Gringo|mingo
05-03-2006, 03:53 AM
Starting with the opening track "Spitfire" with it's industrial stabs and 'block rockin' beats, you know your in for something a little different from the usual prodigy flavor, this album contains a mixture of hip hop, rock, grime, electro, dance and others, while this is know different from older Liam Howlett productions, the way he combines the various flavors IS different.
The second track 'Girls' (my fave) kicks like a mule! It breaks down and goes a bit odd in the middle, but soon gets back on track - a real head nodder.
The third and fourth tracks "Memphis Belle" and "Get Up Get Off" respectively move on a grimy garage type flavor, something which in my opinion was the result of outside pressure to 'fit in' with the underground sound of the time.
Track 5, " Hot ride" features vocal elements from "Up Up and Away" by Jim Webb, but restyled in a Prodigy vs. Garbage* combo, good tune, strange vocal IMO.
Now track 6 is more along the lines of the band's better known Fat of the Land sound; catchy vocal - "Back on Form You Better Wake Up!" - dark sounding, mixed with alarms and tough-as-fuck beats. "Wake Up Call" is what many people would have expected from this album.
Track 7 "Action Radar" hears Prodigy getting back to its roots, with techno and break beats running side by side and an overall lo-fi sound to it. The token Keith flint style vocal (performed by Paul "Dirtcandy" Jackson) finishes off the token Prodigy sound.
Track 8 "Medusa's Path" has been well sampled already by the TV Thieves, a kind of a Massive Attack sounding tune with a atmospheric break - one of the best tracks IMO
Track 9 is a "marmite" track: you'll either love it or hate it... "Phoenix" features a student type Bjork vibe. Good chorus break get's you rockin for about 10secs then drops back to the grimy vibe.
The tenth track on the album "You'll Be Under My Wheels" is killer!!! Phatness all the way through, another track you've probably heard without realizing it was them. Good tune for scowlers.
Track 11 contains a definite undertone of Michael Jackson's Thriller (seems like a dubious title these days) but darker and harder (ooh-err). "The Way It Is" to me seems just a little rushed, but as a remash is pretty good.
This brings us to the final track, "Shoot Down" vocals by Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher "Bang Bang BANG". A pretty awesome track which shows just how far a fusion sound can go while still sounding completely natural. Another reason to buy this album IMO
Diehard prodigy fans may be a little disappointed in this album as it's not really on a par with the likes of Jilted Generation or Experience, but on the other hand after producing good tracks for many years it's perfectly understandable that the prodigy are trying different flavors and mixing up their styles more. Liam Howlett actually made a beta if you like, and after showing it around, got negative results so remade the whole album at the last minute - this is reflected in the scrappy sound of the production. If it had sounded like Fat of the Land people would have called it unoriginal.
So I give the prodigy an overall 8.753432 for 'Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned'
*The band not the refuse, though some may argue.
The second track 'Girls' (my fave) kicks like a mule! It breaks down and goes a bit odd in the middle, but soon gets back on track - a real head nodder.
The third and fourth tracks "Memphis Belle" and "Get Up Get Off" respectively move on a grimy garage type flavor, something which in my opinion was the result of outside pressure to 'fit in' with the underground sound of the time.
Track 5, " Hot ride" features vocal elements from "Up Up and Away" by Jim Webb, but restyled in a Prodigy vs. Garbage* combo, good tune, strange vocal IMO.
Now track 6 is more along the lines of the band's better known Fat of the Land sound; catchy vocal - "Back on Form You Better Wake Up!" - dark sounding, mixed with alarms and tough-as-fuck beats. "Wake Up Call" is what many people would have expected from this album.
Track 7 "Action Radar" hears Prodigy getting back to its roots, with techno and break beats running side by side and an overall lo-fi sound to it. The token Keith flint style vocal (performed by Paul "Dirtcandy" Jackson) finishes off the token Prodigy sound.
Track 8 "Medusa's Path" has been well sampled already by the TV Thieves, a kind of a Massive Attack sounding tune with a atmospheric break - one of the best tracks IMO
Track 9 is a "marmite" track: you'll either love it or hate it... "Phoenix" features a student type Bjork vibe. Good chorus break get's you rockin for about 10secs then drops back to the grimy vibe.
The tenth track on the album "You'll Be Under My Wheels" is killer!!! Phatness all the way through, another track you've probably heard without realizing it was them. Good tune for scowlers.
Track 11 contains a definite undertone of Michael Jackson's Thriller (seems like a dubious title these days) but darker and harder (ooh-err). "The Way It Is" to me seems just a little rushed, but as a remash is pretty good.
This brings us to the final track, "Shoot Down" vocals by Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher "Bang Bang BANG". A pretty awesome track which shows just how far a fusion sound can go while still sounding completely natural. Another reason to buy this album IMO
Diehard prodigy fans may be a little disappointed in this album as it's not really on a par with the likes of Jilted Generation or Experience, but on the other hand after producing good tracks for many years it's perfectly understandable that the prodigy are trying different flavors and mixing up their styles more. Liam Howlett actually made a beta if you like, and after showing it around, got negative results so remade the whole album at the last minute - this is reflected in the scrappy sound of the production. If it had sounded like Fat of the Land people would have called it unoriginal.
So I give the prodigy an overall 8.753432 for 'Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned'
*The band not the refuse, though some may argue.