Prodigy
Experience

THE REVIEW

Few artists, throughout the history of music, have managed to produce a debut album as impactful and mature as "Experience", the first album by The Prodigy and, according to many, their true masterpiece.

The group, led by keyboard guru Liam Howlett, formed in England in the first half of the '90s, riding the wave of the burgeoning rave party phenomenon. It was at a rave party, in fact, that Liam met Keith Flint, a renowned DJ from the Techno and Hardcore scene of the time. It only took adding the wild and hallucinated MC Maxim Reality and the flexible dancer Leeroy Thornhill to the lineup, and the stage was set: The Prodigy was born, a name borrowed from the first model of keyboard Liam bought (a Moog Prodigy, indeed).
After signing a contract with XL Recordings and releasing a 12", "When Evil Lurks", which soon became a true anthem in clubs all over the world, the band churns out its first album, "Experience" (XL, 1992), an explosive concentrate of adrenaline compressed into twelve explosive tracks, a genuine manifesto of the rave scene and a new way of producing "dance" music.

"Experience" is a gigantic sound cauldron where Jungle, Hardcore, Acid-Techno, Reggae, and Hip-Hop influences become one, a unity sustained by a single objective: the loss of senses and any bodily perception through music.
The opening track, "Jericho", immediately introduces us to a dark and unsettling dimension, followed by the historic "Music Reach 1/2/3/4", dragging the listener into a chaotic whirlpool of suggestive vocal samples, frantic rhythms, and keyboard delirium, and the result is astonishing (in every sense possible). If tracks like "Wind It Up" and "Your Love (Remix)" seem to wink at the more "Happy" component of The Prodigy’s sound, with captivating piano riffs and well-blended Reggae and Soul samples, "Hyperspeed (G-Force Pt. 2)", from its title, picks up where "Jericho" left off: a drumbeat that strikes like a jackhammer and atmospheres dark as pitch, almost urging the intake of "weird" ECSTASY-like pills. The journey continues with the seminal "Charly (Trip Into Drum And Bass Version)", almost heralding the future evolution of the Jungle genre, the epic "Out Of Space", brilliantly revisiting Max Romeo’s "Chase The Devil", a milestone of '70s Roots Reggae turned into a great anthem for mass euphoria, finally reaching the obsessive "Ruff In The Jungle Bizness", a highlight in the entire discography of Liam and his companions. The album ends with "Death Of The Prodigy Dancers", a live track that underscores the band's immense capabilities in live performances (Keith Flint and Maxim are truly stage animals).

A record that marked an era, thus, "Experience", genuine, immediate, and devoid of that alternative-trendy lacquer that made "The Fat Of The Land" the most acclaimed and overrated work of the English quartet. A must-buy with eyes closed.