The Fat Of The Land

because of the album cover all i could think of was crab rave.

The Fat of the Land by The Prodigy (1997) Presented with a British electronic punk album having an opening track entitled “Smack My Bitch Up” and with ‘lyrics’ that simply repeat the phrase “Smack My Bitch Up” eight times (and “Change My Pitch Up” only six times), what’s a stunned but serious listener to do? The phrase “Smack My Bitch Up” is clearly the central, attention-grabbing focus of the song. Well, in the first place, I had to turn it down so my wife couldn’t hear it. Even with headphones, the ladies would be able to tell that “Smack My Bitch Up” was being played (again and again, apparently, since this album hit #1 in the weekly charts in the US, UK, and, well, pretty much throughout the world). In 1997, a lot of women were aware that their men were listening to “Smack My Bitch Up”. If I were playing “Smack My Bitch Up” loud in the car in my driveway, my wife, daughter, and son could have heard what I was playing from inside the house. If I had been playing “Smack My Bitch Up” while pulling in to a gas station, everyone, male and female, would know. I’m sure this happened millions of times, as this album was so popular. Now, writing as one who has never “Smack[ed] My Bitch Up”, I should perhaps merely confess that I can’t relate and move on. But that wouldn’t be fair to the art. “Smack My Bitch Up” does have a pretty cool groove. And the wailing, non-verbal Asian female vocal in the last half of “Smack My Bitch Up” by Shahin Badar is very nice, but it makes me wonder if she was aware of the ‘lyrics’ when she laid down her non-verbal contribution to “Smack My Bitch Up” (or whether she was even given a choice by the artists who were laying down “Smack My Bitch Up”—she might have been somewhat intimidated). Now to be fair, in response to the obvious outcry over “Smack My Bitch Up” (by the National Organization for Women and many others), I read on Wikipedia that the men comprising this band persistently interpreted the phrase “Smack My Bitch Up” as “doing anything intensely”. Think about that. It seems disingenuous, if not outright deceptive. No, let’s call a spade a spade: That’s bullshit. I mean, “Smack My Bitch Up” should pretty well be interpreted as “Smack My Bitch Up”, right? On the other hand, I might have been tempted defend “Smack My Bitch Up” by claiming ‘at least it doesn’t say “Smack My Bitch Down”’. There’s a huge irony in the fact that the phrase “Smack My Bitch Up” is not even performed by the band members. It is sampled from “Give the Drummer Some” by Ultramagnetic MCs (1988), where it goes: “Smack My Bitch Up, like a pimp”. I suppose The Prodigy understood that the pimping in question was being done “intensely”, as in “Smack My Bitch Up? You must be doing some pretty intense pimping there, dude”. This is an intensity that eludes me, and I join with the National Organization for Women in challenging the toxic masculinity that is evident in this work. But we should not be surprised that notoriety is lucrative if it is adroitly monetized. I understand there are other tracks on this album, but we’re out of time. 1/5

OH MY GOD THAT’S THE FUNKY SHIT

Little-known fact: the biggest single event in history to contribute to climate change was the Great Co2 Emission of 1997, in which every angsty, rebellious teenage girl in the world burned her Nine inch Nails and Type O Negative posters to make room for Prodigy ones. haha fuck, can you imagine being the parent of a shitty teenage kid and seeing this come on TV on a saturday morning? Imagine that sinking feeling in your stomach as you listened to this scungy UK techno dog shit and watched Keith Flint jump around like the degenerate he was, just knowing that your horrid adolescent turd is going to latch straight onto this and start looking like it by the end of the week. And you're helpless to stop it, you can only watch and silently scream. Wouldn't you just want to kill yourself there and then? 3/5 though, cause I was one of those shithead teenagers who thought the Prodigy was pretty rad haha. The album goes for too long, all scungy UK rave techno does, but the singles are still bangers.

Seminal big beat album that would influence electronic music for years to come. Tracks are among the most impressive pieces of electronic music I've ever heard, succeeding in making such a hard abrasive sound work so well. The three top hits are masterpieces. "Narayan" and "Climbatize" are just as impressive in demonstrating Liam's immense talent. The other songs are all great, with plenty of variation to keep anyone engaged in any song. The tracks are spread out in a way to keep the flow going uninterrupted. There are no out-of-place or drawn-out tracks. There's no way I could give this album anything less than a perfect score.

