I really hate how the danish magazine GAFFA has been bitching about every single Prodigy-release since IMD. Meanwhile The Prodigy are being overwhelmed with good publicity and reviews in musicmagazines such as NME, Kerrang, Q etc. What is wrong with the people working at GAFFA? Are they only into jazz-music or what?

Who gives a fuck what they say or what they think man? They're a magazine, we can decide whether we like something or not ourselves no?

Maybe because every single release after (and including) IMD has been pure shite in the eyes of the vast majority of people outside the UK, except a narrow selection of hardcore fans? There's not even that many people left here or at any of the other prodigy related places on the web any more. The Prodigy has very little public appeal with their newer stuff, and this will of course be reflected in reviews.

I can only speak for myself, but i think The Prodigy is suffering for something like a "Take that" syndrome, only that they forgot to dissolve when their expiry date had past. People keep judging them on their former success as the "no good-band" or the "firestarter-band" etc, and their new material has been rather unimpressive when compared to that. For most concert attendees, the show is nothing but a nostalgia trip into the 90'ies, interrupted only by the bands occasional failed attempt to redeem themselves. If IMD had been made by a completely unknown band, i doubt they would ever have made it further than MySpace. There is some people who really like IMD though, no question, but most people just dont.

Wow. Sharp. Ouch.

if people would have been bored with them they wouldn't have sold 2 million albums worldwide.and this is very hard to do today in the music bussiness.especially for someone who doesn't get the airplay and promotion of rihanna,beyonce and gaga.maybe in the uk is different but the rest of the world only gets to see them online

the only reason why people start to loose interest in them including fans on the internet is because there's too much time inbetween releases,not a lot of new music,setlist changes and so on.they stagnate in this department.
but with a new release thing wil pick up again.
i am sometimes amazed at the media reviews and fans opinions too.when they did aono everyone was bitching that this is not the prodigy,that the sound doesn't fit them and they must bring their signature style back with more rocky-festival type of tracks.after they released imd with that exact kind of music people wanted the bitching started again cause the album doesn't sound like mftjg back in 90's.wich is weird cause part of the moaning is because the new stuff sounds too much like the 90's.
people don't even try to think things trough anymore.they contradict themselves in expectations and demands and at the end of course they are gonna be dissapointed.

as for magazines,fuck them.i listen to the music i want,that suits my mood and my taste.i don't need a review from someone to tell me how to think about something or how to interpret a album.anyways most of the things reviewers are excited these days barely hit the 500.000 unit sold and rarely comeback to do a second album,and if they do it tanks cause people loose their passion for the new fad.in the end the prodigy are classics in dance music.they do their own thing and continue to do so despite the endless stream of wannabees and copycats


and again 2.000.000 albums

Agreed, who cares about the magazines opinions. I can just totally see why they mostly give the prodigy mediocre reviews though. They have gone from defining the sound of a generation to merely being a bump on the road.
I dont know the figures, but according to wikipedia, IMD had sold 1 million after half a year. About half of that was sold in the UK. Definitely a commercial success, but far from the cultural impact that the former albums had. Chase and status, Rusko, and others get plenty of air play, and thats not exactly gaga or kanye west.

I do not agree about those contradictions you mention though. Its a really bad generalization to say that everyone who were disappointed in AONO and IMD were all disappointed for the same reasons, thus creating those contradictions. I find it more likely that people were disappointed for different reasons.
I know several people from the net and in real life who lost interest because of IMD and partially because of AONO. Far from enough to speak for the masses, but definitely enough to say that its untrue to say that people only lost interest because of the duration of time between albums. If the music is good to them, the time in between is irrelevant.

Im not trying to discuss whether AONO or IMD is good or not though, but they do not appeal to any large number of people like former albums did. Play 10 singles from any of their albums of the 90'ies, and then play the singles from AONO or IMD, and tell people to name the band. I do not think that this can solely be a result of magazine reviews.

IMD is just not as good as FOTL and MFTJG, Experience has newcommerbonus. basically IMD is the worst or second-worst album, but hey, it's their own fault, they set their standards too high by producing too much awesomeness
you know what, liam should go solo, kick out keith and maxim and replace them. keith was the prodigy's face but it's wrinkly now, maxim has become a non-evolving constant. there i said it.
if the prodigy is to be successfull in the future they/he have/has to evolve and freshen up. that electro-punk image lost its credibility. i think thats the hidden gist of GAFFA and the likes...

they did the liam solo thing on a album.guess what it didn't work

it didnt work in combination with the live act, the album was quite decent imo.

i was referring to the way people perceived it

every music act/band/project has a growing problem with each new release. let's say a random band releases a great first album. on the second album they cannot repeat themselves coz they'd be accused of doing music solely for money. so they have to release something new. but not too new coz then your old fans say youre spoiled and went main-stream etc. so you have to release something NEW but not TOO NEW. the next thing you need to avoid is not being too much experimental/cutting edge/fresh/alternative. so you need to do something no one ever did before you, but still not dig into this experimental stuff too deep coz then you will have 4 people coming to your show.

bottom line - new but not too new, old but not too old, cutting edge but not too much cutting edge, good sales but not great sales. prodigy managed to do all this on their first three albums. SO WHAT if the new releases arent that good? can ANYONE do anything as good as they could back in 1997?

I agree with soren and yeah geil. Good to see some fans with their head out of their ass.

The fact is, a change of image and direction is really needed. If they dont do that they'll wind up directionless like Stereo Mc's or Audio Bullys. I love it how Beastie Boys had a couple of concerts wearing suits and just playing random live instruments. I thought it really soothed them as they did get older, obviously.

The point is, they dont have to wear suits or drink fine champagna on stage but Maxim should really fucking do something new cause yelling "fuck" and "shit" 5000 times a night is not really the high point of mc-ing. And Keith, I dont know, dance a bit? Filter his voice to the point of no recognition? In all honesty, any change would be good.

right because they don't sell any albums and singles and they cancel shows and tours and only sing in front of small crowds .

like i said they tried to do the fresh new thing with aono and there was a tons of backlash for loosing their old ways for being too experimental and shit.then when they did imd and tried to get the old sound back while keeping a fresh sound we have people complaining because the sounds is not cutting edge enough.

as for the live sound the prodigy is prodigy,don't compare them with Stereo Mc's or Audio Bullys.they are in different leagues.

i agree with you kkikx74.100%.20 years of this band and they are still at the top of charts and headlining festivals,all of it in the ,,dance genre'' ,genre who changes sound and direction every 3 years.there's always something new there,something cutting edge,and our boys managed to get on top of that every time.

my only regret is that don't refresh that damn setlist and don't release more b-sides or put a couple of tracks out between releases .besides that everythings is good

It could actually be quite interesting if liam just went on stage, played a whole set of tunes he pulled out of his arse, and then went down again. Draw a line in the sand and break out of that "Firestarter" image, and do something new. Pick the fight with the people in the crowd who just go to see them for their past mega hits. He almost did that with AONO, and even though it wasnt a big hit either, i have a lot of respect for that. It wasnt just another trip in the treadmill, which IMD and the last tour seemed like a bit to me.