You've Come a Long Way Baby
Fatboy Slim
1998
Album Summary
You've Come a Long Way, Baby is the second studio album by Fatboy Slim, a project of English electronic music producer Norman Cook. It was first released on 19 October 1998 in the United Kingdom by Skint Records and a day later in the United States by Astralwerks. Cook recorded and produced the album at his home studio in Brighton, known as the House of Love, using an Atari ST computer, Creator software, and floppy disks. The photo on the album cover was originally taken at the 1983 Fat Peoples Festival in Danville, Virginia; for the North American release, the album cover was changed to an image of shelves stacked with records. You've Come a Long Way, Baby proved to be Cook's global breakthrough album, peaking at number one on the UK Albums Chart and number 34 on the US Billboard 200. Praised by critics for its sound and style, the album brought international attention to Cook, earning him a Brit Award in 1999, and was later certified four times platinum by the BPI and platinum by the RIAA. Four singles were released from the album: "The Rockafeller Skank", "Gangster Tripping", "Praise You", and "Right Here, Right Now", all of which peaked within the top ten on the UK Singles Chart. "Build It Up – Tear It Down" was also released as a promotional single.
WikipediaThis album spans the generations. It managed to annoy me AND a carpool full of middle schoolers.
Sounds like a GTA radio station if they couldn’t get the rights to anything good. Favorite track: “Gangster Trippin”
This man is pretty fuckin' creative! I don't usually go in for electronic music, but the blend of real instruments and truly interesting sound effects and beats is pretty fun to hear. Incredible bangers on this album.
Oh man I forgot how much I loved The Rockafeller Skank when it came out. Really feelin it still. OH SHIT I never heard that last 2 minutes, that wasn't on the radio! I am remembering that my mom did not let me get this cd because of the parental advisory, which I understand now after hearing "In Heaven." Some of these songs are kind of stupid, but they are all fun. I really liked "Praise You" back in the day as well.
(I listened to the original album, not the anniversary edition). Good start, Right Here Right Now is a ridiculous classic. 5 star track. Same goes for the 2nd track, Rockerfeller Skank. Ridiculous. 😂. Gangster Tripping a classic too. And Praise You is such a classic. Absolutely frothing 😂 there doesn't seem any way that you wouldn't give this album 5 stars.
I remember when this came out it was like a new drug had been introduced. People reacted differently to it of course, but many, myself included, found it very addictive. Such a punchy, high-contrast sound. Expert layering/structuring of samples that keeps the fun and excitement up throughout.
This album felt like a natural evolution of Homework by Daft Punk. It was still repetitive, catchy electronica but kept it fresher than Homework, in my opinion. Overall, sounded good the whole way though while still having quite a few standouts, with acid 8000 sounding like a Daft Punk song. Also the original album cover is way cooler than the American version. Fav songs: The Rockafeller Skank, Soul Surfing, Love Island
Who'd have thought we all be sat here in 2022 listening to Fatboy Slim and actually enjoying it? We have come a long way, but also we've barely moved at all, baby. I did enjoy him at Glastonbury 2019 too, but there may have been other reasons for that. Get me to Ayia Napa.
What a fat fuck that kid on the cover is. Grotesque, obese, ugly motherfucker. Can you imagine giving birth to such a beast? His mother must feel physically and mentally ill.
Very enjoyable. An exercise in repetition, and how that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Incredibly repetitive. Incredibly repetitive. Incredibly repetitive. Incredibly rep rep repetitive. Incredibly repetitive. Incredibly rep repetitive.
solid music of the genre, but a genre I only want to listen to 1-2 songs from.
just was not feeling this today. its good but a full album was a bit much.
Apparently, John Terry was one of the co-writers on Rockafeller Skank. I plan on doing no further research to disabuse myself of the idea that this means the former Chelsea F.C. captain. While he had his ups and downs off the pitch, his career on it was first rate and remarkably consistent. Unlike this.
Couldn't bear to finish it. Had mild hope for You're Note From Brighton because the name is silly, but no. I imagine overdosing on a stimulant is a lot like listening to this album
Even when I was a touch zoned put, I was still bobbing my head along. This is a great album.