They blended electronic with rock not the first to do it but the first to do it well. Every song here is a banger. Every song something new and exciting sounds as awesome as it did at the time and blows a lot of contemporary music up.

This album was pretty great. Ultimate example of the rave sound of the 90s. Not really my thing musically so I didn't want to give this 5 stars but I have to. It's as good as anything I've heard so far.

This album held up well. I actually gave it 2 listens. I remember being more drawn to the aggro tracks like Firestarter as a younger man, but I enjoyed the others more this time around. Also got way more of the sample references and the strong Kool Keith influence this time. Probably still more partial to Jilted Generation (2nd album) but damn Breathe is a killer track.

Got a long drive to do through the night? This will keep you going. From the halcyon days of acid house and all night parties in unknown locations. This will take you back there.

I bought this on the day of release and loved it immediately. This album easily makes its way into my personal all time top ten, and is unlike any of the other nine. I still get chills listening to this today, it puts me into something of a daze like I'm hypnotised. There are very few albums that can take me out of my mind and make me lost amid the sounds. This does it effortlessly, no matter how many thousands of times I've listened.

Wow, so all those came from this album? It is a headbanger. This took me way back.

Singles like Firestarter and Breathe evoke really pleasant memories of 1997 and being a teenager etc etc. But beyond the nostalgia, this is a really good album. Techno and electronics are not a genre I would normally listen to, but messrs Howlett, Flint and Maxim recorded some timeless music. Catchy tunes, great vocals superb production and arrangements plenty of gusto. Love it. Also, hadn't played this in ages, so was nice to hear it again!

One of the best The prodigy albums. Music is driven, fast and enjoyable.

Psycho-somatic addict-insanely good!

An immense album of beats and aggressive electronica. "Breathe" is the nearest "dance" has got to the Sex Pistols...brilliant stuff. Play it loud, ignore the neighbours, destroy a room.

There's an enjoyable song on this album. The problem is that they play it 10 times with different names.

Hit after hit, sound of the 90s

Great

This is definitely phat. This is such a brilliant album - big, aggressive, moody. It’s a great techno album that throws in influences from metal, hip hop, jungle and makes a massive sound. Back in the day, you could drop Firestarter or Breathe into the set of any club night - indie, house, rock, whatever - and the place would go nuts. RIP Keith.

To me, the prodigy has always seemed like joke music for speed freaks. Giving it a chance, I found that it actually slaps pretty hard. Some of the vocals are still embarassing to me though. Strong 3.

Packed with interesting synths and samples. Relentless, banging, and kind of wearing after a while. EVERYONE IS SHOUTING and ALL THE SOUNDS WANT TO BE IN THE FOREGROUND and HERE'S ANOTHER ANGRY MAN SHOUTING WITH A FIZZING SYNTHESIZER

Oh Yes.

Energizing music to rave to

Feel like I am watching a 90s piracy ad while listening to this. Wasn’t all that impressed but it is nice to turn on to get work done.

A whirlpool of mind bending rocket fuel that spins you inside out and leaves you dripping with an urgent sense to fuck anything in front of you. A crunched up volcano at the point of climax, pulsating and throbbing, ready to culminate all over your brand new shoes. It's the entire Chelsea first team and backroom staff jizzing all over your chest on a Tuesday afternoon.

I had this CD... In the late 90's early 2000's that meant a lot...

Banging basslines which are hard to resist doing firestarter-esque head bangs throughout.

Great one

I was obsessed with this album for about two weeks in 1999.

Awesome album. Loved the way the tracks flow into each other.

Still ridiculously exciting, energetic and fun. Nobody is condoning beating up women - it’s a song title. Great mid 90s electronic music and mixed with rock instruments for the indie/alternative rock crowd - real electro-punk. They were a truly awesome live act. A brilliant experience and memory of seeing them at Park Des Princes in Paris in 1997.

I must have absorbed this record by osmosis in 1998, because I knew every single one of these songs. (Does math) …so that means I’m good on listening to this album again until 2048.

