In semi-praise of.....The Fat of the Land by the Prodigy

I also adored "Baby's Got A Temper", so I'm ultra-amped for their new album.

What he said.

which could make it the greatest album ever...

This album accentuated a good portion of one of the best experiences I've ever had with a certain synthetic hallucinogen and now always makes me feel a little tweaked...in a good way.

I like Narayan.

it's kind of rock and roll, but kind of not. the breakbeats have't dated the best.

but i'm surprised so many here came out in support of it - thought i'd only seen mention of fat of the land on ilx in the same breath as 'jock jams' or something.

or maybe that's just amongst my friends...

That said, I wouldn't weep if all Liam did from here on out were more of those Dirtchamber mixes.

Charley was the best thing Liam ever did. What happened to that sense of humour?

Fucking hell, Blueski, I think you've discovered some crazy secret formula...

Thing is, the Prodigy were my favourite group from the age of 12-15, but this record didn't age all that well or have enough of the semi-classic factor I get with the other 2. And while I usually hate levelling such accusations, there was something kind of 'empty' about this LP, like it was really all about Liam's ultimate engaement with popular culture and genre jumping and the chance to show off who he knew and who he liked. There were also some festival tracks from this time I never got to hear like 'Rock'n'Roll' that always sounded intriguing, more so than an L7 cover. Mind you, I'd buy it again for DJ purposes as 'Funky Shit', 'Mindfields', 'Narayan' and 'Smack My Bitch Up' have a style that needs to be out there more.

Fuel My Fire, Serial Thrilla and Narayan were fucking dodgy though.

Ned's analysis raises for me what I think Matt doesn't see-unlike the Chems/Ashcroft number, the Prodge were fully focused on the music ahead of focusing on Crispian. This can account for the lack of fitting together Matt sees but it feels like both parties were really trying to adapt to each other and for the most part it comes off. Crispian is mostly at home on a good track and that's what matters.

As a record I guess it's fine but I don't feel any need to listen to it anymore, seems so much of it's time. It feels like quite a camp record, or at least Keith Flint's contribution does.

Haha... yeah, Liam's *really* lame attempts to actually explain it away were one of the most amusing things about that whole fuss, when in reality they probably just didn't think about the misogynist connotations.

I do think it would have been a way more "offensive" video without the ending.

As I say the fact that the form of the song matched the lyric so much only made it more likely to offend, and breakbeat must be the most laddish genre of all time, still is.

I don't think it needed explaining, I don't think there's anything wrong with an aggressive record, not on a great scale anyway. It's something of a caricature. The only record I ever remember feeling really shocked by was that Ghostface track where he talks about gang rape. That was definite and explicit.

Except he probably rhymed it, it is kind of strong as you can see.

[T.M.F. - both]
To my real bitches take your drawers off
To all my high niggas, snatch her skirt off {"one"}
Just in case she wanna play, get up in that bitch face
and tell her Ghost said, "Take your clothes off!" {"one"}

hahah "production knowhow" way upthread. sounds like you're referring to an automobile manufacturer or something.

anyhoo, listening to this record now. the vocals on some of these tunes sound tedious, but musically the whole package has sort of held up. i tend to prefer the more ambience-driven stuff like 'mind fields' and 'narayan', but the singles still pack a punch, particularly 'breathe'

Sounds dated as shit but I still think the cover is really cool and wish I still had the giant poster of it I had when it came out and I was 13 or whatever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXiF1w8i9Oc

okay that is the end of the world

kinda weird that this video hasn't been the source of a zillion GIF-lolimages. the album featuring this brilliant version with improved lyrics is called Asshole.

Hahah I remember we made fun of this when this came out, I think...

gene simmons covers prodigy

"According to Billboard, KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons will be calling his second solo effort Asshole."

how the hell did I miss BOTH of those threads

I feel a little better knowing that gene simmons didn't wake up one day in 2011 and think "hey! wouldn't it be great to cover the PRODIGY"

how the hell did I miss BOTH of those threads

I admit I was wondering.

Gene really missed an opportunity by picking "Firestarter", he should have covered "Pandemonium" or "Crazy Man"

I remember getting 'The Fat Of The Land' in its week of release, and gave it a couple of spins but I don't remember being blown away by it. I remember liking 'Smack My Bitch Up', 'Breathe', 'Funky Shit' and of course 'Firestarter' but that's about it, really. I don't think I've listened to this album since 1997, whereas I know I've listened to 'Music For The Jilted Generation' more than a few times since then. It's nowhere near as bad as 'Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned' (or whatever the hell it was called), but I still don't think very much of it.

I don't outright dislike any of the Prodigy albums but Jilted is pretty obviously the best one IMO.

I'd rank them:

Songs for the Jilted Generation
Experience
Invaders Must Die!
The Fat of the Land
Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned

man I love Always Outnumbered, consider it a v. underrated effort

I agree it's underrated! I just happen to like the other 4 more (although tbh sometimes FotL dips below it)

Yeah, you're fairly OTM with the ranking there, DJP. That's how I would personally rank them also. 'Experience', I think is generally overlooked by most for several reasons. Firstly, the Prodigy quickly topped that album themselves with '...Jilted Generation', but also by the time the Prodigy reached what I'd call their 'commercial peak' with 'The Fat Of The Land', the album seemed far away from that the Prodigy were then doing in 1997. 'Experience', as good as a record it is, felt like a period piece musically in 1997, and didn't have any presence of the cartoon-punk that Keith Flint had become by that point. I'd like to think some Prodigy fans who got on board with 'The Fat Of The Land' went back and appreciated 'Experience', but I'm guessing as many people heard 'Experience' and thought "nah, this isn't for me..."

This album is still so fucking good and it's absolutely pathetic that lame shit like Shania Twain and Pavement are somehow remembered more fondly

I really need to listen to this whole album someday. All I know are the singles. Back in 1997 we blasted “Smack My Bitch Up” constantly. We would always try to fistpump when the drumbeat came in and fail miserably the first couple times. Is it 0:40 in? 0:42? Somewhere around there.

The last two tracks are wholly unnecessary and really cause the album to fizzle out. Trim it down to tracks 1-8 though and it's a blast, easily up to par with Experience/Jilted. Also, more than anything it really needs to be played loud.

Get rid of Climbatize?

Yeah, not a big fan of that - too long, the hook isn't that great, just feels like semi-pleasant filler that doesn't really work as part of an album that's so direct.

(and I say that as a card carrying fan of hook-free, overlong repetitive atmospherics)

Blasting this album right now, totally rockin’. Forgot how cool I used to think it was that the female singer could the note for so long in the middle of “Smack My Bitch Up” even though now that I’m older and wiser I realize it was probably just a sample.

Best beats on any album ever?