Invaders Must Die

Invaders Must Die is the fifth studio album by English electronic dance music group The Prodigy. The album was released on 23 February 2009 on the band's new record label Take Me to the Hospital,^[2] and was distributed by Cooking Vinyl.

The album was a commercial success, faring better than Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. In contrast to the commercial performance, critical reaction to the album was mixed. It has spawned four singles, including the title track, "Omen", "Warrior's Dance", and "Take Me to the Hospital".

Recording

Recording began in February 2006, shortly after the release of Their Law: The Singles 1990–2005, and ended in November 2008. Some of the songs recorded for the album, such as the synthesizer-led "Colours" were written before the release of the group's fourth album, and early versions were showcased in live performances. Liam Howlett conceived the album musical direction as a mashup of their previous albums. The new album was set to be released in summer 2007, but when the album's release date was postponed to the "first quarter of next year [2008]," the band had conceived over 25 ideas while completing production on certain tracks and writing lyrics.^[3]

Howlett revealed in an April 2008 interview that he had three more months of work left for the new album. He also said that he has a working album title and song titles, but was not ready to publicly announce them until these details were released through The Prodigy's official newsletter on 4 November.^[4] This announcement stated that the album would be a return to their "old-school but cutting edge" roots,^[5] and would feature collaborations with Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures and Nirvana, and James Rushent of Does It Offend You, Yeah?,^[5] but would not feature any guest vocals.^[6]

Composition

Invaders Must Die's title track is the album's opening track, and its lyrics include the name of the group on the line "We are The Prodigy." The song is featured in many film and game trailers such as the film Kick-Ass and the Duke Nukem Forever game trailer.^[7] "Omen" has a similar tempo, and both tracks were co-produced by James Rushent. "Thunder" recreates elements from Trevor Joe's "Ethiopian Peace Song" (also known as "Rasta Peace Song"), while "Colours" is one of the first songs written by the band.^[8]^[9]

"Take Me to the Hospital"'s music video was The Prodigy's first to be released on the Vidzone application. The promotional film was filmed onto VHS rather than digital recording equipment to obtain an old school 1990s look. The track samples "Salami Fever" by Pepe Deluxé and "Ragamuffin Duo Take Charge" by Asher D & Daddy Freddy, and the name of the song comes from the record label of the same name. The melody of "Warrior's Dance" is similar to "Take Me to the Hospital"'s. The song chorus is a sample of the True Faith song "Take Me Away", which was then sampled and edited by Major Players in "Come with Me", the song where the vocals for this track come from. The song also samples "Final Cut", a song featuring Bridget(te) Grace.^[8]^[9] A festival of the same name was curated by the group, and will take place at Milton Keynes.^[10]

"Run With the Wolves", featuring Dave Grohl on drums, who was contributor to many tracks of the Nine Inch Nails album With Teeth (2005), has a sample of "So Refined", a single performed by Senser. This song was featured in the 2011 film Hall Pass. There was a contest to make a music video for the song, and the winning entry was posted on 15 February 2010. After a "reprise" of "Omen", "World's on Fire" follows. This song samples The Breeders' "I Just Wanna Get Along" and "Vamp" composed by Outlander. "Piranha" samples "Troubled Mind" by The Buff Medways and "Sara Zamana" by Kishore Kumar and Chorus, while "Stand Up", the only instrumental track on the album, samples "One Way Glass" from Manfred Mann Chapter Three. This song, along with "Omen", is featured heavily in the 2010 film Kick-Ass, and both are included on the soundtrack release of the album.^[8]^[9]

Promotion

Invaders Must Die was chosen as the lead single from the album of the same name, and was released from the band's website as a free digital download on 26 November 2008. The download was announced in a newsletter sent to fans on 24 November, and first aired on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show as the 'Hottest Record in the World' of the same day it was released. Although it was not released as a commercial single, the song peaked at No. 49 in the UK Singles Chart,^[11]

"Omen" debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart during the week of 25 February 2009, peaked at No. 4 in the UK.^[12] In Australia, the song debuted at #83.^[13]

