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Rating:
Talking about music, we can say that the power of memory often plays dirty tricks. On one hand, we adore albums that are objectively masterpieces (Homework by Daft Punk, just to cite my own experience), on the other, we make the mistake of overrating mediocre or merely decent works due to the affection we feel towards them.
The Fat of the Land by Prodigy falls into this second category. Its release is inevitably intertwined with my own life: twelve years old, a Christmas spent with family and, under the tree, a flashy portable stereo with Bass Boost to annoy the neighbors plus the infamous crab, immortalized on the shore of an unknown beach of the orbis terrarum. In hindsight, it's impossible not to highlight the importance of that gift, capable of shaping my tastes and steering them towards the world of "alternative" music or supposedly so. However, a review requires a clear and detailed analysis, guaranteed by maturity and the passage of time (let’s say old age), and that is what I will try to do.
The Fat of the Land was released in 1997, three years after the previous Music for the Jilted Generation, and it represents a new step in the career of the Braintree band. Staying true to their line, Howlett and company change their approach again: if Experience perfectly synthesized the hardcore sound of the early Nineties and Music for the Jilted Generation leaned towards darker, more menacing techno, the third work dives headlong into the trend of the time, big beat, that mix of rock, electronics, and psychedelia exemplified by albums like Dig Your Own Hole by the Chemical Brothers or You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby by Fatboy Slim. To confirm the clever and somewhat trendy move is the makeover of the group members, who present themselves to the public with a much more aggressive look than before (the legendary "wings" of Keith Flint, at the sight of which my parents prayed to God that I wouldn't turn into a rebellious drunk).
Getting straight to the point, we could say that The Fat of the Land is not a bad album: the attempt to renew themselves once again is appreciable, confirming the chameleonic tendencies of the Prodigy and their ability to keep up with the times, especially during a period of great evolution of electronic sound. Nevertheless, a careful listen reveals that not everything goes smoothly and that some flaws compromise the final result.
Let's start with the positives: the duo of "Narayan"/"Firestarter" represents the best and most inspired moment of the album. The first track is a long psychedelic outburst accompanied by the voice of Crispian Mills, singer of Kula Shaker, who doesn’t even hold back on the mantra "Ohm Namo Narayana" in the middle of the track; the second is famous for the video clip that emphasizes the punk and madcap attitude of Keith Flint ("I’m the trouble starter, punkin’ instigator": who hasn’t shouted it at the top of their lungs?), while the production is dominated by pounding drums and obsessive sonorities perfectly crafted by Liam Howlett, the real mastermind of the Prodigy.
It’s precisely "Firestarter" that introduces one of the peculiarities of The Fat of the Land, consisting of the greater contribution of Maxim and Keith Flint in the execution and writing of the tracks (the dancer Leeroy Thornhill, on the other hand, remains relegated to the role of frontman and stage animal). The choice is sometimes spot-on, as in the case of the hypnotic "Breathe", even if the sword samples contribute to making it all a bit kitschy (famous the video, full of rats, cockroaches, and other disgusting things). The breakbeat of "Mindfields" is also interesting, where the pseudo-rap of Maxim takes center stage (shame about the synths, which resemble a kitten’s meow or the atmospheres of "Charly", lacking the depth of the original). At other times, the recipe doesn’t seem to work properly: "Serial Thrilla", for example, winks at rap and nu-metal, complete with scratching, big guitars and a not-so-excellent performance by good old Keith. The instrumental tracks are also not very successful: "Funky Shit" samples the Beastie Boys from "Root Down" ("Oh my god, that’s the funky shit!"), but even today, after twenty-four years, I can’t understand what is so “funky” about it; "Climbatize", instead, is the worst track of the lot, drowned in a boring wall of sound punctuated by horse neighs (or something similar) and avoidable exotic suggestions, style One Thousand and One Nights.
