The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land (Album Review) 

Ah, the original crab rave! :3

Came here for the album review, stayed for the AFX shirt

Re: "Smack My Bitch Up", I feel a little like that track wouldn't be controversial in quite the same way had they not released "Baby's Got A Temper" a few years later. Whereas "Smack" had the defense of it being a sample and open to interpretation, "Temper" outright had Keith Flint singing "we love rohypnol" and "you'll never tame her", and I wouldn't blame people if they felt "Smack" hit a little differently after that. I know both Howlett and Flint publicly disowned the single due to it feeling like a FOTL redux, but it wouldn't surprise me if they also felt the edginess had got too transparent at that point.

I remember my parents telling me it was "change my pitch up, snap my picture!" good vibes 🙂👍👍👍👫👫👫👫

Two fun facts about Mindfields: 1. The simitars you hear aren't actually MIDI, according to WhoSampled, they're actually taken from the soundtrack of the James Bond movie "The Man with the Golden Gun". 2. The song can be heard playing at the beginning of The Matrix when Neo meets Trinity. So both The Prodigy *and* The Propellerheads had a hand in shaping that film! As I said before, I love this record. Yeah, it isn't special from a cultural standpoint like you said, but all the melodies and beats are absolutely the bomb. Narayan also helped me get into Kula Shaker, and I love Crispian Mills' chanting in that track. Otherwise, I basically agree with everything you said here. Great review Tommy!

Seeing you reviewing my 2nd favorite album of all time in my sub box is a pleasant surprise!

i remember asking you to review this way back when your channel first started, good to see you're still kickin'. this album was one of my favourites when i was younger and is part of what got me into electronic/dance music. great video!

My first album I bought with my own pocket money!

Climbatize is such a outstanding track

Awesome shirt, man! Aphex the goat! Maaannngg, Fat Of The Land totally shook up the electronic scene. Would like to argue that is the most iconic big beat album ever made but you got Chem Bros, Fatboy Slim, The Wiseguys, Boom Boom Satellites n Mint Royale is in competition haha. Fat Of The Land feels like a spewing, sporadic volcano the heart of a calming retreat; so many Iconic clashes of unbridled, cumbersome energy and humid yet very pretty refrains. They peaked with making interesting progressions on this one, don’t feel like one song overdue its stay ! End of the day, dunno what’s more iconic: their scrapped kebab album cover or the crabs hahah

If you‘re interested in music production, I highly recommend Jim Pavloff‘s great video „Making of Smack My Bitch Up“. He recreates the song step by step with all the original samples and really comes close to the original. Some of the most creative use of samples ever, in my opinion. Even though I love Keith‘s and Maxim‘s presence on the album, I really think the overly edgy lyrics and vocal samples makes the album seem stupider than it actually is. The production is very clever and detailed and the album deserves to be viewed as one of the greats of the electronic music world Great review as always btw!

There songs being a top 40 hits back in the '90s wasn't rare one thing i miss about the '90s was no matter how weird or left Field the music was anything could become a hit it's not like now where originality is completely cut off

loved this review :D i had the opportunity to sing breathe in a karaoke bar multiple times lol. super excited for invaders must die since its my personal favorite along with experience and the one i have most nostalgia for!

Not my favorite Prodigy album, but it's still great. This album had a HUGE impact on me. A lot of electronic music gems came out around 97-98. And great review Wonky

The message in the CD booklet of the album is actually a quote by Hermann Göring, who was a politician in nazi germany. The Prodigy likely put it into the liner notes just to fuel more controversy.

Regarding the quote in the booklet: it's from Herman Goering, though I remember an interview at the time where Liam said he used it cos it sounded like "the first B-Boy quote". It kind of makes more sense seen in that context: being ready for action.

Still the hardest album cover in this genre period

Absolutely love this album. RIP Keith Flint, Breathe is probably my favorite on the album, however SMBU is probably the rival. Diesel Power goes really crazy in my car too🔥🔥🔥

One interesting fact about FOTL was that it was supposed to be released around late 96 - early 97 but the album was delayed mainly because all of the band members were playing Tomb Raider. The album cover was about to be a slab of kebab meat with “The Fat of The Land” engraved on the meat.

