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.

[Lx_Nen]

Am I the only one getting the feeling that the same people who complained about their last album not sounding like the prodigy are the same people complaining that this one does?

Anyway, on first listen as someone who's not been a huge prodigy fan in the past (I did buy FotL, but I just put that down to peer pressure) I agree with the 'good but not great' opinion. I get the 'sounds a lot like pendulum' comment, but I'm not put off by it, since pendulum are making a shit job of sounding like pendulum these days. I can't take some bits of this album seriously though - I threw away a track I was working on because it relied on a cheesy sample from 'James Brown is dead', but Liam uses the same sample on at least 2 tracks, and as for the wonky rave piano (1:42 into 'World's on Fire') that one was drained of all credibility with it's sarcastic use by Sheep on Drugs in "Track X" back in '92. I'm not that put off by the Fat Boy Slim clone track, probably because I like the odd bit in the middle that sounds like pre-fame Numan. Ho Hum.

[the mongoose]

The actual cd sounds fuckloads better than the leaked rip.

Observe

So don't judge until you've listened to the whole RETAIL cd (and the brilliant Lost Beats EP...2 of those tracks should have been on the album IMO).

Also check out the Prodigy (& the Chemical Brothers) remix of Oasis' Falling Down:
http://www.myspace.com/oasis

..and there is the Noisia Remix and Intrumental/Extended versions of Omen up now on the official page:

http://www.myspace.com/theprodigy:coo l:

[King of Snake]

aaargh! Found out yesterday that the Prodigy are playing a one off live gig in Amsterdam next wednesday. Of course it's sold out, only about 1500 tickets available. Damn I really want to go there but I don't really feel like spending up to 100 euro for a ticket which is what they seem to be going for on the unofficial circuit.

really digging the new album btw!

[dubman]

Originally Posted by the mongoose

The actual cd sounds fuckloads better than the leaked rip.

Observe

So don't judge until you've listened to the whole RETAIL cd (and the brilliant Lost Beats EP...2 of those tracks should have been on the album IMO).

i'm sure it's better than the promo rip with the skips scattered into the tracks, but the albums out and ripped in V0 and 320, so if it's still crap then, the RETAIL version isn't going to help any.

come on man, i'd expect this sort of drivel to come from press kits and interviews.