Wanting to save something else, we could remember the single "Smack My Bitch Up", with that Ultramagnetic MCs sample used somewhat inappropriately and that quite incomprehensible Middle Eastern interlude (at the beginning, strange sounds, similar to flatulence, can be heard. Did the Prodigy overindulge in the bean stew?), and especially "Diesel Power", industrial-rap enhanced by the rhymes of Kool Keith. The energetic electro-rock of "Fuel My Fire" is overall good, but we are still talking about a cover (the song is by L7) and, in general, a piece quite distant from the group’s standards (the featuring of Saffron from Republica is superfluous).
At the end of the day, of the fifty-six minutes of The Fat of the Land (a phrase translatable roughly as “wealth” or “comfort”), only a few delight our auditory pavillions, while there is an abundance of unappreciated solutions, making it a clever move with commercial aims, but not entirely satisfactory from a musical standpoint.
The conclusion is predictable: after realizing the inevitable change in my tastes, a few years ago I walked into a store in the historic part of Naples and sold The Fat of the Land. I faced the sadness and melancholy and freed myself of an object undoubtedly precious but turned into a useless ornament, abandoned on a shelf gathering dust (and the flashy stereo also mysteriously disappeared).
Now the space left by that and other CDs has been filled by various records. Among them stand out Experience and Music for the Jilted Generation, which remain the two great albums of the Prodigy. Yet even today I thank the enigmatic crab: if I am like this, in the end, I owe a little bit to him too.
Thanks a lot, my crab. Wherever you are.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3,5
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Smack My Bitch Up (05:42)
Change my pitch up.
Smack my bitch up.
Change my pitch up.
Smack my bitch up.
Change my pitch up.
Smack my bitch up.
Change my pitch up.
Smack my bitch up.
Smack my bitch up.
(Aaaaaa... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... aaaa aaaaaa .......
aaaa aaaaa ..... aaa aaaaa
Aaaaaa... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaa aaaa..
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa)
Smack my bitch up.
Change my pitch up.
Smack my bitch up.
Change my pitch up.
Smack my bitch up.
02 Breathe (05:34)
Breathe with me.
Breathe the pressure,
Come play my game I'll test ya.
Psychosomatic addict, insane.
Breathe the pressure,
Come play my game I'll test ya.
Psycho,-somatic addict, insane.
Come play my game.
Inhale, inhale, you're the victim.
Come play my game.
Exhale, exhale, exhale.
Breathe the pressure,
Come play my game I'll test ya.
Psychosomatic addict, insane.
Breathe the pressure,
Come play my game I'll test ya.
Psycho,-somatic addict, insane.
Come play my game.
Inhale, inhale, you're the victim.
Come play my game.
Exhale, exhale, exhale.
Breathe with me.
Breathe with me.
Breathe the pressure,
Come play my game I'll test ya.
Psychosomatic addict, insane.
Breathe the pressure,
Come play my game I'll test ya.
Psycho,-somatic addict, insane.
Come play my game.
Inhale, inhale, you're the victim.
Come play my game.
Exhale, exhale, exhale
Breathe with me.
Breathe the pressure,
Come play my game I'll test ya.
Psychosomatic addict, insane.
Breathe the pressure,
Come play my game I'll test ya.
Psycho,-somatic addict, insane.
Come play my game.
Inhale, inhale, you're the victim.
Come play my game.
Exhale, exhale, exhale
03 Diesel Power (04:17)
Yo, I used to check out lyrics upon the format
Build with skill with technique. Computer A-DAT
My lyrical form is clouds on your brainstorm
I get hyped think thought flow. Acrobat, sink the track, pump the track
Dance missions,clubs like spores react by. Strong visions
And hurrying more. Reflects on the dancefloor
Flow it up and having now people showing up
Packing crowds jam packed venues
Needles collapse, while atmosphere continues
Sprinkle that,
Winnin' like that, movin'like that, hittin' like that
The melody is phat
Yeah, I'm on the energy source
The cosmic force
With Prodigy
Kicking astrology
My intellect's the power
With Diesel Power
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fanta..
