For many heads, the Prodigy’s Experience served as a gateway
drug to deeper and more cerebral electronic music. That 1992 album
captured and condensed the ultravivid rush of the e-levated rave
euphoria, embodying the peak-time energy when hardcore was getting
comfortable with an absurd level of happiness and the “Amen” and
“Apache” breaks were achieving new heights of acceleration and
convolution.
But who could maintain the pace of Experience‘s nonstop
thrills? Who can dance for a dozen hours every weekend for years on
end? Eventually fast-twitch muscles slacken, smiles become harder to
maintain, pitched-up divas and hyperspeed piano riffs pall, and you
seek more refined pleasures.
Of course, the Prodigy “matured” and diverged after
Experience, coming with the more somber and varied Music for
the Jilted Generation in 1995. To many fans, this is the Prodigy’s
peak. Creative mastermind Liam Howlett and his bandmates Keith Flint,
Leeroy Thornhill, and Maxim Reality became politicized, turned elation
into confrontation, and got funkier and less manic. “Voodoo People” and
“Poison” most exhilaratingly bridge their earlier fidgetiness and their
mid-period preference for funky breaks.
The Prodigy’s next full-length, The Fat of the Land,
shot them into the homes of millions of Americans, thanks to the
pyromania-inspiring “Firestarter” and the feminist-baiting controversy
over “Smack My Bitch Up” (whose title/chorus comes from Ultramagnetic
MCs’ “Give the Drummer Some”). The flagship title of the great 1997
“electronica” takeover (not), The Fat of the Land often
comes across like Johnny Rotten fronting the Chemical Brothers—a
brilliant idea that is only fleetingly realized on record.
The less said about 2004’s Always Outnumbered, Never
Outgunned and the new Invaders Must Die the better. They
present the sad spectacle of a talented producer desperately,
ham-fistedly grasping for commercial success. Invaders Must Die finds Howlett combining bombastic video-game electronica with mook rock
geared for tweens. Not even Dave Grohl’s drumming can save this one.
Invaders is what happens when the ecstasy comedown leads to
suicidal tendencies.
Only thing left for the Prodigy to do now is to link with Marilyn
Manson and Insane Clown Posse for the “Ready, Suckers? We Are Going to
SHOCK You!” tour. Oh, the agony. 
Ah so true, so true on all points.
I caught them live right around Experience … and it truly was. One of the most memorable nights of my teenage life. And ‘Jilted’ the album was their mindblowing pinnacle.
Now? They just need to go away already.
The worst review of this record i have ever seen. The boys are still firing up the crowds everywhere- and have got better. The reviewer clearly has a distaste for the band for the get go. ‘Invaders Must Die’ brings out everything that is great about the band.
The worst review of this record i have ever seen. The boys are still firing up the crowds everywhere- and have got better. The reviewer clearly has a distaste for the band for the get go. ‘Invaders Must Die’ brings out everything that is great about the band.
Dave Segal Must Die
so you want cheese filled rave? go build a fucking time machine then.
Whoa, hateration from the anonymous peanut gallery.
I always thought Prodigy’s main appeal was aimed at the lowest common denominator audience, but what sets them apart from their peers in the various eras of their history is that they’ve done it really well. That being said, I’ve always thought they were a few years ahead of the curve of giving teens and frat dudes music to get pumped up to. Songs like ‘Their Law’ clearly predated the rap rock mookery of Woodstock 98 while ‘Spitfire’ and ‘Girls’ predated the overdriven Ed Banger synthesizer sound that would take over electronic music for 9 months. I imagine music from ‘Invader Must Die’ will point the way to a new form of “dumb” music: ‘Warrior’s Dance’ sounds like a futuristic workout song to me.
I don’t think the Prodigy’s output has been very good in the last decade, or arguably ever, but they are very good at amping up their audience and being the harbinger for new sounds. There are a LOT of missteps in their last two albums and the filler definitely detracts from some surprisingly thrilling singles.
…Prodigy live is crap though. Have you seen the DVD of their live show? It’s a fucking joke.
Yup, lame review. More interestingly though-does anyone know WHEN prodigy will be showing up at Wamu tomorrow night? I am ashamed to say that I can’t dance from 8-4am anymore so am trying to find the most strategic time to go. 12-4? 10-2? Any thoughts?
@6: You make some good points, but you miss a biggie. Prodigy, pre-“Firestarter”, was the finest example of the music of urban britain in the early 90s. It seemed awesome at the time, but like all these things hasn’t exactly stood the test of time. If you weren’t in on the fun at the time, you’re probably not gonna get it now.
Being reinvented as “punk” so records could be sold to drunk frat boys types across the world… sigh. And the worst part is their live output was once the best new thing. Now they’re just this lame rock caricature …
@8:
Good point, I can never fully see the British context for the people who lived it in real time. Even as a highly impressionable youth before ‘Firestarter’ as an American seeing the Prodigy slither around in the video for ‘Poison’, I always lumped them in with the tons of musicians testing the goth waters for slightly more record sales (*cough* David Bowie *cough*). They were honestly pretty goofy to me and they never seemed urban in the way early jungle or 90s rap records were to me.
And to their credit, I don’t think the Prodigy really could have anticipated how people would react to ‘Firestarter’ – in retrospect it’s very much a clumsy reinvention of punk, but at the time it didn’t seem too out of place. I don’t think anyone could have known that having a punk-ish hip-hop aping electronic group of one person, some bad singers, and a full-time dancer could ever be a Top of the Pops act.
The haters are always the most vocal.
PS. Anybody who uses the term ‘electronica’ knows little about music and the production of music.
Great review, Segals. I miss that vitriol. And I loved commenter 10’s postscript. Haha.
Haterade – Is it in you?
Yeah Dave, “they have got better”- take it easy on the poor little fellas. You so jaded.
Hehehe, right on. I saw Prodigy in ’96 and they played “Firestarter” twice. Suckas. You could not pay me to be at USC 1200 or whatever tonight. And I do dance for hours every weekend, for years.
Peace and love, even to the Prodigy lovers.
I suppose this hits the crux of a problem reviewing music. As the music changes, it’ll grab new fans who don’t care how they sounded 10 years ago. When they lose that ‘groundbreaking’ edge, it’s easy to say that they’ve gotten worse, but you’re gonna get slammed by those young ‘uns who are into them NOW.
I mean, kudos to them for going out and doing what they do, but my first experience with ’em was Music for The Jilted Generation (then going back to Experience), and after that, Fat of the Land (and all following) was a letdown. Just let me put “Their Law” on repeat, and I’ll happily ignore everything since.