showcases rave's move towards darker and harder sounds while Fat Of The Land answered the call for something new, combining rock and electronic music in previously unheard ways. This, combined with their (im)famously intense live shows (I'm yet to experience one myself though) garnered them a lot of respect and quite the fanbase.

When I initially got into Prodigy as a 12 year old kid back in 1997, I fell in love with all their albums despite them sounding so drastically different and despite having no knowledge of the culture behind them. Why? Because the songs just screamed out to be loved. It didn't matter to me that Experience sounded nothing like Fat Of The Land (which is what I was expecting and hoping it would sound like). Instead of being disappointed, I just listened. The music was just really well made. I listened to that album the other day and forgot just how good it was. It was well written, full of energy and feeling. That was nine years ago and while The Prodigy are far from my favourite band the way they were back then, they've still gotten play from me since then to this day.

So, seven years after arguably their best album, The Prodigy brought us Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned in 2004. Is it bad? By no means. Crunchy drums, cathy vocal lines, some cool samples here and there and some memorable riffs and melodies certainly doesn't make a bad album. Where does it fall short then? Well, for starters it's really nothing new. Nothing on this album makes you sit up and take notice like they did on previous albums. Secondly, it doesn't feel connected to anything. The other three albums all said something about their culture. By contrast, this one seems to stand alone like a lost sheep. The songs are simply to bland and repetitive for me to feel like this album is truly something special. This album just doesn't feel like it's saying anything or that it means anything.

After seven years, I'd have thought there'd be something a little more remarkable than this.