The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die – review

Corporate line:
The fifth studio album by the acclaimed and controversial British Electronic act. As one of the most successful and respected Dance groups of recent times, this album sees the return of both Keith Flint and Maxim to the fold for their most exciting album to date. Included are collaborations with Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) and James Rushent (Does It Offend You Yeah).

The good:
“Invaders Must Die” – Solid dance mix with one of the hottest beats you’ll hear in a long time. It’s the kind of beat that sings to you without needing to say a single word. Actually we wish no one would have said a word.

“Thunder” – Finally Prodigy get a good mix of vocals and beats –even if the same lyrics are repeated a hundred times: “I hear thunder/ but there’s no rain/ this type of thunder breaks walls and windowpane.”

“Warrior’s Dance” – A blitzing soundscape that gets so much closer to where you’d hope this trio would be by now. It’s got a spooky close encounters vibe three minutes in and it never relents.

“Omen Reprise” – It’s bizarre—the reprise actually sounds more relevant. I wonder where they dug up the Phantom of the Opera.

The rest:
“Run with the Wolves” – The reason most people don’t take Prodigy seriously isn’t the sick beats—it’s the stupid rhymes.

“Omen” – A track that sounds like Prodigy is trying way too hard to be dark and cool. It’s neither. The beats are fairly good—but the rhymes are crap.

“Colours” – The lyrics are horrible and the beats sound like colorful noise.

“Piranha” – Seriously? Who writes this crap anyway? It sounds like it came straight from some bad ‘70s movie.

Finally:
The bad news about The Prodigy is that they still don’t know how to get away from the crap. The good news is that The Prodigy can still tear it up. The “Invaders Must Die” album is completely schizophrenic. You have songs like “Invaders Must Die” and “Thunder” which can hang with their classics and then songs like “Piranha” which would get them tossed on their asses. Download the good and be glad you never heard the bad.