Invaders Must Die - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

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. 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.

As with Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, initial critical response to Invaders Must Die was mixed. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, based on 20 reviews. 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.

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, Ireland, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Belgium and Germany. The album debuted at #117 in the US but jumped to #58 in its second week. The album received Gold sales status in Australia and Germany, 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.

The European edition includes a 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. The song was later released as "Invaders". A "Warrior's Dance Fest" edition of the album will be released in Japan alone.