reading stuff on this and other forums recently and actually just generally over the past 10+ years, i empathize with Liam. he genuinely cannot win.

people complain they arent hearing new tracks at festivals (download last year was a prime example, although any historical fan who expected should have known better). so liam starts dropping new stuff. and obviously it finds its way online. liam has never been a fan of this (although hes not as uptight about it was he was 8 years ago) but generally it isnt an issue and he leaves it online. and it divides opinion, some people love it, but some people hate it. rarely seems to be a nice middle ground who recognize something for what it is (unfinished most of the time) and they let it progress. they take this fantastic quality stream offline and people are getting pissed about it.

see, in 95, the band could drop something like breathe onto the audience and get sufficient feedback to judge if its working or not: the hundreds/thousands of people stood in front of them. there was a small chance that it would be recorded and other people would hear it, but even if that DID happen, there was a 99% chance liam wouldnt actually see or hear feedback from those people. remember reading 98? i dont think half the audience even realized ghost town was played that day. hence why it almost never saw the light of day.

in this day and age, feedback is instant. and rest assured, he DOES read these and other forums. why wouldnt he? he says he isnt interested in that sort of thing but trust me he is; thats just a dismissive front. and you would be too in his position. it would be outright ignorance to pretend these opinions didnt matter to the band. back in 2005, he asked the members of Nekozine and the official forums to name what eventually became 'Their Law'. he was aware of the internet fanbase then, just as he is now. he just aint gunna tell us that he sits at home crying about what Tomlad or Agent Orange or Arie or Nightmare or whoever (*insert forum name here*) said about his unfinished live track. but it sure pisses him off at times.

theres always going to be people who think the sun shines out of his arse, and if he put a track online of him making fart noises with his mouth whilst tapping on the kitchen counter, people would dig it and claim its the best thing theyve ever heard. thats inevitable. however there are those who seem intent on tearing the band apart, almost no matter what gets put online. when liam puts a little beat online in an instagram video, its him GIVING BACK to us fans. who in their right mind expects him to put something life changing on there? for example, say all this tech existed in 96, liam and keith have just finished doing firestarter. they both realize just what they have on their hands here. do you really think liam gets out his phone and records 10 seconds of it and puts it online to spoil the suprise? or perhaps to have someone rape his idea before its actually released?

i think people need to just chill out. you should know he will never, ever give away anything of any REAL substance for free. and nor should he. the odd beat or track here and there is more than alot of bands do for their fans. some genuinely do have the ignorant attitude that their internet fans dont exist and are just all blowing hot air etc... the prodigy are thankfully not one of those bands. it was cool to be dismissive in the 90's. not in 2013.

i dont blame him for having that stream taken down. it was in very, very good quality. they are an old fashioned band in that they judge how a track works by the reaction in front of them over a sustained period of time. its worked for 4 out of 5 albums (aono being the exception) and it will work for this one too. seeing everyone tear the tracks apart (me included, im just as bad as anyone for analyzing shit far deeper than we probably should) is probably 30% helpful 70% damaging.

give them breathing space guys, if it takes 7 years then hell it takes 7 years. if its here before the end of the year even better. the band are experienced enough now to know what works and what doesn't. and i think sometimes we provide an un-needed and unwelcome distraction from progress at times. he values the opinion of us on here (and other forums too) because of the brutal honestly. and that brutal honesty is sometimes a blessing and a curse.

this very well could be, and probably will be, their final album. another 5 year wait and they will be nearing 50 years old. they dont want to become the rolling stones, and i for one would rather see them leave on a high rather than outstay their welcome.

and if that is true, then we can all look forward to the boxset that will be released following their 'retirement' which will contain the majority of all the things weve ever wanted. the live tracks, the rare tracks, the unreleased tracks, collaborations etc etc.

just know that he is far more in touch with whats happening in 2013 than he was back in 2004, when he was still, to a point, in the mind frame of a 90's artist. he knows what is going to work in 2013 and will continue to sound good in the years to come. just trust liam, and the band.

if youve been around long enough, you should already know better.

I think overall opinions after stream was relatively positive, and thats quite big on this board.

Yeah I thought the tracks sounded uninspired before I heard the stream. Now I can't wait!

that's the thing these days - every move, saying, fart whatever gets documented and analysed (facebook etc). is such a fast communication a good thing? sometimes it is, sometimes it ain't. if liam does read the forum, i'm sure there's a lot of times he gets really down reading loads of this crap here (not pointing at anyone, might aswell be me), but at the same time (as you said) it gives a direct opinion/feedback on his music by the hardcore fans which can be helpful. i personally think that's one of the reasons he is so secretive and doesn't want to "share" that much. he knows how high the standard are. so i guess that's the big downside of it

the fact is, every artist has to deal with this, it just becomes so fucked up with the prodigy since they provide so little in such a long period of time. if there's new shit every week, people dont have the time to overthink and get paranoid (same for the band)

TLDR

liams high quality control is one of the main reasons why we dont hear as much and i personally love it this way. sure the waits between albums seem like an eternity at times (quite frankly they are!) but we always get a very high quality product at the end. i wouldnt want them to be on album number 10 by now. 22 years and 5 albums. it looks odd looking at it like that, but the quality speaks for itself.

only liam could put something like rhythm of life and we are the ruffest on bsides of singles.

I agree that it takes too long for something to be put out. I think it's mainly because the guys are not focused and committed in the studio and not because they have high standards. I know Liam is a control freak but he is also a party boy. I am not going to put Prodigy next to the Chemical Brothers but those guys when they say they are working on new shit they are actually doing that and you get to hear the result in about 1 or 2 years. It has been sugested here numerous times that they should put out demos, EPs online for free or to buy and I think that's a good idea.

I'm pretty sure Liam will stick with the method of releasing single before album, get buzz and then we all get a new sounding prodigy all at once

I'M PERSONALLY FUCKING HYPED!!

These new tracks are kinda like how warning/deadken might turn out...jetfighter could come back like run with the wolves did and BLOW our fucking heads off!

I'm just hoping he doesn't write a monster like worlds on fire and change it just before release!

(that chorus synth line was so much better before...was so gutted when i heard it changed)

word.

i remember listening to we are the ruffest in my car back in the day and going totally mental behind the wheel... and crashing my car

aah.. good times

im pretty sure he did that to demonstrate that the album that got leaked wasnt the 'final' product, when it actually was. i too agree that it sounded better before the needless chopping of that synth line!!

http://youtu.be/u295D-Qn8uM?t=1m38s

go back and have a read through that download topic UN, im sure some people were expecting to hear the new album in full that day. i think people were to lucky to get what they got seeing as the main festival crowds generally want to hear their 'hits'.

Waiting 7 years the last time was the worst period of my life and I'm worried it might result in another crap album like AONO (I liked it at the time but in retrospect it's a glorified B-side album).




Now I've had my rant, I am now chilled.