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Electronic genre fails on Prodigy CD

‘Invaders Must Die’ features irritating synthesizers, lacks innovation in rave music genre

British electronica group the Prodigy is back with its first full-length album since 2004, titled Invaders Must Die, which starts off with a polished industrial rave sound. Unfortunately, it also grows rather tiring before the album has run its course.

Although the Prodigy is often credited with helping bring electronic dance and rave music into the mainstream — along with other English names like Fatboy Slim — it seems as if the pompous attitude inherent in the band’s name begins to catch up with it halfway through its albums.

The opening title track opens with promising riffs and what could be described as almost playful grunge beats (if such a thing can exist) but is comically overdone with the addition of a robotic voice chiming in with “We are… the Prodigy.” Introductions hardly seem necessary for a thoroughly established band, and from then on there’s a downright irritating repetition of a voice yelling, “Invaders must die.” Still, questionable voice tracks aside, the song does pique a certain curiosity about the band’s breadth of electronica and rave sounds.

But while the first track may pique that interest, the rest of the album fails to satisfy. The album’s single, “Omen,” uses sounds nearly identical to those in “Invaders Must Die” but with more irritating synthesizer noises. This is all well and good for a rave party in an industrial warehouse, but on their own, one after the other, nearly all of the tracks on this album grow redundant after 60 seconds and even more so when played back to back.

Not to mention the album fails to bring anything new to the various electronic genres it dabbles in. In fact, I spent most of the time while listening to “Take Me to the Hospital” believing it was an appropriated song from the first “Matrix” soundtrack.

However, a few songs do progress in a way that’s somewhat original and interesting, such as the manner in which “Colours” seems to actually devolve as the song goes on. But most attempts at progression come in the form of aural, mash-up mayhem. “Run with the Wolves,” for instance, could best be described as a schizophrenic techno track with an identity crisis.

But the Prodigy’s merits mention the band is known less for its albums than for its live shows, which are selling out at rave clubs across Europe on the band’s current tour. And to be sure, Invaders Must Die would likely be a mighty fine set for a kick-ass rave, but the energy doesn’t translate when it’s coming from one’s own headphones or even a sound system unless there’s alcohol and ecstasy to fuel the madness that the wild sounds were meant to induce in some Amsterdam nightclub.

1 1/2 stars out of 5.