Prodigy - The Fat of the Land

Music For The Jilted Generation, despite commercial success, was a harsh underground rave statement proving that Essex rave auteur Liam Howlett could transcend the novelty acid house of many of his peers. Fat Of The Land, however, showed a very different side to The Prodigy; the exaggerated punk pastiche of "Firestarter" and "Breathe", with vocals provided by the band's cartoon Johnny Rotten, Keith Flint, proved that The Prodigy were, at heart, showmen. Fat was as influenced by American punk as it was by any form of dance music--demonstrated with a furious cover of L7's "Fuel My Fire"--and such a destructive, passionate fusion saw The Prodigy topping festival bills all over the world. Elsewhere, "Mindfields" and the irrepressibly controversial "Smack My Bitch Up" were brutal techno assaults, but driven by a defiantly heavy metal sensibility. Fat may have alienated the raving "old-skool", but it deservedly elevated The Prodigy to national public enemies.