Description
The Prodigy – Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned / CLS RECORDS Audio CD 2004 / CLS SA0052
UPC 5999543390325
Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned is the fourth studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy. It was first released on 11 August 2004 in Japan, on 23 August 2004 in the United Kingdom by XL Recordings, and on 15 September 2004 in the United States by Maverick Records. Recorded almost entirely using Propellerhead Reason and mastered with Pro Tools, the album contrasts with the group's previous releases, and features a larger use of vocals than their previous album The Fat of the Land (1997). Keith Flint and Maxim Reality do not provide any contribution to the official record, which leaves Liam Howlett as the sole band member to do so for a first and last time in group's history.
The title is a play on the name of the Walter Mosely novel Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. Despite achieving commercial success upon release, the album is among the band's lowest-sellers. As a result, XL and Maverick dropped the group after the release of the compilation album Their Law: The Singles 1990–2005.
Masters of reinvention, rave stalwarts Prodigy have undergone another remarkable facelift for their fourth album, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. For band leader Liam Howlett, this mutation was less about ambitious experimentation and more the result of crucial damage control: the band's disastrous 2002 comeback campaign, spearheaded by "Baby's Got a Temper" found the band stagnant and on the verge of self-parody. Howlett's response was to scrap the sessions, hunker down with a laptop and hammer out an album that held spontaneity as a virtue. And while the old touchstones--the propulsive breakbeats of old-skool hip-hop, the brooding menace of punk-rock and acid-house--are all here sporting a fresh chrome gleam, they're joined by new influences: everything from crunk hip-hop to Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker" bubbles beneath the surface of "Girls." Maxim and Keith Flint are absent, replaced by a bizarre roll call of stars--Liam Gallagher, Juliette Lewis, Twista--and obscurities anyone remember the Ping Pong Bitches? Not that it matters: this is Howlett's album, and whether he's rewiring Shocking Blue's "Love Buzz" as Middle Eastern-tinged acid techno on "Phoenix" or clashing with Kool Keith on "Wake Up Call," he sounds back on top of his game. --Louis Pattison
Tracklist:
| 1 | Spitfire
Bass [Stab Creation] – Matt Robertson, Vocals – J. Lewis |
5:08 |
| 2 | Girls
Vocals – The Magnificent Ping Pong Bitches, Written-By – F. Cooke, Hubert Barclay Eaves III, J. Martinez (2), James Williams |
4:07 |
| 3 | Memphis Bells
Vocals – Princess Superstar, Written-By – N. McLellan |
4:29 |
| 4 | Get Up Get Off
Co-producer – Dave Pemberton, Vocals, Written-By [Vocals] – J. Lewis, Shahin Badar, Twista |
4:20 |
| 5 | Hotride
Backing Vocals – Hannah Robinson, Bass – L. Howlett, Guitar – Scott Donaldson, Vocals, Written-By [Vocals] – J. Lewis, Written-By – J. Webb* |
4:36 |
| 6 | Wake Up Call
Flute – Jim Hunt, Vocals [Additional] – Hannah Robinson, Louise Boone, Vocals, Written-By [Vocals] – Kool Keith |
4:56 |
| 7 | Action Radar
Guitar – L. Howlett, Mike Horner, Vocals [Additional] – Louise Boone, Vocals, Written-By [Vocals] – Paul 'Dirtcandy' Jackson |
5:33 |
| 8 | Medusa's Path
Written-By – N. McLellan |
6:09 |
| 9 | Phoenix
Guitar – Matt Robertson, Programmed By [Beats] – L. Howlett, Vocals [Additional] – Louise Boone, Written-By – R. Van Leeuven |
4:39 |
| 10 | You'll Be Under My Wheels
Guitar – Jim Davies, L. Howlett, Vocals – Kool Keith, Written-By – N. McLellan |
3:57 |
| 11 |
The Way It Is
Mixed By [Recreation Work] – Matt Robertson, Rinse, Vocals [Additional] – Louise Boone, Neil McLellan, Written-By – R. Temperton |
5:46 |
| 12 | Shoot Down
Bass – N. Gallagher, Bass, Guitar – L. Howlett, Guitar – Mike Horner, Producer [Additional] – Jan 'Stan' Kybert, Vocals – Liam Gallagher, Written-By – G. Stephens, J. Carter, L. Gallagher, N. McLellan |
4:31 |
- Artwork By [Design] – House&Cook,Intro04
- Co-producer, Programmed By [Additional], Other [Therapy], Mixed By – Neil McLellan
- Keyboards [Keys], Guitar, Drums, Performer [Analogue Shit] – L. Howlett
- Mastered By – Emily Lazar
- Mixed By – Liam Howlett
- Technician [Pro Tooled By] – Damian Taylor
- Written-By, Programmed By, Producer [Produced And Assaulted] – Liam 'Impatient' Howlett
- The Prodigy
- Liam Howlett – production, programming, keyboards, synthesizers, sampling, guitar, bass guitar, engineering, mixing
- Maxim Reality – vocals on "Spitfire"[citation needed] and "More Girls"
- Keith Flint – vocals on "Hotride (El Batori Mix)"
- Additional musicians, co-producers and engineers
- Neil McLellan – co-production, additional programming, engineering, mixing
- Damian Taylor – Pro Tools engineer
- Matt Robertson – additional programming, "stab creation" on "Spitfire", guitar on "Phoenix", "recreation work" on "The Way It Is"
- Juliette Lewis – vocals on "Hotride", "Spitfire" and "Get Up Get Off"
- Ping Pong Bitches – vocals on "Girls"
- Princess Superstar – vocals on "Memphis Bells"
- Twista – vocals on "Get Up Get Off"
- Shahin Badar – vocals on "Get Up Get Off"
- David Pemberton – additional production on "Get Up Get Off"
- Kool Keith – vocals on "Wake Up Call" and "You'll Be Under My Wheels"
- Hannah Robinson – additional vocals on "Hotride" and "Wake Up Call"
- Scott Donaldson – guitar on "Hotride"
- Louise Boone – additional vocals on "Wake Up Call", "Action Radar", "Phoenix", "The Way It Is"
- Jim Hunt – flute on "Wake Up Call"
- Paul "Dirtcandy" Jackson – vocals on "Action Radar"
- Mike Horner – guitar on "Action Radar" and "Shoot Down"
- Jim Davies – guitar on "You'll Be Under My Wheels"
- Rinse – "recreation work" on "The Way It Is"
- Liam Gallagher – vocals on "Shoot Down"
- Noel Gallagher – bass guitar on "Shoot Down"
- Jan "Stan" Kybert – additional production on "Shoot Down"
- Emily Lazar – mastering (at The Lodge)
- House & Cook – sleeve artwork
