PRODIGY - THE FAT OF THE LAND

So I knew some of the songs off this album from Xtreme Radio down in Las Vegas. They played 'Smack My Bitch Up' and 'Firestarter'. Then my friend Tony asked me to buy this disc for his birthday and I did. It was shortly afterward that I picked the disc up for myself and was completely blown away.

I'd been listening to a lot of electronic music at this time. I was really into Juno Reactor and through them, I was embracing other groups like Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers and a whole slew of compilation discs with various electronic bands. It was the rave scene and I was clubbing all the time. There was a lot of controversy surrounding this disc as well. Seems like everyone was up in arms about 'Smack My Bitch Up'. Which I just thought was ridiculous. Why all the fuss? Bands like Prodigy weren't out to make misogynistic statements, they were just reflecting a certain vibe.

The disc starts off with the pounding 'Smack My Bitch Up' and moves into 'Breathe'. Two very strong, beat heavy tracks right of the bat. 'Diesel Power' maintains the deep bass heavy groove, but slows the pace down to an almost funky level. 'Funky Shit' kicks in immediately afterward and takes you right back into the moment with some skippin' beats looping around some old school sampling. The next track, 'Serial Thrilla' sounds almost like something Rage Against The Machine would come up with. It's got a strong guitar sample playing heavily over the crashing beat.

'Mindfields' takes off at an epic pace. It's like the build in a horror movie. The anticipation builds with eerie sound and hyped synth lines before an abrupt funk beat kicks in and digs a trenching groove that cuts deeper as the song progresses. This track has the most natural and exciting build of all the songs, but is by no means the most exciting track. 'Narayan' is perhaps the least interesting track. It sounds almost run of the mill compared to the rest of the beats on the album. It segues into 'Firestarter'. This transition is perhaps the only thing that saves it from being completely mundane. 'Firestarter' on the other hand, is an extremely forceful and angry tune full of jungle rhythms and furious spoken lyrics. 'Climbatize' is the albums huge anthem song of sorts. It has a great build and moves into a steady, but lush beat structured around some classic rock hooks that eventually take on a Middle Eastern feel. This would have been a great end to the disc. But the final track is still to come. 'Fuel My Fire' sounds almost like a punk rock tune thrown in for fun. It would have come across as a hidden track with a longer break in between the two songs. As it is, it kinda destroys the rounded off ending created by 'Climbatize'.

Overall, this is one exciting and fun disc. It starts off strong and maintains a beat throughout. They rarely drop the bottom out of a song or break down into meaningless nothingness... It stays powerful throughout.

It seems like every group has one disc or album that really defines them. For Prodigy, 'The Fat Of The Land' is it. You may not like them or even approve of them, but it's a fun disc and one that should be in every rock n' roll fan's collection. Even if you don't like electronic acts. It rocks! My final word: POWERFUL.

PRODIGY - THE FAT OF THE LAND
01. Smack My Bitch Up
02. Breathe
03. Diesel Power
04. Funky Shit
05. Serial Thrilla
06. Mindfields
07. Narayan
08. Firestarter
09. Climbatize
10. Fuel My Fire