It’s safe to say that The Prodigy are a force of nature; that much should be clear even to those outisde of their usual circles (hello, that’s me). Their music has successfully crossed fortified borders within the musical scene where nobody thought it could be done, and they just ran on through them head first, with no consideration or fucks to give whatsoever. Their 1997 masterpiece The Fat of the Land is a testament to that boundless energy and free spirit, and it stil stands as a landmark achievement of ’90s electronica.
Pete Overell
The Fat of the Land changed the electronic music scene for the better, and has paved the way in one way for countless genres and artists to seize their moment. Yet, nothing can really come close to the continuous barrage of bangers contained on The Fat of the Land. The first five tracks get you moving like no other album can, with barrages of sound filled with so much energy it is impossible to stay still. The rest? Strap in – they don’t slow down with the hits, but in my opinion nothing can beat the first five.
The Prodigy were the defining electronic artist of my childhood, and spawned a eternal love for IDM, glitch, and above all, big-beat. This week has been righteous, pairing multiple playthroughs of this beast with the blinding sunshine. Car speakers, big systems, and headphones have pummelled my ear drums with the thumping rave tunes of The Prodigy, and I couldn’t be happier.
“Diesel Power”, my favourite from the record, is the absolute go to with any new soundsystem. You just bought a new Sonos rig? Fucking great, let’s stick on a 25 year-old album and see how it sounds. The bass is otherworldly, the emcee flow sublime. Seeing the track live at Reading Festival 2009 embedded it as one of my favourite dance tracks of all time. The power of the bass in the track was incomparable to anything I’ve seen or heard since, with the air vibrating around the thousands of revellers.
Throughout the majority of the tracks you can expect to hear massive bass, but coupled with brilliantly choreographed layers that ebb and flow, shifting the dance groove all over the place. The smart, frenetic drums raise the tempo brilliantly, the garage influences creating an intensely fun and bouncy atmosphere throughout a number of tracks. “Firestarter” is arguably one the best tracks the band put out; the complex and ingenious track is very hard to beat.
The Prodigy never beat this magnum opus, but have continued for the past 25 years to excite and delight with their extensive catalogue, which holds up so well versus modern electronic music. When people talk about legendary British bands, The Prodigy will always be top five for me. Get out in the sun and stick this on.
Dylan Nicole Lawson
The Fat of the Land was always a fun album I discovered as a kid, being very much in my youth at the time of its release. I feel like this is one of those albums that, as a child, I just listened to, thought was awesome, and that’s all I needed to enjoy it. That’s not to say in older age, we still won’t have at least the occasional album or two that gets this sort of innocent adoration, but this difference with how I consume music now as opposed to then is entirely in the articulations, and how I recognize the details.
Undeniable pioneers of big beat, The Prodigy earned massive critical acclaim, topping the UK Albums Chart and US Billboard 200. As of 2019, it cleared over 10 million copies sold. So basically, if you consider metrics and commercial accreditations as telling factors of success – this album definitely had it. For all those that hone more in on the merits of the music itself – it still had it. The kick-ass mix of Howlett’s keen ear for beats and a punky attitude crossed over with rave-style electronics is just nearly impossible to not bob your head to.
A personal favorite, “Serial Thrilla”, almost summarizes not only this album but who Prodigy are in their prime to me, and this isn’t even exactly their ‘best’ song. Something about the heavy drumming along with multiple aggressive noises and Flint’s vocal work all make for a pumping mix that you could mosh and dance to all in one place. Almost every song on this record hold a similar vibration to it in that regard, too, all while making you feel like you’re in a late-‘90s sci-fi action film listening to it while on your next run at your pizza delivery job. “Breathe” creates a similar feeling for me, personally, and that is probably largely due to its use in a number of film soundtracks from around the early 2000’s. Listening to this song in particular always makes me want to play Tekken or Mortal Kombat.
The loss of Keith Flint in 2019 was definitely a heartache felt by many as well. I don’t exactly subscribe to the ‘when someone dies – that’s when they’re loved for their work’ sort of mentality, but I do realize an added layer of sentiment now present since his passing while listening to this and all other Prodigy albums spanning their career while Flint was still with us. I remember reading a quote from a popular BMX’er (whose name I unfortunately cannot immediately recall) talking on his Instagram story about an off-chance him and his crew got to not only catch The Prodigy live, but also meet Flint. The unnamed BMX’er recounted talking with Keith backstage with some friends and asking him ‘what’s the best part about being a rockstar?’, to which Flint simply replied with probably one of my most favorite things ever:
‘Getting to perform in front of hundreds of thousands of people all screaming lyrics back at you that you wrote in your bedroom ages ago.’
R.I.P. Keith Flint, and long live The Prodigy!
