No Tourists

• 2nd November 2018, CD Take Me To The Hospital – 538426282

"No Tourists" is the seventh studio album by The Prodigy, released on 2 November 2018 on Take Me to the Hospital, their independent label managed by BMG. It is their fourth and final studio album featuring Keith Flint's vocal performance and co-writing prior to his passing away in March 2019. The group began supporting the album with a world tour from November 2018. The album debuted at No. 1 on the UK Album Charts, their seventh consecutive studio album to do so. The album was released on clear, purple and black vinyl.  A CD and audio cassette were also released.

Thursday 19th July The Prodigy revealed that their 7th album entitled ‘No Tourists’ will be released on 2nd November 2018.

‘No Tourists’, has been written, produced and mixed over the last year by Liam Howlett in his studio in London’s Kings Cross. Though this is – Liam notes – “very much a band album”. Maxim and Keef Flint are very much present and correct, each supplying their legendary vocal skills on this, the Essex machine’s seventh studio record. Yes, there are one or two collaborators, but fundamentally this is the sound of the central Prodigy three, bringing their riotous sound to audiences old and new, two decades since they changed the face and sound of electronic music with epochal album ‘The Fat Of The Land’. Expanding on the general shape of the project, Liam says: “this album is equally aggressive as the last records – but in a different way." A musician, songwriter and studio maestro, Howlett is as rigorous and righteously Up For It as he was when he formed his 28-years-young band. He explains that, as ever, the new songs “are built to play live. That’s the one thing that brings everything together. I couldn’t write this music unless it has that outlet on stage. That helps write the music. This is what I do it for: the live thing. And until we feel like we can’t do it, or the buzz goes, we won’t stop."

It’s that sense of do-or-die commitment that is reflected in the album title. “To us, ‘No Tourists’ is ultimately about escapism and the want and need to be derailed. Don’t be a tourist - there is always more danger and excitement to be found if you stray from the set path.”

Fun facts about the cover: Bus number 7 refers clearly to the 7th Prodigy album. But did you know that the destination "The Four Aces, Dalston Lane, Hackney" AKA "Labyrinth" was the place where The Prodigy made their first ever live public appearance. 

Vote and comment tracks here

First Single: 'Need Some1'

Second Single: 'Light Up The Sky'

Third teaser Fight Fire With Fire (feat. Ho99o9) 

‘Fight Fire with Fire’ sees The Prodigy partner up with New Jersey’s finest noise crew Ho99o9, resulting in a down-tempo, heavy-grooved, surefire banger. ‘This was the first track I wrote for this album,’ says Liam. “As far as doing a collaboration, the Ho99o9 guys were the main band I wanted to work with, and this tune has so much danger embedded in it. It’s the best collaboration we have done.” ‘Fight Fire With Fire’ is the latest insight into The Prodigy’s forthcoming album ‘No Tourists’, and a reminder of a band that has resolutely followed their own route through the underbelly of popular culture since day one. It’s every inch a Prodigy record and it’s their most direct, concise and pure statement yet.

Credits:
Liam Howlett, Composer, Producer, Writer, Mixing Engineer, Recording Engineer, Instruments - The Prodigy, Composer, MainArtist - Linden Jay, Masterer - Olly Burden, Guitar, Co-Producer - Prash Mistry, Mastering Engineer - Ho99o9, FeaturedArtist - Lawrence Eaddy, Composer, Writer - Jean Lebrun, Composer, Writer

Copyright : 2018 Take Me To The Hospital Limited under exclusive licence to BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited 2018 Take Me To The Hospital Limited under exclusive licence to BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited

Fourth teaser 'We Live Forever'

'We Live Forever' was released on Thursday 26th of October. The track features both Keith and Maxim on vocals!

Credits:
Liam Howlett, Composer, Producer, Writer, Mixing Engineer, Recording Engineer, Instruments - The Prodigy, Composer, MainArtist - Keith Flint, Vocals - Keith Thornton, Composer, Writer - Maurice Smith, Composer, Writer - Robert Chetcuti, Composer, Writer - Cedric Miller, Composer, Writer - Keith Palmer, Vocals - Keith Camilleri, Composer, Writer - Trevor Randolph, Composer, Writer - Prash Mistry, Mastering Engineer
 

How the marketing began

In July 17th 2018 Liam posts a 3 sec teaser clip on Instagram. Post featured a red door marked with '7' which of course refers to new album which will be 7th The Prodigy album. Music in the clip was very promising a bit slower beats just like 'Need Some1'. Fans started immediately hope that the band is moving back to slower beats since last 2 albums have been so fast and noisey. Now we know that the music in the clip was actually lifted from the title track 'No Tourists'.

The first leaked track from the new album was 'Need Some1'. It started to circulate online 13.7.2017. Before that there were lots of rumours that The Prodigy will officially release a new single from the album on that same day but eventually nothing was released and the band didn't release any confirmation about the release nor the leaked track. But from the leaked track you could still recognize Liam Howlett's trademark production style.

The first live version of the track was first introduced in introduced in Tilburg, Netherlands 11.12.2017. This new released version anyhow contained more new parts that has not been introduced on live versions.

Discuss about the album at Prodigy forum

In September 2017 Liam posted a message on Instagram and Facebook that The Prodigy will release a new single before the end of year and album will follow early next year 2018.

A bit later was revealed that The Prodigy have signed a worldwide record deal with BMG.