We spin back rewind. Diesel Power
Blows your mind drastically, fantasically
It has to be, automatically
Check it out. You better work it out
Change to another route
My techniques, strategies, abilities.
I leave cords of mikes hanging like spring leaves
You would try so fast. Beyond the human eye
Lyrical tactics, vocal gymnastics
E's and pepped up
You get swept up
Smacked up, backed up, your crew's all cracked up
Checking flow
Quick choose quick
You can't stick
My medical brain's a stranger's angles
You get tangled. Twisting side effects us
Channels repeat, complete. Can't compete
Check that our texture
Mind adventure
Exploit the point
It attracts to devour
My intellectual seed
With diesel power
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fanta...
Back attack
And wack patch you're faxing me
You don't want none
High quality acts should be still standing
Damaging your other manic
Quick reverse
Potent as the first verse
My amplifier blows on your world's higher
World's sire
Cuts like a barbed wire
Record player
I pull up on you every day
Fast forward
I move And I swings forward
Exit load
Put your brain in right mode
Selected mix
The man with perfected fix has lightly bite me
Copy zimmer. Cops' handblocks
You can't knocks some out there
I've been lifting, shifting, persisting
Intelligent kingpin
Keep the strategy
As I roll with Prodigy
With Diesel Power
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fanta...
Mono 706
8073421
Robot sonic
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
Blows your mind drastically, fantastically
04 Funky Shit (05:16)
Oh my god that's the:
Funky shit!
Oh my god that's the:
Funky shit!
Oh my god that's the:
Funky shit!
Oh my god that's the:
Funky shit!
05 Serial Thrilla (05:11)
Damage destructor
Crowd disrupter
Youth corrupter
Every timer
Damage destructor
Crowd disrupter
Mind liner
Every timer
Taste me, Taste me
Succumb to me, succumb to me
Taste me, Taste me
Succumb to me, succumb to the
Serial thrilla, serious killa...
06 Mindfields (05:39)
This is dangerous..
Open up your head feel the shell-shock.
This is dangerous,
I walk though mindfields, I watch your head rot.
This is dangerous,
Open up your head feel the shell-shock.
This is dangerous..
Open up your head feel the shell-shock.
This is dangerous,
I walk though mindfields, I watch your head rot.
This is dangerous,
Open up your head feel the shell-shock.
This is dangerous,
I walk though mindfields, I watch your head rot.
I watch your head rot.
[Pretty much carries on like this all the way thru..]
07 Narayan (09:05)
If you believe the western sun is falling down on everyone
If you break it free and the morning's come
If you would now your time has come
If you believe the western sun is falling down on everyone
And you feel it burn, don't try to run
And you feel it burn, your time has come
And I feel it
You feel another energy and I feel a power growing
You feel another energy and I feel a power grow
You feel another energy and I feel a power grow
If you believe the western sun is falling down on everyone
If you break it free and the morning's come
If you would now your time has come
If you believe the western sun is falling down on everyone
And you feel it burn, don't try to run
And you feel it burn, your time has come
I feel it!
You feel another energy and I feel a power growing
You feel another energy and I feel a power grow
You feel another energy and I feel a power grow
Om Namah Narayana
Om Namah Narayana
Om Namah Narayana
Om Namah Narayana
Om Namah Narayana
I feel it
I feel it
You feel another energy...
08 Firestarter (04:41)
I'm the trouble starter, punkin' instigator.
I'm the fear addicted and danger illustrated.
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter,
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter.
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter,
I'm the bitch you hated, filth infatuated-yeah.
I'm the pain you tasted, well intoxicated.
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter,
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter.
I'm the self inflicted, mine detonator-yeah
I'm the one infected, twisted animator.
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter,
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter.
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter,
Starter... starter... starter...
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10 songs, 10 milestones, 10 seals.
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