September 3, 2004
ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED, NEVER OUTGUNNED
By DARRYL STERDAN

ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED, NEVER OUTGUNNED
The Prodigy
(XL/Beggars Group)

The good news: Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned is the electronica album of the year.

The bad news: The year we're talking about is 1999.

Had Prodigy mastermind Liam Howlett followed up his 1997 breakthrough Fat of the Land with this stock collection of thwacking beatbox grooves, menacing basslines, squealing synths, Thriller samples and vocals by the likes of Kool Keith, Liam Gallagher and Juliette Lewis (yes, that Juliette Lewis), it might -- might -- have sounded at least vaguely cutting-edge.

Seven long years later, though, this long-winded set of badly dated cliches just makes you want to smack this bitch upside the head and take away his Chemical Brothers CDs.

Track Listing
1. Spitfire
2. Girls
3. Memphis Bells
4. Get Up Get Off
5. Hot Ride
6. Wake Up Call
7. Action Radar
8. Medusa's Path
9. Phoenix
10. You'll Be Under My Wheels
11. Way It Is
12. Shootdown