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 an interesting combination. This is followed by the LH Edit, which doesn’t sound amazingly different from the original, so it’s not really a big standout.
Despite some positive aspects at times, the full complement of TDIME remixes didn’t really resonate with me because I was never a massive fan of the original to begin with. I did, however, quite enjoy the raps over the Liam H remix, and I’d recommend it even if you never listened to the original song that much
Elsewhere on the album, Roadblox gets a couple of edits courtesy of the Jaguar Skills Ninja Terminator Remix and Reso Remix. There’s also a live recording from this year’s SONICMANIA festival. However, I wasn’t too fond of these tracks; they’re not particularly bad, but the original Roadblox was already a great track with plenty of energy and variety, and the remixes don’t really add much to what is already a solid tune.
Shut ‘Em Up and Ibiza
A welcome surprise on the album is Shut ‘Em Up – this isn’t a remix or instrumental of a track from the original TDIME; instead it’s a mash-up between the Invaders Must Die’s Stand Up and Public Enemy’s Shut Em Down. You’d think this would be an unusual combination but it ends up working much better than might be expected, and is easily one of the highlights from the Expanded content.
There’s also a previously vinyl-only instrumental courtesy of Ibiza It was already a great song on the original album – 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 is another highlight from the remixes on offer.
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 due to the way in which so many tracks were already released on previous remix EPs, but there’s enough extra content around the recycled works that it works out as a decent collection that’s good value for money.
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 energy and diversity of the original tracks are reinvigorated theough the compiled remixes. It’s currently only available digitally but as each of the previous Expanded Edition albums have seen physical releases, there’s always a chance that this could 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 – so there’s a lot of content for a reasonable price. It’s certainly worth picking up if you don’t own The Day Is My Enemy already, and even if some remixes don’t cater for your personal taste, there are plenty of others that you’re sure to enjoy.
Find out more about The Day Is My Enemy (Expanded Edition) at TheProdigy.com
Buy The Day Is My Enemy (Expanded Edition) from iTunes