TALK about the return of the prodigal son. It is seven years since the ubiquitous single Firestarter and the world-conquering The Fat Of The Land album made the one-time Essex ravers into unlikely superstars.

However, the "electronic punk" sound that made them famous - especially frontman Keith Flint's Johnny Rotten-meets-Krusty The Clown public image - soon became a joke. As shown by their trying-too-hard-to-shock 2002 single Baby's Got A Temper.

Meanwhile, the dance music scene that powered The Prodigy and contemporaries The Chemical Brothers, Leftfield and Underworld to crossover success, died a commercial and critical death.

The always-delayed Always Outnumbered then seems almost like an album that's been written off by the public before it even hit the shelves. Which is not entirely fair.

In a voyage of rediscovery, Prodigy musical mastermind Liam Howlett has gone back to electronic basics. Gone are Keith and MC Maxim (though they will still feature in the band's live show).

In are brutal, stripped-down beats, samples and squalling synths, and occasional echoes of Howlett's formative influences, hip-hop, 1980s electro and punk rock. Although they have ditched their rock-friendly image, it still rocks - battering beats and apocalyptic noise abound.

Opener Spitfire is up there with their best, boasting beats that could knock down buildings and distorted, catchy vocal samples. Girls is sleazy, cut-up electronic funk and the striking Hotride sounds unlike anything they've done before, with vocals from actress Juliette Lewis, and scuzzy, trashy guitars. Meanwhile, Howlett's brother-in-law Liam Gallagher adds almost unrecognisable vocals to the raucous closer Shoot Down.

However, there's an awful lot of directionless filler, as Howlett searches for new ideas to keep the Prodigy on the road.

Certainly it's lightyears from being a groundbreaking affair like their finest hour, Music For The Jilted Generation. But there are enough moments of revitalised energy here to suggest it's too soon to write off The Prodigy yet.

Updated: 08:44 Thursday, August 26, 2004