1996, the year when the last Prodigy record was released, is a long time ago, is what The Duke has worked out. I mean, I don't have a calculator or a flo-chart on me, so I'm gonna have to make a rough guess, but I'd imagine its about three or four decades ago.
It's a hell of a long time. Folks have moved on, is what.
In 1996, for example, all those aeons ago, The Prodigy were among the biggest bands in the world. Word-of-mouth concerning their live performances had seen a whole new audience latch on to their songs about Voodoo People and Fuck Em, And Their Law. An army of folks what listened to Machine Head and Sepultura, folks who would normally puke a lung up at the sight of a remix, these folks were lining up to see this band what utilised the keyboards, synthesizers, scratching etc.
As far as establishing a connection between rock fans and dance fans, The Prodigy are among the most influential sons a bitches you ever did see. It was ok to have Metallica and The Chemical Brothers in the same CD collection, all of a damn sudden. Folks were looking beyond the general representation of the DJ as a faceless programmer sitting behind a mile-high stack of computer equipment, flinging bleeps and blips and all manner of screeching annoyances into the air above a bunch of E-riddled adolescents.
Firestarter was a dance record, and yet it was as exhilarating and venomous as anything the long-hairs released in the same year. Shit, man, it rocked so hard even Gene Simmons saw fit to do a cover version.
I ain't heard Gene Simmons do a cover of Ebenezer Goode yet, although, to be honest, I think I'd pay in essential organs for to hear such a recording.
After they released The Fat Of The Land, the record what had a crab on the cover and held two of the best singles of the nineties, the aforementioned Firestarter and the snarling Breathe, as well as the ever-controversial I Want To Smack You, You Bitch or whatever it was called, The Prodigy decided to put their feet up and do other stuff, like smoke a cigarette, have some sherry, see a film, form a Godawful nu-metal band.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - jesse
The dates on the site about mftjg is wrong, it was released in 94.
About aono:
It's a damn good album but some tracks aren't really on the same level. You will be under my wheels doesn't come close to girls or hotride
By the way
Prodigy was never jumping on any bandwagons. They do whatever they want and aren't concerned about sales, just as long as it rocks their cigar it's good.
2 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Jesse, i thought 92 seemed awful long ago. 94 it is then. Thanks for the heads up.
I don't think the badwagon thing holds up, though. Both the prodigy as a unit, and the individual members, have been bouncing back and forth between wagons for a long time, from the early 90's Techno carry on's, right up to the nu-metal stylings and the Girls track on here. Sure, it could be down to the "growth as an artist" thing, but its odd that it seems to coincide with particularly popular movements.
The one peerless record i think they did was MFJG, a record that still sounds amazing.
3 - Bob A. Booey
The Prodigy rules. They really broke dance music to the American mainstream and had an edge to them that was great. They also were one of the first to popularize hard breakbeats before the Crystal Method and other DJs out there now.
People kind of forget how good the Prodigy was. Even their old stuff like "Outer Space" or their cover of "No Good" was just classic club energy. Fat of the Land was their best stuff and I guarantee you'll get people going if you play Breathe or Smack My Bitch Up even today. There's just not any music like that out there now.
That is all.
4 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Fa, i do wish you'd have elaborated a touch further. Am I a retard? Is it perhaps the prodigys who are the retards?
What does the "retard" refer to anyway? Sexual retardation is a different ailment from, say, mental retardation (although not always mutually exclusive), and i tihnk i could stand for mine brain being questioned, so long as my girth was left alone. So really, you wasted what could have been a multi-pronged insult, simply by not thinking things through.
Must try harder, i'm afriad. Right about now i just can't respect a fella what would hide away behind the Inter-Web and not even have the decency to concoct a thourough insult.
And really, no-one outside of Farelly flicks uses the word "retard". I think, perhaps, its this thing by the name of manners and so on.
Motherfucker.
Thank you.
5 - Eric Olsen
Duker, I am unclear as to what or whom you are responding to. Is there a phantom comment which has evanesced into the ether?
6 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
heh, sorry for the confusion, Eric. Some chancer left a comment consisting of "re re retard", and i felt it my duty to respond.
Of course, justene has got in there and swiped that spittle from the good windscreen of Blogcritics, so my poor attempt at reposte and what not is lost with regards the "meaning".
Apologies
7 - Eric Olsen
Ah
8 - Justene
One "re re retard", I might have left, especially if you had responded. The graffiti-like spread of several such comments across several posts warranted wholesale attack.
9 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
justene, thats grand. After i had written the reply, i noticed that a number of them had been left, so you were right to pluck them out since, much as it pains me to my very soul to relate, it probably wasn't personal.
In fact...(sniff) they probably don't even...know...my name.
:(
10 - Eric Olsen
Justene would make quick work of the Augean stables
11 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
HAHAH! Eric, you're on form good sir
12 - Eric Olsen
Thank you Duker, your appreciation is appreciated.
13 - kerim
i want this cd prodigy-always ontnumbered never ontgunned
pliz...
14 - JJ
Dear critic -- I think you haven't listened to the album enough to let it get under your skin. Okay, so there are references to the genre's roots. No problem here. Great to hear some of these sounds with the addition of Liam H's driving intensity. If this new album doesn't knock you over, you must have been listening to Prodigy all these years for different reasons to me. Don't think so much -- listen, feel. This one is going to be big ...
15 - A real producer
Duke [edited] - obviously has absolutely no idea about music, music production or the English language!