Liam Howlett has also confirmed on Instagram that he has been working only at his own studio and all producing is done by himself. So seems that even Neil McLellan is not involved this time.

Rumors about other producers started to circulate when Engine Earz and Shahin Badar posted some news to Facebook. It's more likely that they have been working with Smack My Bitch Up remix than the actual new album.

Live testing

During the gigs in 2017-2018 band introduced four bits of new music. Tracks were, Light Up The Sky, Resonate, Need Some1 and Boom Tap. Later Liam confirmed some of the details about the tracks on Instagram. For example that Resonate won't be released as a single.

'Light Up The Sky' introduced in Electric Picnic 2018 at Stradbally, Ireland 2.9.

A new track 'Resonate' introduced in Munich

As promised earlier The Prodigy played some new material on their December tour that started 9th of December in Munich Germany. The track itself sounds a bit incomplete, so seems that Liam is still experimenting and testing it live before final mixing.

It's also worth mentioning that Rob was again on guitars.

'Need Some 1' introduced in Tilburg, Netherlands

The Prodigy is currently road testing new beats. This time a new fill 'Need Some 1' was played at Tilburg, Netherlands 11th of December.

'Boom Tap' Live Debut in Doncaster 2017

This one has some nice beats but the actual vocal sample is a bit tongue in cheek from Liam. That's sampled from Andy Milonakis Youtube video. Also see Andy's comments about the track and sample clearance.

Reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". In a pre-release review for AllMusic, Neil Z. Yeung gave the album three stars out of five. He stated: "Much like preceding albums The Day Is My Enemy and Invaders Must Die, No Tourists leaves little space to breathe, delivering a short and sweet set of blows to the head that was designed specifically for performing live. For better or worse, there aren't many new ideas here, but main man Liam Howlett is so adept at crafting explosive body-shakers that the lack of fresh concepts can be overlooked." Ben Devlin of musicOMH rated No Tourists two stars out of five. He noticed the many "references, or rip-offs, of old Prodigy material" throughout and the recycling of previous Prodigy songs which suggested to Devlin that the group were "artistically spent". Nonetheless, he considered "Give Me a Signal" a moment where "style and substance are both there, featuring an acidic 303 line and a dramatic final section". Devlin concluded: "It seems that the record saves its best for last". Mojo reviewer Ben Thompson gave the album three stars out of five, and pointed out that following an "unconvincing stab at collective irresponsibility" on The Day Is My Enemy, the latest effort from the band "marks a welcome return to unenlightened despotism". He noticed that four of the album's ten tracks refer to a type of explosion. While it covers "familiar sonic landscape" he thought that "it's also a lot of fun", picking on "Champions of London" and the "Fuck you!" lyric of "Boom Boom Tap" as such highlight moments.

Jamie MacMillan for Dork magazine gave No Tourists three stars out of five, opening with: "A series of big beats in search of a big hook". He noticed that it sounds "exactly how you would expect a new album from The Prodigy in 2018 to sound", but was thankful that "it (mostly) avoids" the recycling of beats used on previous songs. To him, the album does not take off until half way with "Fight Fire with Fire", a song that houses "one of the few moments where attitude and atmosphere really gel into something memorable", but felt disappointed that such a highlight moment is not repeated elsewhere. A two out of five star review was given by Rupert Howe for Q magazine, who thought the trio "seem in need of a new adventure". While he thought "Need Some1" would satisfy the band's hardcore fans, "much of what follows sounds like he's set his overdriven synths to autopilot", with contributions from Flint and Maxim "reduced to the odd irate interjection". He praised their collaboration with Ho99o9 on "Fight Fire with Fire", but rates "Champions of London" as a "shadow of their past glories" from the 1990s.

Album credits

The Prodigy

• Liam Howlett – writing, keyboards, synthesisers, sampling, drum programming
• Keith Flint – vocals on "We Live Forever", "Champions of London", and "Give Me a Signal"
• Maxim – vocals on "Light Up the Sky", "We Live Forever", "No Tourists", and "Champions of London"

Additional personnel

• Brother Culture – vocals on "Light Up the Sky" and "Resonate"
• Ho99o9 (Jean "theOGM" Lebrun, Lawrence "Eaddy" Eaddy) – vocals on "Fight Fire with Fire"
• Barns Courtney – vocals on "Give Me a Signal"
• Olly Burden – guitar on "Light Up the Sky", "Fight Fire with Fire", and "Champions of London"
• Leo Crabtree – live drums on "Champions of London"

Production

• Liam Howlett – production, recording, engineering, mixing
• James Rushent – production on "Need Some1" and "Resonate"
• Olly Burden – co-production on "Light Up the Sky", "Fight Fire with Fire", "Timebomb Zone", "Champions of London", "Boom Boom Tap", and "Give Me a Signal"
• Richard Adlam – sample recreation production on "Timebomb Zone"
• Hal Ritson – sample recreation production on "Timebomb Zone"
• René LaVice – additional production elements on "Champions of London"
• Robert Chetcuti and Jim Pavloff – assistance on "Need Some1"
• Rob Jevons – assistance on "Champions of London"
• Prash "Engine-Earz" Mistry – mastering (incl. stem mastering on "Fight Fire with Fire", "Boom Boom Tap", and "Give Me a Signal") (at FORWA3DSTUDIOS, London)
• Linden Jay – mastering assistant (at FORWA3DSTUDIOS, London)
• Luke Insect – artwork and sleeve design
• Rahul Singh – photography