The single that followed, "Warrior's Dance", was released on 11 May 2009. The digital version of the single was released on 17 April 2009 in Australia as an iTunes exclusive, while the "Edit" version with none of the remixes is also available. When released there, however, the song was titled incorrectly and the download was actually a song from the band Placebo; this issue was fixed shortly after its release. Three downloadable remixes of "Warrior's Dance" were sold via the group's website, while an extra remix was exclusive to iTunes. The song peaked at No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart.^[14]

"Take Me to the Hospital", released on 31 August 2009, was the final commercially released single from the album. It was remixed six times, with the "Wreckage" mix being a collaboration with Josh Homme.^[15] The song debuted at No. 38 in the UK Singles Chart and topped the UK Dance Chart.^[16]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(60/100)^[17]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
musicOMH	^[18]
Pitchfork Media	(5.8/10)^[19]
Robert Christgau	^[20]
Uncut	^[21]
Slant Magazine	^[22]
Q	^[23]
The Times	^[24]
PopMatters	^[25]
Spin	^[26]
Release Magazine	^[27]

Invaders Must Die was released as a CD, CD/DVD set, double-vinyl, digital download and a luxury-like 7-inch vinyl box set that includes five 7-inches, CD/DVD, bonus CD, poster, stickers and stencils.^[28] To coincide with the release of the album, the band embarked on a nine date UK arena tour, with support from Dizzee Rascal, Noisia, Herve and DJ Kissy Sell Out. The "Warrior's Dance" video aired on Channel 4 on 28 March at 12:00 am.^[6]

As with Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, initial critical response to Invaders Must Die was mixed. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, based on 20 reviews.^[17] One example was Allmusic, who called it "a curious nu-rave record, as though the sound of 1991 (such as their Top Ten hit "Charly") has been filtered through the sound of 1996 (such as their number one, "Firestarter") to emerge as nothing more than a hodgepodge of uptempo dance music with extroverted beats and grimy basslines.^[1]

However, it was a commercial success. The album debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart on 1 March 2009 with 97,254 copies sold, giving them their fourth consecutive number one album in the UK. The album performed well worldwide as well, entering the top five in Poland,^[29] Ireland,^[30] the Netherlands,^[31] Australia,^[32] Canada, Belgium and Germany.^[33] The album debuted at No. 117 in the US but jumped to No. 58 in its second week. The album received Gold sales status in Australia and Germany,^[34] while Switzerland classified it as "2x Gold" with 30,000 copies. As of 7 November 2009 the album has sold over 1,029,000 copies worldwide.^[35]

The European edition includes an 11-track audio CD and a DVD with the videos for "Invaders Must Die," "Omen" and live performances of "World's on Fire" and "Warrior's Dance". The DVD has a computer-readable (HD data for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X) high definition version of the former music video. On 21 October 2009, the album was re-released as "Invaders Must Die Special Edition", which included remixes of the album itself, a different album cover, and a DVD containing music videos and live performances. One of the tracks on the edition was eventually released as a MP3 for download.^[36] The song was later released as "Invaders".^[37]

Track Listings

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Invaders Must Die"	Liam Howlett, Nick Halkes	4:55
2.	"Omen"	Howlett, Tim Hutton, Maxim	3:36
3.	"Thunder"	Howlett, Hutton, Trevor Joe	4:08
4.	"Colours"	Howlett, Keith Flint, John Fortis	3:27
5.	"Take Me to the Hospital"	Howlett, Flint, Jari Salo, Paul Malmström	3:39
6.	"Warrior's Dance"	Howlett, Bridget[te] Grace, Jeff Mills, Anthony Srock	5:12
7.	"Run With the Wolves"	Howlett, Flint	4:24
8.	"Omen Reprise"	Howlett, Hutton	2:14
9.	"World's on Fire"	Howlett, Maxim, Marcos Vicente Salon, Kim Deal	4:50
10.	"Piranha"	Howlett, Scrapper, Maxim, Billy Childish, Rajesh Roshan, Sameer Anjaan	4:05
11.	"Stand Up"	Howlett, Manfred Mann, Peter Thomas	5:30

Special Edition Disc 1 bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"The Big Gundown"	4:20
13.	"Wild West"	4:15
14.	"Omen" (Live at Rock am Ring 2009)	2:24

