Invaders Must Die (Bonus Track Version)

iTunes Review

Back in the ‘90s, England’s Prodigy were seen as the next wave of popular music. Leaders in the electronica movement, Prodigy threw together savage, manic uptempo beats and serious keyboard manipulation while raving maniacally about a world where the normal rules no longer applied. On paper, it sounded like the next logical step...except the group never really caught on as intended. While their cult grew to a sizable legion, it wasn’t enough to foster an entire movement or inspire fellow musicians to comply. In 2009, the group released Invaders Must Die, a solid emulation of everything Prodigy has ever stood for. From the first burbling moments of the title track (with an anti-immigration slant that seems like a gratuitous scorched-earth scenario) through the wide sonic expanse of the album’s closer “Stand Up,” Invaders scans like an encyclopedia of Prodigy riffs. “Thunder” channels different levels of warring keyboards and detached vocals. “Colours” crunches with violent rhythms and loopy, arpeggiated keyboard lines. “Warrior’s Dance” is less a military strike than a speed-fueled jiggle to the end of times.