If getting stoned and going to clubs is your thing, then this is the album for you. I don't enjoy either, so that's it for that.

This album was crap but the five stars is to remind myself I have brat a perfect score

Bangers

Okay now this I really dig. Haha surprise surprise I like the electronic-y album and band. I dunno who these dudes are and maybe that’s stupid of me bc they have 4mil monthly Spotify listeners it seems! But I liked this. made me think of the film scores I like by Trent reznor and Atticus Ross combined with the soundtrack to ATV Offroad Fury 2 on the ps2 which I played a lot as a child.

Part of my childhood!

Firestarter was my first introduction to the Prodigy as they were active in the period from my marriage to the birth of the third of 3 children up to this. Although quite up to date with music in the 90s I wasn’t a dancer or rave attender so completely missed this type of music up to about 1997 when it sort of had its mainstream moment. Only bought Jilted in the noughties (which still took a bit of getting in to for me) and never owned tFotL. So? Well this is a wonderful album, such energy and verve. So much of it has been assimilated into the mainstream since then that it maybe doesn’t sound quite so so extraordinary but it really is such a tour de force. I don’t give many 5/5, but this is one of those.

Some good music for programming. This genre is the reason Hackers is so fun.

Fav: Narayan Least Fav: Diesel Power

Buzzy british dj album. Reall good

Not ahead of its time - the dominator of its genre and era. Albums mixing is world class, and the pacing is a masterclass in how to keep you hooked and hyper with a breather or two when needed. Just when you think it might be in 8 out of 10 as narayan (not a filler song, but not a star like most the others on the track) fades out, firestarter kicks in at full blast and reminds you that it will kick your teeth in if you even think of giving this album less than a 9/10 or 5star.

already listened

10 Years old when this came out and I saw the Firestarter video on MTV, I still want that reverse mohawk haircut. This is a good record, very unique in the way it is electronic/dance style music but feels more punk than anything.

If this album doesn't make you want to pull a rail of the dirtiest coke/meth you can find in the worst part of England, I don't know what's wrong with you. I'm gonna give this one 5 stars, because for it is the platonic ideal of what it is. There's no making an album more this than this--if that makes sense. It feels like the future in which the worst has happened. So it seems like we're all on track to living in a Prodigy soundtrack. This from start to stop relentlessly executes its near singular visual. But, for real this fucks. It kicks all kind of ass. Breakbreaks, disgusting synths, high BPM, thrusting, violent dance songs. It feels like an album to fuck or to kill to. Maybe both. Heaven help us.

Score: 90 Album art: 100 Ocean man Kind of crazy to think a song called smack my bitch up that sounded like this was ever a hit song. This music was ahead of its time and not very many people were ready for it. The dark and industrial grooves are more mainstream now, and im sure this album helped usher in those types of sounds. Not every single moment of every track is perfect but it's super fun to listen to. The production is insane too. Also there's a crab

Raveros y rompedor, es uno de los discos de mi pandilla, forma parte de nuestra historia. Y además es muy bueno.

This is the album that I think of when someone mentions "industrial-electronica". One of the best and deserving to be on the list.

A perfect blend of danceable rhythms and aggressive energy. The Prodigy hits a lot of the same great points as The Chemical Brothers on Dig Your Own Hole, but The Fat Of The Land is distinctly more hardcore with it's occasional acid basslines and industrial influence. Starts strong and ends strong, with a strong middle to boot. Basically this is a strong album, nothing else can beat that damn crab.

Smack my bitch up, firestarter and breath are absolutely great tracks in the genre. The rest of the album was decent. Will probably give it another listen and come back round to it. Mindfields i enjoyed. I think i would have said this was a solid 3 or high 3. But ive heard some very crap or average albums on the list recently. It makes me think the 3 classics pull this album up to a low 4 in comparison to what ive had.

English? Own a trench coat? Been on the wrong side of a few drug deals? This album is for you.

I'd never really listened to this album all the way through before for some reason, despite loving 'Music for the Jilted Generation' as a kid. There's plenty of banging tracks outside of the big singles, although they don't all hit. In terms of quality and consistency I think someone like the Chemical Brothers were way better, but this is still decent and I'm pretty there for it. 3.5 rounded up.

