It’s the twisted firestarters’ first new record in seven years. They didn’t sit around on their backsides. Instead they studied open air festivals and what you need to get today’s audiences dancing.

The original Prodigy line-up of ‘Twisted Firestarter’ Keith Flint, Liam Howlett and Maxim Reality is back and they sound like French dance act Justice.

No messing, listen to the title track of the Prodigy’s new album ‘Invaders Must Die’ or ‘Thunder’. Big kick drum, fuzzy Acid bass and a - in the most positive sense - bombastic production that will hit you at the back of the field in Glastonbury or wherever.

In fairness, The Prodigy are well positioned to claim back the festival crown: They were, after all, one of the first wave of acts to cross over from the rave to the festival stage.

Dig deeper and you’ll find that ‘Invaders Must Die’ is the Prodigy sound from 1992/94 - that of ‘Firestarter’ and ‘Out Of Space’ - with a few subtle tweaks and better technology.

On ‘Thunder’, ‘Invaders Must Die’ and ‘Take Me To The Hospital’ The Prodigy nail it just right. The first single ‘Omen’ is not bad either. Look out for these tunes on a dance stage or dance tent near you this summer.

Watch The Prodigy’s Video For ‘Omen’

When the band dips into its post-94 phase of gnarly Electro Rock, it goes a bit pear shaped.

‘Run With The Wolves’ features Grunge rocker Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters fame on drums but just doesn’t do it for me. Electro Rock always runs danger of sounding like cartoon music. Tricky managed to avoid this on his last album ‘Knowle West Boy’.

The Prodigy’s ‘Run With The Wolves’, ‘Colours’ and ‘Piranha’, on the other hand, have that clinical ‘heavy’ sound that works for a five second sound blast but not in a five minute song. Mind you, it probably works in a field with a few thousand people around you.

The surprise hit here is the album closer, ‘Stand Up’. As a bit of a laugh, The Prodigy take up a sound they never touched back in 92, the Rave sound of Primal Scream.

It’s that Rolling Stones inspired Boogie Rock with a flowing beat like on the Primals’ ‘Come Together’or ‘Loaded’. The Prodigy are really good at it. It’s an ace track, with a snarling brass section sounding ever so slightly like seminal Oz Punks The Saints.

We say:

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