Ai että, tätä levyä on tullut fiilisteltyä aikoinaan ja paljon. Kotona ei näkynyt aikanaan MTV, mutta eräällä kaverilla kyllä ja muistaakseni myös jollain etelänmatkalla hotellihuoneen telkkarissa pyörivät Rockafeller Skankin ja Beastie Boysin Intergalacticin musavideot solkenaan. Muutamaa vuotta myöhemmin tämä lätty oli minulla kopsattuna MiniDiscille ja kovassa kuuntelussa. Ainakin parin kuuntelukerran perusteella lätty on kestänyt hyvin aikaa ja tykkäsin edelleen. Ei kai tälle voi vitosta pienempää arvosanaa antaa?
Great album with lots of bangers on it. Front to back very cohesive record!
Bangerz!! Only really knew the hits, but man are they absolute choons. Enjoyed the rest of the album too. Makes me really miss festivals and gigs!
A balmy foist of fun and unexpected beats was unleashed to the world in 1998. A beauty
The undisputed Big Beat king and the epitome of bedroom production. Impossible to not dance to it. Too many classics to name.
I know it shouldn't have 5 stars but when I enjoyed it that much what exactly are 5 stars for?
Literally impossible for me to be objective about this one, due to my fatboy slim tattoo and all. I haven't listened to this album in a hot minute though. I know it's very loopy and very repetitive. It's still a JAM. Love Island + Acid 8000 is one hell of a finale.
I've just loved fatbot slim for so long. I used to get pumped on the bus to speech and debate tournaments on songs from this very album. so. uh. let's fucking go.
Definitely makes me want to boogie! Good in small doses, can be a bit on the noise side for my taste
I find EDM repetitive and boring. NOT THIS! Just when it's in danger of becoming boring, he wanders off into something knew. It's a lot of fun, some of those odd, mangled vocals remind me of naughty boys playing with words and fart sounds. It's when he segues into those big beats that he shows his mastery. This is so far above anything in this genre, except maybe Daft Punk.
En ihmettele et löytyy listalta. Muistot palasi nuoruusvuosiin ja ihan yhtä täysii maistui
GASA! Le prime due sono due bombe. L'ascolto in metropolitana è consigliato. Love island non la conoscevo ed è un altro capolavoro oltre 'Praise You'
I’ve heard several of the songs before and liked them very much. This is the first time I have heard the entire album. I liked everything on it from beginning to end. Really fun and catchy! In the Wikipedia page for this album it mentioned that this was created on an Atari ST computer using floppy disks. That’s pretty freaking amazing since this was released well after that computer was discontinued. I love this album even more given it’s classic computer roots!
I love this album! I have, do, and will listen often! It is perfect for the soundtrack to cleaning the house, cooking dinner, or getting your groove on. I mean, if this don’t make your booty move…
I bought this CD when it came out, and it was definitely a favorite. Electronic music can be pretty dull in its repetitiveness, but this is special. There's something always exciting happening in the music and the repetition is actually pretty groovy here. It was so good to hear the whole thing again, it'd been a long while.
I was pleasantly surprised, by how much i enjoyed this album. Usually not my kind of music, i ended up nodding my head the whole time.
23/06 5/5 I've known a few of these songs a long long time ago, and listening to them again made me realize how good those songs are, as well as the entire album. Every song is just a banger and the mix of instrumentals and electronic music sounded so good. I loved this album a lot.
Loved it back then - still love it now. Such great anthems, and good fun from start to end.
Such a banger of an album. Ever track is a total banger and it's sounds as fresh as ever.
This album got me pumped and reminded me how fun it was to be a twenty-something in the 90s. I was a college kid at UT Austin, and the city was still very weird at the time. I remember clubbing & going to raves...so many weirdos, gays & club kids...so much Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy, and Daft Punk. A solid 5 stars for this album.
