the Prodigy

[the mongoose]

Originally Posted by djeddy

first impression of new album..

..eh..

Really grows on you well so don't let your first couple of listens fool you. Headphones really bring out layers of the tracks that you won't hear so prominently otherwise.
I said before that Pirahna was one of the weaker tracks, but after hearing it a dozen more times I actually think its a great track that always gets stuck in my head ("teeth gripped, razor sharp.."). Not a bad song on the cd in my opinion, but Omen Reprise and the last track usually get skipped when I'm listening now the same way as I do when I listen to 'Cuddle Bunny vs. Celtic Villagers' on Obvilion With Bells.

[holden]

First impression (just finishing spinning it in entirety now):
um, relentless hardcore. My ears need a break.

There are hooks aplenty, but it's just all sort of samey. Every track (save the last one, this silly horn-laden "Stand Up", which sounds like it was stolen from Fatboy Slim) ia a barrage of head-drilling beats and growling guitars. Add too too many synth squelches, sirens and rave piano/key throwbacks and its the Prodigy stuck in 3rd gear...fast enough to get you moving (for a while), but not fast enough to be interesting for very long.

Don't get me wrong - i'm a big fan of "Jilted" and "Fat of The Land", because these each had a lot of variety and the harder rock tracks were interspersed with techno (not such a fan of the kinder-rave of Experience, it always gave me a sugar-high-like headache). And i guess back in '97, i liked their menace - seemed dangerous and the sounds new when blasting out "Breathe" or "Mindfields" on the college jukebox. Even "Always Outnumbered..." had some melodic moments and some variety of guest singers...the samey thing about that one was the overdriven basslines that always sound like fart noises to me. Otherwise, it was actually pretty different sounding than FoTL, perhaps a conscious effort by Liam after the crap of "Baby's Got a Temper" as "firestarter pt. 2"

But this record? It's just Prodigy to the lowest common denominator. Like "We're the mighty Prodigy, remember? we're badass, hear Flint scream nonsense!" A track or two at a time is fun enough if you're in the mood for audio overload. But 46 minutes straight didn't really inspire. That's a shame, because it's been getting good reviews and i was hoping for more. Oops.

[King of Snake]

I like it. Nothing groundbreaking, but a bunch of fun, high energy tracks and nice 8-bit videogame synth sounds. No complaints here

[Futuregrapher]

This album is good.

Not great, but good.

[holden]

Originally Posted by King of Snake

I like it. Nothing groundbreaking, but a bunch of fun, high energy tracks and nice 8-bit videogame synth sounds. No complaints here

O.k., in honesty, the album is working a lot better in the car during fast-paced commutes. Maybe headphone listening all the way through is a bad idea. Still, i feel "...Jilted Generation" and "Fat of the Land" work well as cohesive albums - i enjoy listening to them all the way through. "Experience", "AONO" and "Invaders..." trigger the Skip instinct a bit.

[the mongoose]

Just got my box set....yay!



....lost beats EP is great too.