"What evil lurks in the hearts of men?" That's how is goes. 'What Evil Lurks' samples a 40s radio show called The Shadow. The whole EP was completed from a ten track demo tape which Liam sent to XL Recordings in 1990. The whole track listing of the demo tape is at the moment unknown, but we do know that all the four tracks which were on 'What Evil Lurks' EP were on it as well a song called 'Spacehooper'. The EP was released in February 1991 and it gained huge underground success. It didn't enter the commercial charts but it was number 30 in the dance chart. The EP sold approximately 7,000 copies and it hasn't been re-released since then. Obviously this record became very sought after soon because of the success of 'Charly' and nowadays it's worth a small fortune.

    Tracks

    The title track was breakbeat monster built around the radio sample mentioned above. 'We Gonna Rock' was dance floor friendly tune which contained a sample from 'Different Strokes' performed by Syl Johnson. Some internet sources claim that the track would sample a Public Enemy song but the trick is that PE actually used the very same sample on their song 'Fight The Power'. Probably the most successful song on the EP was 'Android'. The record gained a lot underground plays but it was 'Android' which you would hear in the clubs at the time. Prodigy's Dutch record label Torso even titled the record as 'Android'. The song used a sample from Kool G Rap & DJ Polo's 'Road To Riches'. This EP contained the first original version of 'Everybody In The Place' which eventually became the follow up single of 'Charly'. The original version was slower and more housey.

    Records

    The EP was released by XL Recordings as vinyl only (XLT-17). It was released in the Netherlands by Torso Dance (TORSO 12194) as 12" single, only it was 45 RPM and it had simple black sleeves (cover sticker pictured on right). This Dutch import is really rare, one could say even more valuable than the original UK release.

    XL Recordings evetually made a re-release - released 27 September 2004. The re-issue, pressed to celebrate XL's 15th anniversary, was similar to the original release, apart from the info sticker on the front cover and different catalog# (XLXV 1501).

    The problem nowadays is that 'What Evil Lurks' EP is bootlegged. There are several different kind of bootlegs so be careful when you are buying a copy. The original UK release came in XL's own black and grey sleeves (as pictured above). Some copies had some kind of A4 paper with them and a white sticker in the right upper corner. The early bootleg copies were really poor and are easy to notice since they have a typo (it says 'Androids' instead od 'Android') and it had a different font. Bootlegs usually come in plain black sleeves and the if the inscription "Mike's Exchange" is missing you can be sure that it's a bootleg. An Italian book called 'Music For The Voodoo People' contained a CD which contained 'What Evil Lurks' EP. The CD was a bootleg and the sound quality on the CD was poor and the speed settings were incorrect.

    'Android', however, has appeared on some compilations and there are two different versions of it - the only difference is the length. The same version as on XL release is available on 'Order To Dance III' compilation (R & S Records CD, RS-2091-CD) and other shorter version (4:10) is available on 'Turn Up The Bass Volume 16' compilation (Arcade CD 01 6382 61 and cassette 01 6382 41).
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