The Prodigy - World’s on Fire Review

At the close of Worlds on Fire, the new live album from techno veterans the Prodigy, front man Maxim tells a screaming crowd that “This is the f***ing best night of our f***ing lives tonight!” Now, you would think that the Prodigy have had their fair share of great nights. Ever since 1992’s Experience, the group’s been making serious waves in the techno world, and 1997’s The Fat of the Land made them into worldwide stars. But after a full hour of Maxim’s and fellow front man Keef Flint’s screaming the Prodigy’s old hits and older classics to a loving, effusive crowd, it’s not hard to believe that July 24, 2010, was one of the best nights of their life. The crowd seems to believe it, anyway. They roar in appreciation, affirming wordlessly that for them, too, it’s been a trip they’ll never forget.


The album was recorded at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England, during the Prodigy’s music festival, the Warrior’s Dance Festival. The event features other hardcore punk and techno groups like Gallows and Lethal Bizzle, so the Prodigy have home-court advantage, in a sense. Even if the crowd hadn’t come to see the group’s particular brand of uptempo, punk-inflected rave music, it would have that general sort of thing in mind, and what hardcore techno fan could resist the gritty call of tracks like “Their Law” and “Everybody in the Place”? Still, the Prodigy are known for their live experience, and Maxim and Flint, backed by the group’s resident DJ mastermind Liam Howett, spares not one iota of composure in making the hour-long performance as high-octane as possible, yelling, cursing and whooping it up like a pair of demonic, politically inchoate Zach de la Rochas....full text It must be galling for rising dance stars to see 40-somethings bounce around a stage like men half their age, owning festival-sized audiences in a way they, in all likelihood, never will. But then again, The Prodigy outgrew genre niches long ago, imprinting themselves on the national consciousness in the mid-90s with a run of unforgettable singles. Hearing the biggest of them, Firestarter, on the group’s first official live album takes one right back to the summer of Shearer and Sheringham. It’s a soundtrack to another age, its makers somehow ageless; and World’s on Fire is proof that it’s not just the kids, but all generations, standing united before this music.

This package features tracks recorded at the band’s Warriors Dance Festival of 2010. Some 65,000 fans crammed into The National Bowl at Milton Keynes – and footage suggests that every one of them went home with sore feet, ears ringing and a goofy grin. It was a massive statement: The Prodigy’s biggest show to date, over 20 years since their formation in Braintree, it was evidence that their appeal hadn’t dissipated in the slightest. Sure, vocalists Maxim and Keith Flint might not last the distance without a little breather – note the timing of instrumental number Weather Experience in the running order – but they work the stage better than a thousand would-be peers. They excite the crowd, consistently asking if the throng is ready for what’s to follow; and those in attendance respond positively, willing to take whatever is thrown at them....full text t’s a great and positive review which is great. They also note that no tracks from Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned were played which the reviewer Mike Diver puts a positive on it. I personally was disapointed, atleast Spitfire and if they could have fit it in, Girls. Those tracks are mega.

Mike is spot on when he says “the listener/viewer will feel exhausted and, just maybe, a bit emotional”. That’s exactly how I felt after viewing the film in cinemas. It’s like ‘a love letter to the fans’.

Anyhow, enjoy the read guys.

Credit: David Calleja-Gera via Fanboy Facebook.


The group’s first official live album sees nostalgia butt against fearsome acerbity.

Mike Diver 2011-05-10

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/z2fd

It must be galling for rising dance stars to see 40-somethings bounce around a stage like men half their age, owning festival-sized audiences in a way they, in all likelihood, never will. But then again, The Prodigy outgrew genre niches long ago, imprinting themselves on the national consciousness in the mid-90s with a run of unforgettable singles. Hearing the biggest of them, Firestarter, on the group’s first official live album takes one right back to the summer of Shearer and Sheringham. It’s a soundtrack to another age, its makers somehow ageless; and World’s on Fire is proof that it’s not just the kids, but all generations, standing united before this music....full text