Finally we get to the best Prodigy album (tied with Invaders Must Die) that cuts out most of the silliness and improves the production and experimentation. You will agree. :)

This is the first electronic music album I ever heard!

Ive been waiting for this one

14:35 the funny thing is that the track was supposed to be called "Western Sun", but was retitled to Narayan because of the Chems' Setting Sun single :D

Fun fact about SMBU: It got censored on the recent gigs spawning the two variants: First one: Switch Up, Change My Pitch Up Second one: Change My Pitch Up, Smack My Smack-Smack-Up! with the final drop sample being replaced by someone screaming "mf" Also, Smack is a common slang name for the H3r01n3 which makes even more sense with video.

Yes, I know this is their most acclaimed album on RYM. I'm not sure if this is their best work, but it certainly has great quality and nostalgia.

Edit: After going back and listening to the original 3 albums again...I forgot just how much I love Experience, it is the best album by far (in my opinion). I had different periods when I liked different The Prodigy albums best......now, The Fat Of The Land has to be my favorite because I love almost all tracks. With the first two albums, I only love around half the songs....but my fave 3 The Prodigy songs of all time are not on this album. Music Reach 1, 2, 3, 4, Break & Enter, Their Law....are my top 3 (not in any order). The first 2 because those tracks just make me feel so good inside.....the third because I resonate with the message.

I remember down loading Firestarter.

I need to hear more like this... Recomend some álbums alike please! There has to be more outhere, something that put so much detail into sound and make something originally dancing! I have one... Basement jaxx's rooty The crystal method's tweekend, and legion of boom

I gotta ask you: Do you think the chorus from Breathe sounds eerily similar to the chorus from Come to Daddy? Or it might be just me.

The idea of people accusing a music group where two of its members are black of being white supremacists is also pretty funny

The overall trend in the 90s was the commercialisation of electronic dance music. Eurodance really exploded around 1993 in Europe. The rave scene became more underground and The Prodigy was too big to be a jungle act among others. I believe this is reflected in how the sound of The Prodigy evolved leading to the massive success of their third album. The Fat of the Land is not my favourite The Prodigy album (MFTJG is), but it really put The Prodigy on the music map for the public, especially in the US. My favourite track on this album is the Smack My Bitch Up (I wish Sheila Chandra had agreed to be on it like Liam Howlett wanted) while Fuel My Fire might be my least favourite of all The Prodigy songs...

i actually prefer Experience and Music for the Jilted Generation compared to most, but dear lord does this album SLAP. The Prodigy really went and dropped three absolutely goated big beat/rave albums in a row 👏

wonky slush

Are you going to review Solar Fields - Reflective Frequencies (Remastered)? There are some new tracks added, as well as extended versions of original ones. I personally don't like the new mastering, but new tracks are cool.

Wasnt expecting the butthole surfers to be namedropped in this video!

I think Liam distilled all of the unique bits of them into more straight forward songs, makes for a very to the point record.

🦀

How could a band that was so heavily tied to rave culture be accused of patriarchal tendencies ? Doesn't make any sense 😂

Here before brendawg comments wonky slush

Also I KNOW you ain't talkin' shit about the Butthole Surfers. Who have one album that I enjoy (Independent Worm Saloon) and the rest of the discography I probably agree with you with but aside from that one album I KNOW you ain't talkin' shit about the Surfers!

1st

I call this album The Overrated Prodigy Album. I'm glad to hear you immediately dismiss it compared to the first two. Some good songwriting, but holy SHIT the production is badddddd. It's so hard to believe that one person went from producing Music For The Jilted Generation to this. The one exception is Narayan, which is so good it's astonishing. Totally stands apart from the rest of the tracks to the point where I wonder if it was actually made during a completely different session. The production is much nicer, that drumbeat is incredible, the vocals are catchy and suit the vibe perfectly imo, and then there is the simply sublime breakdown at the end which elevates it from the best song on the album to one of the best songs in The Prodigy's discography.