by Michael Bennett
Daily Lobo
The Prodigy returns to form with an audio assault on the senses.
Liam Howlett's new brainchild Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned is a step in a new direction for the hybrid of music styles that is The Prodigy, primarily in the way he has substituted lead vocals for cleverly worked sampling from a variety of known and unknown artists.
Although the absence of Keith Flint's vocals on the album may have seemed an ill-thought decision by some traditionalists, the anarchic singer and dancer will still perform the tracks live. The decision to go with sampling over lead vocals is a central reason why the album works. The focus is on the beat of the music once again.
Howlett attempts to defy convention and recapture the electropunk genre, which is in need of rejuvenation.
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In essence, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned is less thrash and more funk when compared with earlier works such as "Firestarter" and "Smack My Bitch Up."
The psychedelic techno edge still remains, but this time, the approach is closer to bordering on trip-hop.
The penultimate song of the album, "Shoot Down" features Oasis frontman Mancunian Liam Gallagher. This song is the most bizarre mix on the album - it plays like garage punk meets techno. It is more reminiscent of earlier work, but with a swaggering rather than screaming stance, incorporating the boisterous, in-your-face, nonchalant attitude of Gallagher to great effect.
The second track, "Girls," starts off as inoffensive electronic disco with just the one verse in the whole song, "Imagine how it would be to be at the top making cash, money, go touring all around the world, tell stories about all the young girls," and then bursts into a funked-up, Peaches-style musical melee.
Actress Juliette Lewis of "Natural Born Killers" fame provides the vocals for the fifth song on the album, "Hotride," one of the more ear-catching songs of the album because of its explosive psychobilly punk rock.
Parts of the album could be headache inducing if listened to as soon as you get up on a hangover, but to real Prodigy fans, this isn't a problem.
The most noticeable shift since the group's last work is the album's generally uplifting feel. It is still dark, but sounds more stirring. It would be good music to party and dance to.
Yet Howlett attempts to reinvent club music rather succumb to it. One of the album's strongest tracks, "The Way It Is," is a funky house mix with the bass line of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
The album is a success, but only if listened to with an open mind and expectations of something new. Some fans may be alienated with the new direction, but to others, the album is a refreshing comeback.
Always Outnumbered,
Never Outgunned
The Prodigy
Grade: B+
