The Fat of the Land

Did not enjoy this

After getting Music for the Jilted Generation as album #11 on my journey, I was curious about the follow-up, The Fat of the Land. After listening to it, I'd say they're about the same quality.

There are notable differences between both albums. In the case of Fat of the Land, it's brighter in tone such that more of the songs are danceable in structure. From the get-go with "Smack My Bitch Up" into "Breathe" the rave party vibe is very much present. Adding to that atmosphere is a more varied vocal presence. Whereas before Jilted had the one song "Poison" with vocal contributions, now nearly every track has a notable performer behind the mic, with the big presences here being the returning Maxim Reality and Keith Flint. Both the vocals and the tone contribute to a more palatable experience for newcomers to the big beat scene, compared to the darker and manic nature of Jilted.

That said, Fat of the Land is still longer than it should be. For sure, it's less than the runtime of Jilted, but the pacing bogs down toward the middle with the nine-minute "Narayan". That song tried to add ambiance with the drone and chants but was hampered by its drawn-out buildup and Crispian Mills' flimsy vocal presence. Also not helping matters is that this album ends on a cover song, in this case, a techno version of L7's "Fuel My Fire". It's not bad, but "Climbatize" felt like the proper ending in focusing on Liam Howlett's programming chops.

Overall, I still had a good enough time with Fat of the Land. Between this and Jilted, The Prodigy cemented themselves in the pantheon of 90s electronic music, that much is evident.

Medryckande musik. Hitsen känns igen från svunna tider. Lite för repetetiv för min smak. 3,5 av 5.

I've got to give this 5 stars. It doesn't stop. I think the 2nd half is possibly stronger than the 1st. The singles are classics for a good reason. The deep cuts are great - Diesel Power, Narayan, Climbatize, all top bangers.

This was not really my vibe in the 90s, but you gotta hand it to them: this is a pretty good record. Much better than I was expecting, honestly.

Damn, Breathe still hits hard, a solid album overall.

After using the excuse of keeping an ear out for a delivery too many times I finally listened to this Techno/Electric Punk album, not a genre I like. It kinda felt like really good punk. The tunes were catchy and were produced well and while some songs (Breathe) were so much better than others (Funky Shit – obviously I could subliminally sense the Beastie Boys influence, ha), overall it gelled well. High 3.

It's an absolute icon of the trip-hop genre. For good reason too, it just hits right on every track. I absolutely love it.

Funky Shit was promised and very well delivered. The thing with the big beat genre is that it generally doesn't lend itself to full album listening, and this is no exception. It does get a bit tiring by the end of its nearly hour-long runtime. Take your pick of individual bangers, though, for there are plenty to be found here!

Standouts: Breathe • Diesel Power • Climbatize • Fuel My Fire

This music is pretty fun for about the first minute and then it gets extremely repetitive and unbearable for the next four. Every single one of these songs are triple the length they need to be, regardless of how energetic they are and follow a very formulaic song structure that makes every track feel so similar. The production is obviously meant to be played in a club with a pounding bass, but it was not kind on my ears as I sat in my living room at 8 pm. Most of the lyrics are pretty bad, so it definitely doesn't make the static nature of the album any better. There are a few fun parts and the instrumentals themselves aren't anything short of good, but the monotonousness outweighed the pros. Can't forget to praise some of the smoothest transitions I've heard on a 90s album in awhile, not to mention this being pretty ahead of its time for the use of electronics as well. Very high 2. I just wasn't on enough MDMA to fully enjoy this.

Solid interesting album to dance to or get some energy, it's a bit long and it's obviously a bit controversial in places but it's overall pretty good

I've always liked the cover of this. Ugh at the first track, pick a different phrase. But overall fairly funky, not a terrible listen.

Really wish I could give this one a 3.5. I liked some songs on here but some weren’t my style. Don’t really like the ones where that whiny voice is on it. Last few tracks were great.

Eén van de meest creatieve albums uit de lijst. Kenmerkend is de enorme bassdrum die alle tijd krijgt om uit te rollen en tot zijn recht te komen. De hele wereld kent het van Firestarter en Smack my Bitch up. Het zijn daarmee enorme energiebommen. En daar staat het album vol mee. Firestarter is ook een voorbeeld van de punkinvloeden die vaak terugkomen op dit album. Zelfs dat soort zang is op dit album toegankelijk gemaakt. Firestarter is niet voor niets een grote hit. Al zal de clip hier ook betekenis hebben gehad. Net als bij het heerlijke Breathe een kunstwerk op zich. De genoemde bigbeat en energie zijn de verbindende factoren op dit gevarieerde album. Het start met de kale bigbeat van Smack my bitch up, kijkt met Breathe tegelijk terug naar het vorige album van The Prodigy en vooruit naar dit album, brengt de bigbeat naar de rap met Diesel Power en brengt met Funky Shit de meest uiteenlopende samples bij elkaar. En zo blijft het afwisselen, zonder eenheid te verliezen. En dan is je album gewoon een kunstwerk.

Een zeldzame 10 sterren!

The first time I heard Prodigy was... well, as far as I can remember, it was included in a trailer for CoD Black Ops 6, and then in Watch Dogs: Legion. After that, I met someone who's a big fan of their work. So going into this album, I can say I'm aware of their work as an electronic music group.

So after finally listening through the entire album... eh, I guess it was okay, didn't expect much diving into it. I already listened to the singles before, so those weren't new; the rest of the album was solid, so I give this a... 3.5/5

Ngl might come back for Climbatize a few times... that was an interesting instrumental experience...

🦀🦀 CRAB RAVE 🦀🦀

The songs are tighter than their debut. Still rely on a lot of heavy and repetitive drum beats. Not feeling the vocals on this one.

Ізі 5, класика мого дитинства.

The original crab rave.

1) Firestarter
2) Fuel My Fire
3) Breathe

Least Favourite: Minefields

Really sick album, felt like a ps2 racing game in the best way. Fire album cover too