Review of Liam Prodigy's CD "Back To Mine"

Liam Prodigy: Back To Mine

Back to Mine are at the pinnacle of the music compilation scene, providing interesting and eclectic selections from some of the greatest names in the dance music scene and beyond including, The Orb, Underworld, New Order, Faithless and by far the best up to date Groove Armada.

The normal recipe for the compilations is to be gently submersed into a chilled out, dreamy set of tunes that are relaxing yet catchy, and then progresses into beats of a slightly faster genre without reaching the breakneck speeds associated with, say the Prodigy.

Step forward the current tune selector in the hot seat, Liam from the Prodigy. Now I have followed the Prodigy for a while, and to expect a compilation following in the previous moulds was probably a little naïve. As soon as the first track rips through your speakers you will no doubt realize that diversity is the major contributing element to what looks on paper a very unusual selection.

Forget a sensual, relaxing start; we are thrown straight in at the deep end with an exclusive Prodigy tune, followed by rockers Queens of the Stone Age and then Public enemy. The mould has not been broken; it has been smashed with a hammer and run over by Big Daddy in a steam roller. The tracks are brave, hard hitting and quality, think David Batty in his heyday.

The journey then moves towards a song that can only be described as, well weird. If Liam is hoping to shock, well he does. The artist is Dolly Parton, yes you read it right, Dolly Parton. Now if you heard the excellent 2 many DJ's mix of Dollys 9 to 5 with Royksopps Eple, that was groundbreaking and it worked well. This is just DD Dolly belting out "Jolene" with no mixing or fusing with any other tune. Slightly over the top and a little silly looking, a bit like Dolly's implants.

The tunes come thick and fast as you can see by the track listing until we end with 4 classics from a bygone era. The Specials, The Stranglers, The Jam and ELO. All work well in wrapping up one of the weirdest CD's I have ever had to review. The tracks are far reaching, inventive and amusing. Some have quality stamped all over them, one or two have pants stamped all over them, but the compilation is supposed to be alternative and groundbreaking so in that aspect it works. I like the Back to Mine series and this effort is no exception. Would have liked to have seen a bit more effort in the mixing department, but apart from that, no complaints.

Find related articles: dance music scene, david batty, music compilation, steam roller, dolly parton.