Special Edition Disc 2
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Invaders Must Die" (Liam H Re-Amped Version)	2:59
2.	"Invaders Must Die" (Chase & Status Remix)	5:10
3.	"Omen" (Noisia Remix)	6:20
4.	"Omen" (Hervé's End of the World Remix)	5:24
5.	"Warrior's Dance" (Future Funk Squad's 'Rave Soldier' Mix)	5:33
6.	"Warrior's Dance" (Benga Remix)	4:45
7.	"Warrior's Dance" (South Central Remix)	5:42
8.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (Rusko Remix)	4:24
9.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (Sub Focus Remix)	4:33
10.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (Josh Homme & Liam H's Wreckage Mix)	4:10
11.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (Loser's Middlesex A&E Remix)	5:47
12.	"Invaders Must Die" (Yuksek Remix)	5:03
13.	"Thunder" (Bang Gang Remix)	5:48

Special Edition DVD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Invaders Must Die" (video)
2.	"Omen" (video)
3.	"Warrior's Dance" (video)
4.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (video)
5.	"World's on Fire" (live video)
6.	"Warrior's Dance" (live video)
7.	"Run" (live video)
8.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (Big Day Out Australia 2009)

iTunes bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Invaders Must Die" (Chase & Status remix)	5:09
2.	"Omen" (edit)	3:14
3.	"Track by Track Talk Through"	16:44

Lost Beats EP (bonus disc)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Big Gundown"	4:21
2.	"Black Smoke"	3:26
3.	"Wild West"	4:15
4.	"Fighter Beat"	3:32

Bonus DVD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Invaders Must Die" (video)
2.	"Omen" (video)
3.	"World's on Fire" (live video)
4.	"Warrior's Dance" (live video)

Japanese Edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Black Smoke"	3:26
13.	"Fighter Beat"	3:32

Warrior's Dance Fest edition (Japanese only) Disc 2
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Invaders Must Die" (Chase & Status remix)	5:10
2.	"Omen" (edit)	3:14
3.	"Omen" (Noisia remix)	6:20
4.	"Omen" (Hervé's End of the World remix)	5:24
5.	"Warrior's Dance" (Kicks Like a Mule remix)	5:09
6.	"Warrior's Dance" (Future Funk Squad's "Rave Soldier" mix)	5:33
7.	"Warrior's Dance" (Benga remix)	4:45
8.	"Warrior's Dance" (South Central remix)	5:42
9.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (Rusko remix)	4:24
10.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (Sub Focus remix)	4:33
11.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (Adam F & Horx remix)	5:33
12.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (Josh Homme & Liam H's Wreckage mix)	4:10
13.	"Take Me to the Hospital" (Loser's Middlesex A&E remix)	5:47
14.	"Wild West"	4:15

Notes

^A Lost Beats^[38] EP is available with the deluxe box set edition^[39] and was also released on iTunes some time after.^[6]
^B "The Big Gundown" is a renamed, studio version of "Comanche," a track played live by the band.

Singles

Date of release	Title	UK chart position
26 November 2008	"Invaders Must Die"	49
16 February 2009	"Omen"	4
11 May 2009	"Warrior's Dance"	9
31 August 2009	"Take Me to the Hospital"	38

Personnel

The Prodigy^[2]

Liam Howlett – synthesizers, sampling, programming, production, engineering, mixing
Keith Flint – vocals ("Omen", "Colours", "Take me to the Hospital", "Run with the Wolves", "World's on Fire")
Maxim – vocals ("Omen", "Colours", "Take me to the Hospital", "Omen Reprise", "World's on Fire", "Piranha")

Additional musicians and co-production

Brother Culture – vocals on "Thunder"
Amanda Ghost – backing vocals on "Colours"
Tim Hutton – additional guitars on "Colours", horns on "Piranha"
Dave Grohl – live drums on "Run with the Wolves" and "Stand Up"
James Rushent – co-producer on "Invaders Must Die" and "Omen"
Damian Taylor – additional pre-production on all tracks

