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The Prodigy - Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (XL) Seven years after the all-conquering Fat of the Land comes this tardy follow up by Liam Howlett. An awful lot has happened in the world in those years but time seems to have stood still in Prodigyland.
Seven years ago the Prodigy were one of the biggest bands on the planet. Their mixture of electro, rock and hip hop proved irresistible both here and across the pond. You don't really need a history lesson when the word Firestarter says it all.
While all the music was the work of Liam Howlett, it's the madcap sinister antics of frontman Keith Flint that most people associate with the Prodigy. A world tour, clashing egos and huge pressure to repeat the success drained poor Howlett and apart from a bad single (Baby's Got a Temper) it's been silence since. Flint and DJ Maxim have tried and failed to launch alternative careers while the Essex prodigy was holed up in the studio working on the new album.
A whole album was scrapped when Howlett decided it didn't pass muster and the one we now have was apparently knocked off fairly quickly on his laptop.
While Always Outnumbered... is unlikely to go down as one of rock's greatest follies, quite simply it's too little, too late. Flint et al are absent from the CD but promised for the tour later this year.
Musically speaking, it's business as usual but either diluted or uninspired. Hollywood babe Juliette Lewis does a passable Keith Flint impression on Spitfire, the album's opening track. From the moment those big drums come crashing in, you know you're with the Prodigy, but as the album progresses, the suspicion is confirmed that too much time spent with brother in law Liam Gallagher and the mangy rock aristocracy has blunted Howlett's edge in the same way that Oasis are now a bit of a joke.
A shame really because the Prodigy in full flight (the first two albums in truth) is an awesome beasty.
Always Outnumbered... sees Howlett's gifts spread thin. It's mediocre fare really. How it fares in the marketplace will be interesting. I suspect it will sell well in its initial release spell but not repeat the crossover...