The absolute genius of Fatboy Slim *chefs kiss*. What a seminal album with some amazing heavy-hitting all time bangers. I was relatively young when this record came out, but all of the singles released were EVERYWHERE, and inescapable. I'd argue that there wasn't a kid in the playground that hadn't at least heard of them - it was all over TV ads and throughout the radio. The Big Beat genre is a perfect mix of electronica, heavy drums, loops and impeccable use of sampling, and Fatboy Slim is one of its masters. Best: Right Here Right Now; Rockafeller Stank; Praise You Worst: Fucking in Heaven
Gives you all the fatbot slim energy and fun you need in life. Right here and right now!
It's just great fun. Big beat may remain my favourite dance subgenre. A mix of hip hop, electro and house that is all about being big, dumb and funky. I mean, the opening four tracks do it all save for giving you a mitsi and the next three days off work. It's almost saddening that 25 years ago, you had Fatboy, Daft Punk, Propellerheads, Faithless and Basement Jaxx all coming up. Now you have Calvin Harris, Diplo and various interchangeable north Europeans who have cornered mainstream dance all spoonfeeding you the warm sick of late 80s/early 90s revivalism (feat. Flo Rida). It could have gone so much better.
I bought this CD when it was released and I still have it. I must have played it non-stop back in the day cause I can still sing along word for word. Love it.
Amazing dance album. This one has always been in my library for a long time. The hits are great but nearly every song on here is a standout to me. Very catchy and fun vibes. Standout Tracks: Right Here Right Now, The Rockafeller Skank, Gangster Trippin', Soul Surfing, Praise You, Love Island
Yes, yes, yes, hell yes. Finally some EDM. I already knew several songs from this album as my brother had this CD growing up, and I know I covertly borrowed it at least once. Forgot all about The Rockefeller Skank so that was a fun surprise.
We're Gonna party like it is 1998. An album that just has fun is often all you need
I didn't knew what to expect from this album, but it is really great. It has a lot of "experimental" sounds that are really good for all the songs. However the middle of the album is very similar, so it could became boring, but even that doesn't mean that all the album is boring. It needs that "something" to be better, but in general is very good
Un bell'effetto nostalgia per quel periodo tra la fine degli anni '90 e l'inizio dei '00 in cui la quasi totalità delle pubblicità usava brani di Fatboy Slim e Moby.
Rockafeller Skank is voor mij voor altijd verbonden aan de zomervakantie en Fifa 99 op de PS1 bij de buurjongen. Right Here Right Now en Praise You zijn meesterwerken van bijna buitenaards niveau. De rest van de nummers kende ik niet, maar zijn gewoon prima nummers. De tracks klinken opvallend goed op m'n headset ondanks dat het geen remaster is. Ik ga een misschien iets te makkelijk gegeven 5 uitdelen hiervoor.
That was really good. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to this album, but I recognized a lot of the song. Also, I thought the lyrics were, “If this don’t make your booty move, then your booty must be gay”. Their lyrics are fine but I like mine more.
Very nostalgic album for me. Good to listen to in full. I may come back to it at some point.
"The Rockafeller Skank" and "Praise You" were the two songs I knew. I heard "Praise You" recently on the radio and didn't know it was FBS and thought it was a new artist, so I think a lot of this has aged well. I especially like the stutter-vocals on Praise You that keeps going for a long time, a technique I am surprised to not hear more often in music honestly. There is a playfulness in the tracks that I really appreciate, it's just fun music but also the breakbeats and DJ-style mixing adds a depth to it. There are some somewhat cheesy 90s sounding acid-techno style squelching synths that feel a bit dated, but this was the 90s. The deluxe edition is a bit too long though, I'd cut it down in half personally. But, that original length album exists, so that's the one I'd listen to as a first time listener. Still really hard for me to rate. It's a 3.5 in terms of enjoyment, but I will round up to 4.
Fatboy slim is so fun. RHRN, Rockafeller Skank, Gangster Tripin, Praise You, etc.
Just really good electro-dancepop that is chock full of earworms and bangers. If I would consider the transcendent music videos, if give it another star.
Real dancey upbeat bops, while the middle blends together a bit the high points outweigh the lows
Always liked this album, but the Chemical Brother's Dig Your Own Hole is probably my fave big beat album from the late 90's.