BAND INFO: - Mostly known for (almost) making electronic music the "next big thing" in the mid-90's, Prodigy is a rave/dance band originating out of England. The current line-up for Prodigy is front-man/vocalist Keith Flint (who is mostly known for his freakish hair and numerous piercings), programmer Leeroy Thornhill, and Liam Howlett. Howlett is actually the music behind Prodigy. Howlett broke into the British rave scene in 1990. His first two singles did very well in the British pop and dance charts and he became popular very quickly. Then, he met up with Flint and Thornhill to make Prodigy and release one of the first LPs ("The Prodigy Experience") by a dance/rave band. Then, hip-hopper Maxim Reality, whose real name is Keeti Palmer, added a bit more rap/trip-hop to the music. Liam Howlett went on to do remixes for such industrial bands as Front 242 and Art of Noise. Prodigy then made it big in America with its dance/drum 'n bass release, "The Fat of the Land". This CD almost made electronic music "the next big thing" in America.
The Fat of the Land - OVERVIEW: As mentioned in the band info, this CD almost made electronic music the "next big thing" for the pop charts. Mostly a trip-hop/rave CD, many of the tracks have been featured in car commercials and played in clubs all across the world. Many people do not like this CD because it has that "sell out" kind of thing hanging over it due to such hit singles as "Breathe" and "Firestarter". In spite of this, "The Fat of the Land" has many dancy tracks that are very funky and trippy that any electronic music fan can appreciate. One problem this CD has is that it sometimes degenerates into straight forward rap and the trip-hop gets kind of repetative. However, many of the songs contrast to each other and there is a lot of varience in many of the tracks. One track has chanting, a few tracks have breakbeats and drum 'n bass qualities, and one track is even a little trance/goa.
RECORD LABEL: Maverick/Warner Brothers
# OF TRACKS: 10
RUNNING TIME: 56:26
RELEASE YEAR: 1996
YOU'D LIKE THIS CD IF YOU LIKE: Erinfall or Tricky
RATING: 6.2 / 10
