Invaders Must Die

Invaders Must Die
Studio album by The Prodigy
Released 23 February 2009
Recorded February 2006 – November 2008 in London, New York
Genre New rave[1]
Length 46:01
Label
Producer
The Prodigy chronology
Their Law: The Singles 1990–2005
(2005)Their Law: The Singles 1990–20052005		 Invaders Must Die
(2009)		 World's on Fire
(2011)World's on Fire2011
Singles from Invaders Must Die
  1. "Invaders Must Die"
    Released: 26 November 2008
  2. "Omen"
    Released: 16 February 2009
  3. "Warrior's Dance"
    Released: 11 May 2009
  4. "Take Me to the Hospital"
    Released: 31 August 2009

Invaders Must Die is the fifth studio album by English electronic dance music group The Prodigy. The album was released on 23 February 2009 on the band's new record label Take Me to the Hospital,[2] and was distributed by Cooking Vinyl.

The album was a commercial success, faring better than Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. In contrast to the commercial performance, critical reaction to the album was mixed. It has spawned four singles, including the title track, "Omen", "Warrior's Dance", and "Take Me to the Hospital".

Recording

Recording began in February 2006, shortly after the release of Their Law: The Singles 1990–2005, and ended in November 2008. Some of the songs recorded for the album, such as the synthesizer-led "Colours" were written before the release of the group's fourth album, and early versions were showcased in live performances. Liam Howlett conceived the album musical direction as a mashup of their previous albums. The new album was set to be released in summer 2007, but when the album's release date was postponed to the "first quarter of next year [2008]," the band had conceived over 25 ideas while completing production on certain tracks and writing lyrics.[3]

Howlett revealed in an April 2008 interview that he had three more months of work left for the new album. He also said that he has a working album title and song titles, but was not ready to publicly announce them until these details were released through The Prodigy's official newsletter on 4 November.[4] This announcement stated that the album would be a return to their "old-school but cutting edge" roots,[5] and would feature collaborations with Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures, and Nirvana, and James Rushent of Does It Offend You, Yeah?,[5] but would not feature any guest vocals.[6]

Composition

Invaders Must Die's title track is the album's opening track, and its lyrics include the name of the group on the line "We are The Prodigy." The song is featured in many film and game trailers such as the film Kick-Ass and the Duke Nukem Forever game trailer.[7] "Omen" has a similar tempo, and both tracks were co-produced by James Rushent. "Thunder" recreates elements from Trevor Joe's "Ethiopian Peace Song" (also known as "Rasta Peace Song"), while "Colours" is one of the first songs written by the band.[8][9]

"Take Me to the Hospital"'s music video was The Prodigy's first to be released on the Vidzone application. The promotional film was filmed onto VHS rather than digital recording equipment to obtain an old school 1990s look. The track samples "Salami Fever" by Pepe Deluxé and "Ragamuffin Duo Take Charge" by Asher D & Daddy Freddy, and the name of the song comes from the record label of the same name. The melody of "Warrior's Dance" is similar to "Take Me to the Hospital"'s. The song chorus is a sample of the True Faith song "Take Me Away", which was then sampled and edited by Major Players in "Come with Me", the song where the vocals for this track come from. The song also samples "Final Cut", a song featuring Bridget(te) Grace.[8][9] A festival of the same name was curated by the group, and will take place at Milton Keynes.[10]

"Run With the Wolves", featuring Dave Grohl on drums, contains a sample of "So Refined" by Senser. This song was featured in the 2011 film Hall Pass. There was a contest to make a music video for the song, and the winning entry was posted on 15 February 2010. After a "reprise" of "Omen", "World's on Fire" follows. This song samples The Breeders' "I Just Wanna Get Along" and "Vamp" composed by Outlander. "Piranha" samples "Troubled Mind" by The Buff Medways and "Sara Zamana" by Kishore Kumar and Chorus, while "Stand Up", the only instrumental track on the album, samples "One Way Glass" from Manfred Mann Chapter Three. This song, along with "Omen", is featured heavily in the 2010 film Kick-Ass, and both are included on the soundtrack release of the album.[8][9]

Promotion

Invaders Must Die was chosen as the lead single from the album of the same name, and was released from the band's website as a free digital download on 26 November 2008. The download was announced in a newsletter sent to fans on 24 November, and first aired on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show as the 'Hottest Record in the World' of the same day it was released. Although it was not released as a commercial single, the song peaked at No. 49 in the UK Singles Chart,[11]

"Omen" debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart during the week of 25 February 2009, peaked at No. 4 in the UK.[12] In Australia, the song debuted at #83.[13]

The single that followed, "Warrior's Dance", was released on 11 May 2009. The digital version of the single was released on 17 April 2009 in Australia as an iTunes exclusive, while the "Edit" version with none of the remixes is also available. When released there, however, the song was titled incorrectly and the download was actually a song from the band Placebo; this issue was fixed shortly after its release. Three downloadable remixes of "Warrior's Dance" were sold via the group's website, while an extra remix was exclusive to iTunes. The song peaked at No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart.[14]