Go on, Bort, you big raving crab. Episode 7. Scott books flights to Thailand in a desperate attempt to try and find an animal sanctuary that he's still allowed to visit.

great. i forgot how much energy it contains.

Nostalgia maybe? There are some really good tracks in there.

In contrast to other 90s dance albums we've had, this is very listenable probably because it follows traditional rock formats pretty closely. Not a million miles from a clattery, electro heavy metal at times. There's a huge dose of nostalgia at play here, but Breathe, Firestarter, Smack My Bitch Up and, especially, Diesel Power (adding another Kool Keith appearance to recent listening on this app) absolutely rule.

Two lead man suicide bands in a row... I checked out some Prodigy when Keith Flint killed himself a few years ago and I liked it. Dangerous, edgy 90s shit. Industrial, dirty, but still some polish to it. It may sound like you're in a club in the Matrix but it's cool.

Started good, but I am definitely not into Narayan, which is nine minutes long and in the middle.

Was already a fan of the first track and the rest of the album held up pretty well

This was fine. Nice to paddle my kayak to.

Newgroundscore

I liked this way too much for something that sounds like the musical equivalent of JNCO jeans with lyrics that read like those memes your unhappy/unsuccessful friends post on Facebook. I’ll probably never listen to this again, but a Solid 3.

Même si j'ai étrangement plutôt apprecié la musicalité offerte par cet album, j'ai en revanche était bien moins conquis par le choix artistique de The Prodigy. Pourquoi avoir choisir un aquarium comme lieu de deroulement de cet album? Et pour cause: on se retrouve très rapidement trempé en lançant l'album, la faute à une immersion des plus totales dès les première secondes. Il devient très vite impossible de respirer. De plus, de multiples animaux marins viennent déranger notre concentration pendant l'écoute, ce qui au bout du 5ème crabe me chatouillant les pieds, a commencé à me taper sur les nerfs. Pour toutes ces raisons, l'album de recoltera qu'un 3/5.

6/10. it got really samey but the production was nice. sounds exactly like it'd be on a Fast & Furious action sequence, which made it kinda funny to listen to while driving around in traffic in Jack's '01 Camry

Eh, not my cup of ramen and I just don't get electronic music with a cockney accent repeating the 3 to 4 lines written for each song.

“You wouldn’t steal a car…”

There were one or two classics that I remember from when I was younger, but the overall sound is not my thing.

The Fat Of The Land est l'histoire d'une romance impossible entre un crabe hypermétrope et un bulot transgenre homosexuel. Cette tragédie sur fond marin nous plonge dans un merveilleux univers aquatique où trahisons et mensonges rythment une histoire d'amour gâchée par de vieilles rivalités familiales. La scène finale dans laquelle le bulot transgenre homosexuel se laisse couler bouche béante vers les abysses sous le regard impuissant du crabe semi-bigleux est à classer parmi les plus émouvantes du genre.

Didn’t like it

nope

Brilliant Album

Probably one of the most iconic albums of the past 30 years? Yeh probably. High 5.

I always thought the saying was The Fat Of The Lamb but anyway. This is a great album full of energy and some kick ass beats. Faves: Smack My Bitch Up, Breathe, Firestarter, Narayan

Big nostalgia bump here - insta-5! At the time of reviewing, the second most popular review is a multi-paragraph pearl clutching session about the song "Smack My Bitch Up"- click through to their profile and immediately see they've given real life wife beater Eric Clapton 5 stars. Good stuff. 👍 Fave tracks - as is my custom when it comes to the Prodigy, I tend to prefer the tracks that get a little bit trancey, so "Narayan" and "Climbatize" from this one...

F***ing banger

I forgot how much I enjoy this sub genre. Rock with heavy edm/electro influence.

Been lucky enough to see The Prodigy live at a festival and was probably the best live music experience I have ever had.

Peak 90s rave. I imagine seeing The Prodigy in a big warehouse in the 90s is probably one of the greatest experiences you can have as a human being.

All gas no brakes. Forgot how good this whole thing is, every song is great.

Great!!!

Masterpiece

Great. Love it.

Took me right back to my 20s listening to this. Frickin’ awesome!

