The Prodigy

The '90s were the Prodigy's decade; the '00s have been a bit more humbling for the electro freaks. Liam Howlett quietly released Always Outnumbered... in 2004, but it's been 12 years since the original three members dropped The Fat of the Land. There's no recycling of "Smack My Bitch Up" here, but there's little deviation from the group's punkish one-liners and stimulant-fueled industrialized beats. That doesn't mean there's a shortage of rave material, though; "Omen" is a Hackers-style doozy and "Stand Up" adds a fresh big band feel to all the anarchist angst.

Back in the day, the Prodigy gave electronic music a persona, in the form of frontman Keith
Flint — an obnoxious cyberthug who was an amusing alternative to knob-twisting nerds. On
their first album with Flint since 1997, it's like no time has passed. "Invaders Must Die" —
which loops the title phrase over bludgeoning beats and electro fireworks — seems
designed to bait immigrant-rights advocates just as the notorious "Smack My Bitc... More >