The new prodigy thing is HEAVY! Innovative and just as experimental, forward thinking and boundary pushing as they have always been...
...NOT "old skool rap" - Nu skool breaks.
[edited]
Peace...
16 - A_real_prducer
Sorry mods! thought it was ok to use offensive language given the review.
However, you've taken the whole "feeling" out of my post... what happened to freedom of speech???
would this be ok? -
Duke de -(rhymes with Turd and means the same in french)
or
help youself to a Rmusic Ebook Tbecause Ayou're Rtalking Dlike -(maybe you are a little inexperienced in this subject)
@ mods c'mon I don't hate anyone, just getting my point accross!
17 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
JJ and Real, nice for to hear from you.
First, JJ, you have every right to feel like that with regards this album. There's plenty of stuff i cherish, and yet other folks act like i just shit on thier sofas when i put it on. I didn't like this, i didn't think it was anywhere near as good an album as, say, Music... which had plenty of crap, too, but the good stuff blew the hell out of everything around it. There's nothing on this album which is outstanding enough to justify the rest, even those Juliette Lewis shindigs.
And producer, i welcome your comments and your enthusiasm, and also the (sadly deleted) slur on the good dukes motherfucking name.
(see, you can swear, its just the whole "oi, shithead" type stuff that gets the nasty 'ol brackets)
As to the English language, i'll have you know that i am in possession of at least four or five thousands words, and each of them are used with perplexing regularity in my conversations. If you thought the duke was ascared of a hypothetical connundrum or two youd be wrong, right there.
But you've every right in the world for to tell The Duke he's wrong, is what. I don't have to agree, man. and as for the Old-Skool Nu-Skool thing, if its so nu or whatever the hell then why does it sound like RUN DMC? i mean those guys were about in, i believe, the 1960's or some shit.
Old Scool Nu Skool or fucking high school, if it don't sound good i don't care a toss what adjectives get flung around it.
And to be using the term Nu-Skool two seconds after telling me off about the grammatical affairs is just a downright barrel of ridiculous.
But let's agree to disagree. Personally, i think the album was a huge dissapointment, and the good thing about the whole democratic nature of society, is that you can go ahead and say my view is full of the proverbial, which you did, with some very clever jokes (not being sarcastic - i thought you were funny, man)
But anyway, take care an all.
18 - Eric Olsen
Real Producer, you can criticize a review, you can criticize opinions, you can criticize ideas, but you can't address a personal attack at the writers, such as the good Duke: ie, express your opinion but don't be a dick.
19 - A real producer
Cool, I agree to disagree. But I gotta say you can't call any piece of music "Shit" until you understand the processes involved. I mean, I've never liked brittany spears, in fact "I" hate the music that she is involved with but some of the production (although she has nothing to do with it) is of the world's highest standards so it isn't shit.
However, Some music is shit, very shit, like 5 minutes in the bedroom shit. Most piano old skool, happy hardcore, ALL pop trance, and Busted!
"Nu-skool" is the name given to the reletively new style of production which involves using old style samples and techniques to create a "Then-but-now" feel. because some of the music back then was much more widely appreciated and seemed to generate more feeling, a lot of people can relate to those types of sounds. (maybe because there wasn't much else around at the time).
But let's face it as Producers, The prodigy are, well, Genius. So thier music can never be Shit! Just attuned to a different audience than you fit.
I'm seriously NOT hatin' anyone.
Respect for your respect. Peace...
20 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
real producer, you are a gentleman sir. And it's not beyond my abilities to say that i've learned something from your comments, ie the nu-skool carry-ons.
I still didn't like the record much, but certainly its technically brilliant. I just tend to look for a little more than just the outstanding studio wizardry. Sometimes a bit of the "heart" is nice, too. The Streets, for example. I think Mike Skinner is an amazing producer, but his work has a pathos and a soul to it. The Prodigy's latest just feels empty to me.
I agree with the "nothing is shit" thing, just some folks don't like it.
peace, man.
21 - Eric Olsen
I commend you both on seeking and finding commonality rather than getting stuck on the differences.
22 - Bernard
feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
Thank you for lighting up an otherwise dreary day.
23 - Highfly
I totally agree with Duke
The album Always outnumbered... just sucks.
I'm a very big Prodigy fan but this is just the worst I've ever heard of them.
I thought, f*ck?!? is this The Prodigy??? I just can't believe it,
7 years waiting for this? There are about 3/4 tracks on the album that are worth listening.
Especially tracks like hotride and shoot down are very poor I think.
It's just not like Prodigy...
I think Girls, Memphis Bells and You'll be under my wheels are good tracks but that's it.
I hope Liam gets his ass into the studio to work on a new album which can fill peoples expectations of how it should be, like Smack my bitch up, breathe, no good, break&enter or whatever. That's Prodigy, not this new rock shit with all those unnecesarry shitty vocals on it.
I'm just sick of it
24 - JJ
Hey, I wonder if this is a UK/US difference we're seeing here?
To me, "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" suggests an attitude. It is how you walk the streets alone and not get beat up. It is holding that controlled tension of violence just below the surface where people can feel it and know not to try it on. It is the same tension that is all through the music. Prodigy express that attitude so effortlessly and consistently. Maybe this isn't the same in the States where guns are everywhere. It doesn't matter about attitude or edge, the guy with the gun is going to win. Who gives a shit about subtleties like edge when you can get a bullet throught the chest?
25 - clowdwalker
People just expected much more of it. It's not bad but it isn't at the same level as their older stuff. It doesn't even come close!