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Fatboy Slim

FATBOY SLIM

BAND INFO: Fatboy Slim is Norman Cook from Brighton, England. Fatboy Slim, along with the Chemical Brothers, is an innovator of the "big beat" music and has been evolving his music for over 15 years. Cook's musical career started as bassist for England's pop band, The Housemartins. Cook then went on to create his first electronic band, Beats International, and became deeply rooted in the British dance underground. During this time Cook created many aliases and released numerous hit singles under the names of "Freakpower", "Mighty Dub Katz", "Pizzaman", and "Fried Funk Food". In 1996, Cook released his first Fatboy Slim CD called "Better Living Through Chemistry" which is considered one of the most important techno albums ever made. In 1998, Cook released his most successful CD, "You've Come a Long Way, Baby". This CD has gone Gold and the single "Praise You" even hit #1 in America. A little known fact about the albums "Better Living Through Chemistry" and "You've Come a Long Way, Baby" is that they were both recorded in the "House of Love", which is actually Norman Cook's attic.

Better Living Through Chemistry
You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Better Living Through Chemistry - OVERVIEW: As mentioned in the band info, this album is considered to be one of the most influential and important electronic CDs ever made. And if you hear the music, you can tell why. In a time where most techno music was either rave or dub with too many samples, this album broke the barriers and made use of the "big beat" style. Big Beat music is the kind of music that you think of when you hear the word "techno". It's pretty much no-hold-barred electronic music with some 70's disco added in. An organ is used in many of the songs and the beats are original with no repetitiveness. A very fun and light-hearted CD, many of the tracks can be found in raves, clubs, and dancefloors. The album name, "Better Living Through Chemistry" is taken from a 50's slogan where over active children should be given valium to quiet them down. The album name is also in tribute to Fatboy Slim's friends, the Chemical Brothers (another big beat band), who convinced Fatboy Slim to make this CD. This album has the hit single "Everyone Needs a 303".

RECORD LABEL: Astralwerks in America, Skint Records in Europe.

# OF TRACKS: 12

RUNNING TIME: 1:10:57

RELEASE YEAR: 1996 (Skint Records, Europe), 1997 (Astralwerks, America)

YOU'D LIKE THIS CD IF YOU LIKE: Chemical Brothers, Lo Fidelity All-Stars, or Gearwhore

RATING: 8.5 / 10

You've Come a Long Way, Baby - OVERVIEW: Let's take big beat techno music, add in some funk and trip, and throw in some reggae; we've got "You've Come a Long Way, Baby" by Fatboy Slim. This is a beauty of a CD with three hit singles and tons of variety. Many of the tracks on this CD are straight forward big beat, but some of the songs go into trip-hop a tad. There's even a great dance-floor song here, too (track #10, "Love Island"). This whole CD is meant for dancing or grooving with your friends. Songs such as "Rockafeller Skank", "Ganster Tripping", and the hit "Praise You" all make you shake your booty and look like an idiot for all to see; but it's fun! A little known fact about this CD is that the radio sample at the end of track #1 ("Right Here, Right Now") is an actual recording from WCBN in Boston.

RECORD LABEL: Astralwerks (America), Skint Records (Europe)

# OF TRACKS: 11

RUNNING TIME: 1:02:04

RELEASE YEAR: 1998 (for both Astralwerks and Skint Records)

YOU'D LIKE THIS CD IF YOU LIKE: The Chemical Brothers

RATING: 9 / 10

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