How has this slipped off my playlist...Immense

This album is fucking tits! It is so good and I had heard of prodigy before but i definitely regret only discovering them now. Wow this album is so much fun and it’s fast. Super fun dance album but also like a perfect 90s hacker movie score. I wish I had a better way of describing how great this album is, but trust me if you like electronic music or dance music, you will adore this album!

Along with The Chemical Brothers' *Dig Your Own Hole", *The Fat Of The Land* is the *other* key big beat LP released in 1997. Liam Howlett first ground his axe taking part in the early nineties rave party scene, but he soon understood that he had to infuse rock tones and hip hop breakbeats in his "techno" music to really make a difference and affect popular culture. And thus, "big beat" was born. And so, very logically, a couple of years later, Howlett and his partnering vocalists (both from within the band, and from without) recorded this album -- not only The Prodigy's magnum opus, but also an important LP to understand the evolution of British electronic music at large. Younger folks might not be aware of this, but the iconic cuts from this album ("Smack My Bitch Up", "Breathe", "Firestarter", "Diesel Power", the Beastie Boys-sampling "Funky Shit") were heard everywhere at the time. But more crucially, those beats are still sounding BIG today, not pun intended, just like those mean basslines. And this even if "big beat" is 100% out of fashion almost three decades later Compared to *Dig Your Own Hole*, *The Fat Of The Land* is admittedly less adventurous (and maybe a little formulaic). Yet it's also a *tighter* affair, especially on side one. Just like for the Chemical Brothers' LP, there is kind of a soft underbelly in the middle of the tracklist, but that underbelly still yields a lot of lively moments, and so comes off as less underwhelming than its equivalent in *Dig Your Own Hole*. And as soon as *Firestarter* surges to your ears, you're back to the intensity level at the start of the album, and the latter keeps on grabbing you until the very end, thanks to the amazing "Climbatize" and that L7 cover closing the proceedings on a surprisingly full-punk-rock note. The punk influence cannot be underestimated indeed. One of the main assets of this record is how "dangerous" it sounds. Plus, there is something very "cinematic" to that sense of danger. Hence why *The Fat Of The Land* manages to remain fresh in 2024, in spite of the way electronic aesthetics have evolved so far from it since 1997. Style is often not enough anyway. To light a fire, you also need a very personal spark. Guess Howlett and company had it in them. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 5. 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 4.5) Number of albums left to review: around thirty or twenty, as I've gone over the 1000 line and this generator is including albums from all editions of the book. Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 463 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 276 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 334

el classico

i love love love love love love love love love love love love the prodigy and this album

Strong 4.5 for me, especially blasting at night with the boys. Hard, groovy, and fat

High octane from start to finish. A classic.

What an amazing way to end the week.

That was fucking lit. Felt like I was in a video game

My favourite edm album yet I think. Soooo much fun. You feel so edgy and untouchable listening to this, I'd love to be at a party in the 90s playing this hahaha. Desperate to know why this is the album cover tho. Iconic, just confusing

Beautiful !

Five stars all the way. Killer tracks from start to finish. The cover is super cool too. RIP Keith Flint.

Still good! Thought I'd be emberassed by it since this was my era, but I ended up feeling charged up.

♥️

This is an awesome album. So much energy and angst! Chocked full of bangers. Although I wasn't really into it when it first came out, its been on high rotation for perhaps the past 20 years?

Every year at the all girls school I went to the senior students would organise and supervise dances with our brother school, and at one memorable formal in '97 the only CD they had was the single for Breathe - so they just played it on repeat for 30 mins until someone finally rocked up with more music - lots of people complained, but I loved it! Pretty good for dancing to, probably a bit less good for dry humping to - which seemed to be mostly what we were trying to get up to at those dances! This was the beginning of high school and the blossoming of my eclectic music taste (and being eclectic in general?)! I loved watching the couple of music videos that were on Rage pretty regularly at the time - Breathe and Firestarter, they were just so different from the kind of things I'd seen before - RIP to Keith Flint, one of a kind I adore this whole album and its still on regular rotation nearly 30 years later! Big nostalgia! Too hard to pic a fave from this album, but my top three would be Minefields, Funky Shit and Fire Starter I'm a bit surprised by the global rating on this one!

Banging album