The Fat of the Land

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The Fat of the Land
Studio album by The Prodigy
Released	30 June 1997
Recorded	1996–1997, Earthbound Central
Genre	Big Beat, electronic, breakbeat, techno, Industrial
Length	56:24
Language	English
Label	XL
Producer	Liam Howlett
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Pitchfork Media (7.9/10) link Q June 1997
The Prodigy chronology
Music for the Jilted Generation (1994) The Fat of the Land (1997) The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One (1999)
Singles from The Fat of the Land
"Firestarter" Released: 18 March 1996 "Breathe" Released: 11 November 1996 "Smack My Bitch Up" Released: 17 November 1997

The Fat of the Land is the third studio album by The Prodigy. The album was released by XL Recordings on 30 June 1997 and on 1 July 1997 in the United States by Maverick Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album title comes from the old English phrase 'living off the fat of the land', which means 'living well' or being wealthy.^[1]

Contents 1 Composition 2 Appearances in other media 3 Reception 4 Track listing 5 Personnel 6 Sales chart positions 7 References

[edit] Composition

"Serial Thrilla" features a sample of a riff by Skunk Anansie, "Funky Shit" features a sample from "Root Down" from the Beastie Boys album Ill Communication, "Fuel My Fire" is a cover of an L7 song from Hungry for Stink. "Smack My Bitch Up" takes a sample from an Ultramagnetic MCs song, "Give the Drummer Some", and thus the Prodigy invited Kool Keith to do the lyrics and vocals for another track, "Diesel Power." Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and later Pearl Jam, who is falsely credited as "Mark" in the liner notes, is also understood to have contributed samples to the album, though it is not clear where.^[2]

[edit] Appearances in other media

• "Mindfields" appeared on the soundtrack of the film The Matrix
• "Smack My Bitch Up" has appeared in films Charlie's Angels, Scary Movie 2 and Closer
• "Funky Shit" appeared in the trailers for the film Event Horizon and also played over the end credits
• Crispian Mills, who contributed lyrically to the track "Narayan", later adapted "Narayan" and elements of "Climbatize" for his own band's 2007 album, Strangefolk as "Song of Love/Narayana".

[edit] Reception

The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.^{[citation needed]} The album has since gone double platinum selling over 2 million copies in the U.S.^{[citation needed]}

The album entered the Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling UK album in 1999 and was also nominated for a Grammy Award.^[3]

The album was nominated for the 1997 Mercury Music Prize.

In 1998 Q magazine readers voted The Fat of the Land the ninth greatest album of all time. In 2000 Q placed it at number 47 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. Q (10/01, p.46) - Ranked #43 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime." Q (12/99, p.92) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s." Q (1/98, p.114) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1997."

Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.82) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."

Spin (1/98, p.87) - Ranked #20 on Spin's list of the "Top 20 Albums Of The Year."

Melody Maker (12/20-27/97, pp.66–67) - Ranked #13 on Melody Maker's list of 1997's "Albums Of The Year."

Village Voice (2/24/98) - Ranked #29 in the Village Voice's 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.

NME (12/20-27/97, pp.78–79) - Ranked #17 in NME's 1997 Critics' Poll.

The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

In 2004, KISS co-founder Gene Simmons covered "Firestarter" on his second solo album, Asshole.

The album caused some controversy in Britain. Several people^[who?] objected to the seeming misogyny of "Smack My Bitch Up", though the band maintains that its true interpretation is "doing anything intensely."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Track listing

1. "Smack My Bitch Up" (Liam Howlett, M. Smith, C. Miller, K. Thornton, T. Randolph) – 5:42
2. "Breathe" (Howlett, Keith Flint, Maxim Reality) – 5:35
3. "Diesel Power" (Howlett, Kool Keith) – 4:17
4. "Funky Shit" (Howlett) – 5:16
5. "Serial Thrilla" (Howlett, Flint, Len Arran, Skin) – 5:11
6. "Mindfields" (Howlett, Maxim) – 5:40
7. "Narayan" (Howlett, Crispian Mills) – 9:05
8. "Firestarter" (Howlett, Flint, T. Horn, A. Dudley, J. Jeczalik, P. Morley, G. Langan, Kim Deal) – 4:40
9. "Climbatize" (Howlett) – 6:38
10. "Fuel My Fire" (Donita Sparks, Walsh, James, Knight) – 4:19

Japan bonus tracks

11. "Molotov Bitch" (Howlett) – 4:56
12. "No Man Army" (Howlett, Tom Morello) – 4:10

[edit] Personnel

The Prodigy

• Keith Flint – vocals
• Liam Howlett – producer, art direction, mixing
• Maxim Reality – vocals

Additional musicians

• Shahin Badar – vocals ("Smack My Bitch Up")
• Matt Cameron – drums
• Jim Davies – guitar
• Kool Keith – vocals ("Smack My Bitch Up", "Diesel Power")
• Crispian Mills – vocals ("Narayan")
• Tom Morello – guitar ("No Man Army")
• Saffron – vocals ("Fuel My Fire")
• Skin – vocals ("Serial Thrilla")

Other personnel

• Christian Ammann – photography
• Jake Holloway – illustrations
• Alex Jenkins – art direction, design, photography
• Neil McLellan – engineer
• Pat Pope – photography
• Alex Scaglia – photography
• Lou Smith – photography
• Terry Whittaker – photography
• Konrad Wothe – photography

[edit] Sales chart positions

Album

Singles

[edit] References