"Take Me to the Hospital", released on 31 August 2009, was the final commercially released single from the album. It was remixed six times, with the "Wreckage" mix being a collaboration with Josh Homme.[15] The song debuted at No. 38 in the UK Singles Chart and topped the UK Dance Chart.[16]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic60/100[17]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Guardian[18]
Mixmag[19]
Mojo[20]
The Observer[21]
Pitchfork5.8/10[22]
Q[23]
Rolling Stone[24]
Spin[25]
The Times[26]

Invaders Must Die was released as a CD, CD/DVD set, double-vinyl, digital download and a luxury-like 7-inch vinyl box set that includes five 7-inches, CD/DVD, bonus CD, poster, stickers and stencils.[27] To coincide with the release of the album, the band embarked on a nine date UK arena tour, with support from Dizzee Rascal, Noisia, Herve and DJ Kissy Sell Out. The "Warrior's Dance" video aired on Channel 4 on 28 March at 12:00 am.[6]

As with Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, initial critical response to Invaders Must Die was mixed. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, based on 20 reviews.[17] One example was AllMusic, who called it "a curious nu-rave record, as though the sound of 1991 (such as their Top Ten hit "Charly") has been filtered through the sound of 1996 (such as their number one, "Firestarter") to emerge as nothing more than a hodgepodge of uptempo dance music with extroverted beats and grimy basslines.[1]

However, it was a commercial success. The album debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart on 1 March 2009 with 97,254 copies sold, giving them their fourth consecutive number one album in the UK. The album performed well worldwide as well, entering the top five in Poland,[28] Ireland,[29] the Netherlands,[30] Australia,[31] Canada, Belgium and Germany.[32] The album debuted at No. 117 in the US but jumped to No. 58 in its second week. The album received Gold sales status in Australia and Germany,[33] while Switzerland classified it as "2x Gold" with 30,000 copies. As of 7 November 2009 the album has sold over 1,029,000 copies worldwide.[34]

The European edition includes an 11-track audio CD and a DVD with the videos for "Invaders Must Die," "Omen" and live performances of "World's on Fire" and "Warrior's Dance". The DVD has a computer-readable (HD data for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X) high definition version of the former music video. On 21 October 2009, the album was re-released as "Invaders Must Die Special Edition", which included remixes of the album itself, a different album cover, and a DVD containing music videos and live performances. One of the tracks on the edition was eventually released as a MP3 for download.[35] The song was later released as "Invaders".[36]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Invaders Must Die"Liam Howlett, Nick Halkes4:55
2."Omen"Howlett, Tim Hutton, Maxim3:36
3."Thunder"Howlett, Hutton, Trevor Joe4:08
4."Colours"Howlett, Keith Flint, John Fortis3:27
5."Take Me to the Hospital"Howlett, Flint, Jari Salo, Paul Malmström3:39
6."Warrior's Dance"Howlett, Bridget[te] Grace, Jeff Mills, Anthony Srock5:12
7."Run With the Wolves"Howlett, Flint4:24
8."Omen (Reprise)"Howlett, Hutton2:14
9."World's on Fire"Howlett, Maxim, Marcos Vicente Salon, Kim Deal4:50
10."Piranha"Howlett, Scrapper, Maxim, Billy Childish, Rajesh Roshan, Sameer Anjaan4:05
11."Stand Up"Howlett, Manfred Mann, Pete Thomas5:30

Notes

  • ^A Lost Beats[37] EP is available with the deluxe box set edition[38] and was also released on iTunes some time after.[6]
  • ^B "The Big Gundown" is a renamed, studio version of "Comanche," a track played live by the band.

Singles

Date of release Title UK chart position
26 November 2008 "Invaders Must Die" 49
16 February 2009 "Omen" 4
11 May 2009 "Warrior's Dance" 9
31 August 2009 "Take Me to the Hospital" 38

Personnel

The Prodigy[2]
  • Liam Howlett – synthesizers, sampling, programming, production, engineering, mixing
  • Keith Flint – vocals ("Omen", "Colours", "Take Me to the Hospital", "Run with the Wolves", "World's on Fire")
  • Maxim – vocals ("Omen", "Colours", "Take Me to the Hospital", "Omen Reprise", "World's on Fire", "Piranha")
Additional musicians and co-production
  • Brother Culture – vocals on "Thunder"
  • Amanda Ghost – backing vocals on "Colours"
  • Tim Hutton – additional guitars on "Colours", horns on "Piranha"
  • Dave Grohl – live drums on "Run with the Wolves" and "Stand Up"
  • James Rushent – co-producer on "Invaders Must Die" and "Omen"
  • Damian Taylor – additional pre-production on all tracks
Engineers
  • Neil McLellan – mixing (all tracks, except "Omen Reprise" and "Stand Up")
  • Damian Taylor – mixing ("Omen Reprise" and "Stand Up")
  • John Davis – mastering (at Metropolis Mastering)