Engineers

Neil McLellan – mixing (all tracks, except "Omen Reprise" and "Stand Up")
Damian Taylor – mixing ("Omen Reprise" and "Stand Up")
John Davis – mastering (at Metropolis Mastering)

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[40]	3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[41]	5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[42]	4
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[43]	12
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[44]	17
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)^[45]	9
French Albums (SNEP)^[46]	22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[47]	3
Irish Albums (IRMA)^[48]	4
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[49]	32
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)^[50]	3
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[51]	4
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[52]	10
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[53]	23
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[54]	1
UK Albums (OCC)^[55]	1
US Billboard 200^[56]	58

Certifications

Country	Certifications (sales thresholds)	Sales
Germany	Gold^[34]	100,000
United Kingdom	2x Platinum	645,000
Australia	1x Gold	35,000
Switzerland	2x Gold	30,000
Poland	1x Gold^[57]	10,000^[58]
Russia	3x Gold	30,000
Italia		10,000
Austria	1x Gold	10,000

References

1 2 3 Bush, John. "Invaders Must Die – The Prodigy | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
1 2 "The Prodigy New Label". The Prodigy. 11 March 2008. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
↑ Exclusive Interview with Liam by TheProdigy.nl, 10 May 2007, archived from the original on 18 February 2008, retrieved 5 July 2008
↑ Parks, Andrew (7 April 2008), "Q&A with Liam Howlett of The Prodigy", Self-Titled Daily, retrieved 11 July 2008
1 2 "collaborators on new album". The Prodigy. 2 November 2008. Archived from the original on 27 October 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
1 2 3 "interview with The Prodigy @ xbox live". The Prodigy. 28 November 2008. Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
↑ "Duke Nukem Forever Reveal Trailer". Gearbox Software. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
1 2 3 http://www.theprodigy.com/the-prodigy/biography http://www.theprodigy.com/the-prodigy/biography
1 2 3 Invaders Must Die liner notes
↑ "Warriors Dance Festival – part 1". Theprodigy.com. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
↑ "The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die". Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=34247. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
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↑ "Album review: The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die – Review". Uncut.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
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↑ Apr 2009, p.96
↑ Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Gabriele, Timothy. "The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
↑ Aaron, Charles. "The Prodigy, 'Invaders Must Die' (Cooking Vinyl)". SPIN.com. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
↑ http://www.releasemagazine.net/Onrecord/orprodigyimd.html
↑ "Liam H blog". The Prodigy. 6 November 2008. Archived from the original on 9 November 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS – Official Retail Sales Chart". OLIS. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
↑ ">> IRMA << Irish Charts - Singles, Albums & Compilations >>". Irma.ie. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
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↑ "The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die". musicline.de. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
1 2 "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Invaders Must Die')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
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External links

InvadersMustDie.com − Invaders Must Die Microsite
Invaders Must Die Review at Metacritic
Invaders Must Die Review

Preceded by Only by the Night by Kings of Leon	UK Albums Chart number-one album 1 March 2009 – 8 March 2009	Succeeded by No Line on the Horizon by U2

The Prodigy

Liam Howlett Keith Flint Maxim Leeroy Thornhill Sharky

Albums	Experience Music for the Jilted Generation The Fat of the Land Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned Invaders Must Die The Day Is My Enemy

EPs	What Evil Lurks The Night Is My Friend

Live albums	World's on Fire

Compilation albums	Their Law: The Singles 1990–2005

DJ mix albums	The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One

Video albums	Electronic Punks

Singles	"Charly" "Everybody in the Place" "Fire/Jericho" "Out of Space" "Wind It Up (Rewound)" "One Love" "No Good (Start the Dance)" "Voodoo People" "Poison" "Firestarter" "Breathe" "Serial Thrilla" "Smack My Bitch Up" "Baby's Got a Temper" "Girls" "Hotride" "Spitfire" "Voodoo People"/"Out of Space" "Invaders Must Die" "Omen" "Warrior's Dance" "Take Me to the Hospital" "Nasty" "The Day Is My Enemy" "Wild Frontier" "Wall of Death" "Ibiza" "Rhythm Bomb" "Get Your Fight On"

Related articles	Discography Ragged Flag Flint Warriors Dance Festival

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