TheProdigy

Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is not to promote the band or to impose my musical views on others. The purpose of this article is to educate those interested in learning about the most successful band in the history of EDM. If you’re tired of listening to Lady GaGa on the radio, this article is for you. If you’re tired of listening to David Guetta at clubs, this article is for you. If you love music with character, variety and artistic integrity, this article is for you. If all you’ve ever been exposed too is House, be prepared to be sent out to space.

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Left to right:
Keith Flint – Occasional vocalist
Maxim – MC & Occasional vocalist
Liam Howlett – Producer, programmer & keyboardist, the creative mastermind behind the band. He is The Prodigy.

Former members:
Leeroy Thornhill – Dancer and occasional live keyboardist
Sharky – Dancer

Genres:
Alternative Dance, Big Beat, Rave

History (quoted from MTV’s World Stage special):
The Prodigy first broke onto the music scene in the early 1990s where they achieved mainstream popularity as pioneers of the break-beat electronic dance genre. They have since sold an unequaled number of albums in dance music history, but it’s their live sets that have made them legends on the festival scene and around the world.

A short introduction to their music:
The Prodigy’s music is somewhat of an acquired taste. If you’re like me, the first time you hear their music you won’t have a clue WTF is going on. To make things a little clearer, their music is composed almost entirely of edited samples taken from a wide variety of tracks of all genres. If you’re curious, here’s a Youtube video someone made detailing where some of their main samples came from.
The Prodigy is one of those bands that don’t like to make the same sounding music year after year, just like any other great artist of any genre. Their style has gone from Rave/Break-Beat to include Electro-punk and Hip-hop. Each album experiments with different sounds. If you’re like me, at first you’ll only enjoy a few of their songs, but over time, you’ll develop a taste for what they’re all about and you’ll start to love their more hardcore tracks. For this reason, I’ll make a list of entry-level Prodigy tracks as well as a list of Hardcore Prodigy tracks.

Entry-Level Prodigy Tracks ‘Easy to like’:
Breathe – The Fat Of The Land
Firestarter – The Fat Of The Land
Smack My B**** Up – The Fat Of The Land http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8phrr_smack-my-bitch-up_music **One of the best videos of all time. Warning: Drug use & Nudity. **
Omen (Edit) – Invaders Must Die
Take Me To The Hospital – Invaders Must Die
Run With The Wolves – Invaders Must Die http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xc7d8g_the-prodigy-run-with-the-wolves_music

Intermediate Prodigy Tracks ‘For dance music fans’:
Everybody In The Place (Fairground Remix) – Everybody In The Place (Single)
Out Of Space – Experience
Their Law – Music For The Jilted Generation
Voodoo People – Music For The Jilted Generation
Poison – Music For The Jilted Generation
Worlds On Fire – Invaders Must Die
Warrior’s Dance – Invaders Must Die
Stand Up – Invaders Must Die

Hardcore Prodigy Tracks ‘Click at your own risk’:
Pandemonium – Charly (Single)
Hyperspeed – Experience
Weather Experience – Experience
No Good (Start The Dance) – Music For The Jilted Generation
One Love – Music For The Jilted Generation
Claustrophobic Sting – Music For The Jilted Generation **The build-up is long but when the song opens up…holy balls**
Thunder – Invaders Must Die

These tracks are by no means all that The Prodigy has to offer. If you like this, get a hold of their albums.

Discography:
Experience (1992) – Hardcore level
The Prodigy’s first album. It propelled them to the top tier of the Rave scene

Music For The Jilted Generation (1994) – Intermediate level
Considered by many to be the greatest dance album of all time.

The Fat Of The Land (1997) – Entry level
Number 1 across the Globe.

Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned (2004) – Hardcore level
Music to listen too in your car.

Their Law: The Singles [1990-2005](2005) – Entry level
A compilation of all of their singles released at or before 2005. There’s a collector’s edition as well (right) which contains previously unreleased tracks and remixes.

Experience Expanded (2008) – Hardcore level
2 disc re-mastered version of Experience so get this version .

More Music For The Jilted Generation (2008) – Intermediate level
2 disc re-mastered version of MFTJG so get this version .

Invaders Must Die (2009) – Intermediate level
Their most recent album. It’s well-rounded in terms of musical styles. There's a collector's edition (right) which includes 3 bonus tracks as well as a second Disc with the best remixes from their singles. It also comes with a DVD with music videos and Live performances from the IMD era.

I recommend visiting Youtube yourself and searching for live performances of your favorite songs. As good as their studio work is, this band is all about live shows so don’t miss them the next time they’re in your area.

Nice little write-up

The cover pic you used for IMD is the special edition version, you probably want to include both but get the airship pic in there.

Nicely done!!! The way i got into the prodigy's music was very similar to this i started with fire (edit) ghost town remix and pandemonium, then some of the greatest hits and then some hardcore tracks like Claustrophobic Sting and Rhythm of Life (which are my favourite songs now )

thanks for the responses, I'll get on it later tonight (it's crunch time for school right now).
LawrenceLawrence wrote:

YA, I got into them the way I listed in the OP. Started with the FotL hits then went up from there.

Since there haven't been any other requests for changes in a while I think this guide's done. If the mods deem it worthy, feel free to sticky it. I wrote this up because I wish I had a guide like this back when I first got into The Prodigy.

I have to say very nice little guide

Firestarter is what got me into prodigy, and I started to love them more and more after every song

i made a slight edit to it - it's only Maxim now, no Reality part and linked the SMBU video to a working video.

Good job its alright

there's a wrong date/cover on "Expanded",because the 2001 issue has a silver cover(or light blue or whatever) and the gold cover belongs to the 2008 issue.
plus the '08 version has two bonus tracks "Android" and "OOS Live".


and hey,the headline could be "The Prodigy Guide For The Dummies"

Majin wrote:


smarty pants

nice guide but an honorable mention to one of the greatest musical pieces of all time is required though: Stand Up

Thanks guys! I really appreciate you all taking the time to read through this thing. I'll get on those changes right now, Stand Up's gonna get added and you're quite right about Experience.

No Good (start the dance) - Hardcore.

Really???

You should change Keith's description to dancer and occasional vocalist.

kie82 wrote:

he USED TO be a dancer,he quit dancing 15 years ago.since then Keith has just been walking around the stage.

so maybe it could be "Occasional vocalist and a former dancer".

there could be a mention of the ex-members Sharky and Leeroy.