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[39] 3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[40] 5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[41] 4
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[42] 12
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[43] 17
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[44] 9
French Albums (SNEP)[45] 22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[46] 3
Irish Albums (IRMA)[47] 4
Italian Albums (FIMI)[48] 32
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[49] 3
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[50] 4
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[51] 10
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[52] 23
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[53] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[54] 1
US Billboard 200[55] 58

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[56] Gold 35,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[57] Gold 10,000*
Germany (BVMI)[58] Gold 100,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[59] Gold 25,000^
Poland (ZPAV)[60] Gold 10,000*
Russia (NFPF)[61] Gold 10,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[62] Gold 15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[63] 2× Platinum 600,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

In 2010. It was awarded a double platinum certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 1,000,000 copies throughout Europe.[64]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bush, John. "Invaders Must Die – The Prodigy". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 "The Prodigy New Label". The Prodigy. 11 March 2008. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
  3. ↑ Exclusive Interview with Liam by TheProdigy.nl, 10 May 2007, archived from the original on 18 February 2008, retrieved 5 July 2008
  4. ↑ Parks, Andrew (7 April 2008), "Q&A with Liam Howlett of The Prodigy", Self-Titled Daily, retrieved 11 July 2008
  5. 1 2 "collaborators on new album". The Prodigy. 2 November 2008. Archived from the original on 27 October 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 "interview with The Prodigy @ xbox live". The Prodigy. 28 November 2008. Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  7. ↑ "Duke Nukem Forever Reveal Trailer". Gearbox Software. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 "Biography". The Prodigy. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 Invaders Must Die liner notes
  10. ↑ "Warriors Dance Festival – part 1". Theprodigy.com. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  11. ↑ "The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die". Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=34247. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  12. ↑ "The Prodigy – Omen". Chart Stats. . Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  13. ↑ "Pandora Archive" (PDF). Pandora.nla.gov.au. 23 August 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  14. ↑ "The Prodigy – Warrior's Dance". Chart Stats. . Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  15. ↑ "Take Me to the Hospital". Theprodigy.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  16. ↑ "The Prodigy – Take Me to the Hospital". Chart Stats. . Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  17. 1 2 "Invaders Must Die by The Prodigy". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  18. ↑ Burgess, John (20 February 2009). "The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  19. ↑ "The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die". Mixmag (214). March 2009.
  20. ↑ "The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die". Mojo (184): 105. March 2009.
  21. ↑ Grundy, Gareth (15 February 2009). "Electronic review: The Prodigy, Invaders Must Die". The Observer. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  22. ↑ Harvell, Jess (25 February 2009). "The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  23. ↑ "The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die". Q (273): 96. April 2009.
  24. ↑ Hermes, Will (19 February 2009). "The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  25. ↑ Aaron, Charles (17 February 2009). "The Prodigy, 'Invaders Must Die' (Cooking Vinyl)". Spin. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  26. ↑ Paphides, Pete (20 February 2009). "The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die". The Times. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  27. ↑ "Liam H blog". The Prodigy. 6 November 2008. Archived from the original on 9 November 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
  28. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS – Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  29. ↑ ">> IRMA << Irish Charts - Singles, Albums & Compilations >>". Irma.ie. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  30. ↑ "Album Top 100". GfK DutchCharts. 28 February 2009.
  31. ↑ "Australian Record Industry Association". Ariacharts.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  32. ↑ "The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die". musicline.de. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  33. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Invaders Must Die')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  34. ↑ As stated by the official Prodigy online store.
  35. ↑ "Free download of Liam H's re-amped version of Invaders Must Die". Theprodigy.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  36. ↑ "Invaders Must Die (Liam H Re-Amped Version) out 30th Nov '09". Theprodigy.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  37. ↑ "Cover of "Lost Beats" CD". Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  38. ↑ ""Invaders Must Die" Box Set Edition at Amazon". Amazon.de. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  39. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  40. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  41. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  42. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  43. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  44. ↑ "The Prodigy: The Day Is My Enemy" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  45. ↑ "Lescharts.com – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  46. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  47. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week {{{week}}}, {{{year}}}". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  48. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  49. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  50. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  51. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  52. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  53. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  54. ↑ "The Prodigy | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  55. ↑ "The Prodigy Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  56. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2009 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  57. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter The Prodigy in the field Interpret. Enter Invaders Must Die in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen. 
  58. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (The Prodigy; 'Invaders Must Die')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  59. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Invaders Must Die in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  60. ↑ "Polish album certifications – The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
  61. ↑ "Russian album certifications – The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die" (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF).
  62. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (The Prodigy; 'Invaders Must Die')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  63. ↑ "British album certifications – The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Invaders Must Die in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  64. ↑ http://www.impalamusic.org/arc_static/docum/04-press/2009/PR%20-%2020100127.htm
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