The Prodigy: Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Seven years ago, electronic music was being groomed for America's pop charts, and the Prodigy were to lead the way, armed with cartoony anthems, a snarling, interestingly coifed frontman, Keith Flint, and a kinetic stage show. It worked, too: The Fat of the Land, their third album, debuted at Number One on Billboard's album chart in July 1997. Electronica never staged a full takeover, but the Prodigy's heavy guitars and mammoth beats won a decisive battle. Which is why their long-delayed fourth album is so well titled: Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned is the album equivalent of a Civil War re-enactment. All the basic ingredients from Fat -- producer-mastermind Liam Howlett's trunk-slamming beats, depth-charge bass, Eighties-rap references ("Girls" leans on a Funky 4 + 1 quote) and wobbling synths -- are here, essentially untouched. Kool Keith returns for a guest spot, and as with Fat's cover of L7's "Fuel My Fire," Howlett again tips his hat to a garage-fuzz howler: "Phoenix" is essentially a cut-up of Shocking Blue's "Love Buzz." And "Spitfire," one of two songs featuring vocals from Juliette Lewis, baldly rips off their 1996 hit "Firestarter." The problem is that with the occasional exception -- such as "Memphis Bells," which sounds like a crunked-up slot machine -- Outnumbered plods along with little purpose beyond proving that Howlett can still wage sonic warfare. Doing something interesting with those weapons is something else altogether -- and it's not like Howlett didn't have seven years to try.