Disposable Media

The Prodigy: The Day Is My Enemy (Expanded Edition) Review

• 23rd November 2015
• Qazimod

The Prodigy album The Day Is My Enemy (Expanded Edition) was released on November 10th and features all of the songs from the The Day Is My Enemy album as well as a selection of more than twenty bonus tracks. Some of these remixes have already been made available through other EPs, but there’s also a lot of new content available here.

The Day Is My Enemy and Roadblox

The album’s title piece is treated to four remixes, beginning with the Liam H Remix (featuring Dope D.O.D) which adds a hip-hop flavour and extra vocals whilst maintaining the strong basslines and beats of the initial release.

The first of three album-closing edits of the title track, the Caspa Remix opts for a slower dubstep-style rhythm and rearranged samples. Next, the Chris Avantgarde Remix introduces calmer beats, piano breaks and noisy synth sounds for a curious combination. This is followed by the concluding LH Edit that shouldn’t be confused with the Liam H remix and sounds rather close to its predecessor unless I’m missing something!

Despite some positive aspects at times, the full complement of ‘Enemy’ remixes didn’t really resonate with me because I was never a massive fan of the original cut to start with. I did, however, quite enjoy the raps over the Liam H remix even without that ‘connection’ to the founding track and definitely recommend it as one worth listening to.

Elsewhere on the album, Roadblox gets a couple of remixes – Jaguar Skills Ninja Terminator Remix and Reso Remix – and there’s a live recording from this year’s SONICMANIA festival. Considering that the ‘vanilla’ Roadblox stands as a great track with plenty of energy and variety, the remixes don’t really add much to the already solid tune.

Shut ‘Em Up and Ibiza

A welcome surprise is Shut ‘Em Up, not a remix or instrumental of a track from The Day Is My Enemy but instead a mash-up between the Invaders Must Die’s Stand Up and Public Enemy’sShut Em Down. What sounds like an odd combination ends up working much better than might be expected, eventually proving to easily become one of the highlights from the Expanded content.

There’s also a previously vinyl-only instrumental courtesy of Ibiza. It was a great song in the past – but as most of that greatness came from the rambling vocals of Sleaford Mods, it loses a lot when reduced to the underlying rhythms and melodies.

Wild Frontier and Nasty

The remixes of Wild Frontier and Nasty are plentiful, yet they aren’t really worth talking about to a great extent because they have already either circulated around the Web via exclusive streams or featured on the aforementioned EPs. Even so, if you haven’t listened to them then I can recommend the excellent Spor Remix of Nasty that drops in a drum ‘n’ bass beat and reinvigorates the song with even more life than before. With its faster samples, pared-down arrangement and relentless rhythm, the Wilkinson Remix of Wild Frontier also merits attention.

Reflecting on the EP track re-use, it would have been easy for people to see this expanded collection as little more than a lazy way of making more money from The Day Is My Enemy. That wouldn’t tell the complete story though, for there’s enough extra content around the recycled works that the repetition doesn’t really matter all that much.

If you liked The Day Is My Enemy when you first listened to that album, this Expanded Edition is definitely worth picking up as the earlier vigour and diverse sounds resonate throughout the compiled remixes. It’s currently only available digitally but as each of the previous Expanded Edition albums have seen physical releases, Prodigy fans can be optimistic that this will end up on CD as well.

Currently priced at £8.99 on iTunes, you get thirty-six tracks on the album – about fifteen of which are from the original album, with others either being new additions or material from the EPs. Looked at overall then, there’s a lot of Prodigy for your money! It’s certainly worth picking up if you don’t own The Day Is My Enemy too and even if some remixes don’t cater for your personal taste, there are plenty of others that you’re sure to enjoy.

---

• Review
• The Day Is My Enemy

---