Album Review: The Prodigy, No Tourists

In the press release accompanying The Prodigy's seventh album No Tourists, head honcho Liam Howlett certainly aims for altitude. "It's about reaching out further," he declares. "To find another alternative route where the danger and excitement may be to feel more alive. Not accepting that you can just be a tourist."

They're big words from a man who started out by bucking the mainstream, with a series of blistering dance-punk hits. However, he doesn't really carry off the lofty manifesto: the record finds The Prodigy resolutely sticking to the path most travelled. We could forgive the apparent lack of new ideas on No Tourists if the tracks were absolute bangers, but many - 'Resonate' and 'Timebomb Zone' among them - are bereft of hooks. Meanwhile, Keith Flint's once menacing vocals now seem as edgy as a potato ('Champions Of London'). On occasion, consciously or otherwise, they rip themselves off: 'Light Up The Sky' owes a huge debt to the still magical 'Voodoo People'. They also borrow ideas from Josh Wink's 'Higher State Of Consciousness' on 'Give Me A Signal'.

In fairness, the suitably incendiary 'Fight Fire With Fire' briefly banishes the banality, but there just aren't enough tracks with similar flair to satisfy.