The Prodigy – No Tourists

'No Tourists' is not an album for opportunists

The Prodigy - No Tourists

Album facts

Release: November 2nd, 2018
Label: BMG
Genre: ,
Discogs: Link

Less progressive, rather established

After I have listened to the first tracks of The Prodigy's album 'No Tourists', I wanted to shout: "The 90s gave me a call and they want their music back!". Is this a rather good or bad reaction?

Let us pause briefly. 'The Prodigy' has redefined, respect­ively defined, the found­a­tion of the music genres Big Beat and Electropunk. They cre­ated über-hits like No Good, Poison, Firestarter, Breathe, Omen and many more. All this can be a bless­ing and a curse at the same time. It's unfair to expect that 'The Prodigy' con­stantly must prove or even sur­pass their past achieve­ments. My first impres­sion of 'No Tourists' is more like: "Let's do some less exper­i­ment­a­tion and pro­gres­sion, but pay a little more atten­tion to the Prodigy fans of the 90s". Back to the roots, then.

So, 'No Tourists' is an open love let­ter to the long-last­ing die-hard fans of 'The Prodigy'. I think it's not immor­al, instead of being innov­at­ive, if you can rely on your strengths. And before judging too harsh, ask your­self this ques­tion: "How can some­thing be icon­ic, when you can repeat it every time with ease?".

Let's start the dance

'Need Some1' is the first single and comes with bru­tal big beats that hits the ground hard like bomb. Samples of break­ing glass and rough gui­tars are lit­er­ally scream­ing: "We are back!". The track is based on the simple and typ­ic­al 'The Prodigy' DNA, but I think this is a great open­er and works well. Others should first prove that they can com­pete here, before rolling the eyes.

The Prodigy band photo
The Prodigy

My abso­lute high­light on this album is the second track 'Light Up The Sky'. I have to admit, that it reminds me partly like a bas­tard pop cous­in between 'Breathe' and 'Omen'. But what the boys are doing here in three minutes and nine­teen in dynam­ics and power is as explos­ive as dynam­ite. Great job!

The first seconds of the song 'We Live Forever' really speed up and you want to believe you're on a 90s rave. Here you quickly get the feel­ing that it is an unre­leased song of the 'Music For A Jilted Generation' ses­sion. Pure nos­tal­gic paired with the tech­nic­al power of modernity.

Shifting a gear back

The title song 'No Tourists' makes it a bit slower, but with a more bass-like blast! The song has a sol­id base. What is really miss­ing is more vari­ety. With more lyr­ics, and that applies to all tracks in prin­ciple, the songs would be much stronger and less monotonous.

Boredom first appeared on the song 'Fight Fire With Fire (Feat. Ho9909)'. The track is not a total fail­ure now, but glory does not sting 'The Prodigy' here.

'Timebomb Zone' reminds me of many oth­er songs that I can not call them by name now. It's almost a kind of a best of all the well-known '90s Techno, Acid and Eurobeat songs. A mashup that looks famil­i­ar, but already rebuilt. Creepy and inter­est­ing at the same time. I think it's not bad, but even hereby the guys from Essex win no prize.

A last peak

With the sev­enth piece 'Champion Of London', 'The Prodigy' once again flare up an awe­some, son­ic­ally and col­our­ful fire­work. Everything is coher­ent here: Speed, power and dynam­ics merge here to cre­ate a music­al fire­ball without equal.

Civil unrest, grab the bul­let proof vest
Lyrics from 'Champions Of London' by The Prodigy

'Boom Boom Tap' is prob­ably Prodigy's answer to Kraftwerk's 'Boing Boom Tschak' from the album 'Electric Café'. Of course inter­preted in good, old Big Beat man­ner. Personally, not quite my cup of tea, but the idea is nice and sol­id realized.

'Give Me a Signal (feat Barns Courtney)' also exudes a cer­tain nos­tal­gia. Most likely, I would com­pare the track with those on the 'Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned'. Especially the ones where 'Juliette Lewis' was involved.

Should I buy a ticket for this Prodigy ride?

The album is clearly aimed at the fans of the old 'The Prodigy' school, which I respect and find in some places really good. That is, a clear buy recom­mend­a­tion for all ravers and tech­nos of the early 90s.

Everyone else knows the well-known 'The Prodigy' phe­nomen­on. Few tracks are the hell of mad­ness and the rest goes along with it. My favour­ites and play recom­mend­a­tion are 'Need Some1', 'Light Up The Sky', 'We Live Forever' and 'Champions Of London'. Decide for your­self wheth­er this is worth an album or wheth­er it makes more sense to buy the indi­vidu­al songs.

Track By Track Rating

The Prodigy - No Tourists
The Prodigy – No Tourists
Need Some1
Light Up The Sky
We Live Forever
No Tourists
Fight Fire With Fire (Feat. Ho9909)
Timebomb Zone
Champions Of London
Boom Boom Tap
Resonate
Give Me a Signal (Feat. Barns Courtney)
Recommend
Need Some1
Light Up The Sky
We Live Forever
Champions Of London
Weak
(Nothing to report here)
3.6
Solid album

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Need Some1
Light Up The Sky
We Live Forever
No Tourists
Fight Fire With Fire (Feat. Ho9909)
Timebomb Zone
Champions Of London
Boom Boom Tap
Resonate
Give Me a Signal (Feat. Barns Courtney)
Final Score