Customer Reviews

Music for the Jilted Generation

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've got all of Prodigy's albums - but this is their best. Many people have argued that this wasn't Prodigy - but they missed the fact that every album of theirs is different (Experience is hard dance, Fat Of The Land is more rock/hip-hop, and Dirtchamber Sessions Vol.1 is a DJ mix album!) This, however, is simply superb - every other track on here deserves to be a single and on the radio, the others deserve listing again and again until you're asleep...

Break And Enter - despite the 8 minute running time, is by far and away the best track on the album - very hard beats, tough sounds, with a sweet sounding vocal sample gliding over the top - replete with breaking glass and alarms, and awesome kicks starts.

Their Law is the most metal track Prodg. have ever done. Very rocky.

Full Throttle - the closest the album gets to "Experience".

Voodoo People - Good single. Catchy, and fun to sing along to the vocal!

Speedway - goes on a bit, but screams along at a pace similar to the cars in the background...

The Heat(The Energy) - best described by it's title...

Poison - slowest on the album, but still good to chill to.

No Good (Start The Dance) - back to familiar ground. The best out of all the singles that came from this album.

One Love(Edit) - another single, but slightly out of touch with the rest of the album, and I'm not quite sure why...

The Narcotic Suite (3 Kilos, Skylined, Claustrophobic Sting) - is an outstanding bookender to a modern music classic.

The running time - 13 tracks! 78 minutes! - blows away Experience's 12 tracks/60 min, Fat Of The Land's 10/56 and Dirtchamber's meagre 8/51. And the artwork is fantastic - a face rising out of metal makes for a great cover - not to mention the inner sleeve artwork (policemen swarming out from a dark city toward a bridge, and trying to cross it so they can stop a huge hippie festival over the ravine, but stopped by a knive-wielding freak about to cut the bridge ropes, and giving them all the finger! Oops - I've gone on too long.) What more can I say? This album smashed the dangerous The-Second-Album fears of the pop industry by not only being better than its predecessor, but better than anything else pulled off by anybody in Prodigy ever again. This is fantastic - pure technophile's dream. If that's you - get this now.

Easily the best Prodigy album out there, and that's really saying something. All of the tracks are based in energetic hardcore techno, but there's an incredible amount of variety here. Everything from metal guitars ("Their Law") to shattering glass ("Break and Enter") is used as a sample, and all are used effectively. The album doesn't have a single weak track on it, but the true highlights are the singles. "Poison" is probably the darkest track the Prodigy's ever done (**including** "Firestarter" and "Breathe") and it's great. "One Love" sounds a lot like an older rave track, but it works really well and doesn't overstay its welcome. "Voodoo People" uses LIVE guitars and flutes in a breakbeat track that will get you moving like no other. Then there's my favorite: "No Good (Start The Dance)" which pastes together a sped-up soul vocal and a ridiculously intense beat. It'll leave you gasping for air, but in a good way.

What else can I say? The music's the best that the band's ever made, and there really isn't a downside. Even the artwork's a lot of fun. Pick this up as soon as you can - you won't be disappointed.

When I first heard pre-Fat of the Land Prodigy, I thought it sounded kind of dated, and got a bigger kick out of FotL's blatant pandering to the American Rock palate. But even that was a guilty pleasure, as this was the mid-90's, the heyday of IDM, and I wore my anorak proudly. ;) Since then I've lost my fear of straight-up dance music, and I have to admit that this album in particular sounds far less dated than the music Autechre and Black Dog were making at the time. The underground ethos within is particularly appealing here in post-9/11 America, where even having a burger feels like taking sides. Yeah, all the overused breakbeats are here, but like Nirvana did with those same tired old three chords, they manage to build something special on top - it just took me time and maturity to hear.

As for the music itself? It takes me to the same place in my head as Hendrix, but makes me want to dance until all my troubles have poured out of me like so much sweat. There are sonic and melodic twists and turns that no one else in this style pulled off, even though they had the same arsenal of sounds and beats at their disposal. There is so much in this album to appreciate beyond the superficial trappings of its genre (trappings Prodigy no doubt helped make common) that to try and describe its sound is missing the point. Like an earlier Prodigy album title implies, it needs to be experienced.

Jilted Generation is the album of the decade, a fantastic transition from the early rave/dance tracks of Experiance, to contempory gritty rock with an industrial/electronica base. Only the Prodigy have dared to show insight and innitaitive to adapt their style to changing times and attitudes. Any fans who don't like the change just 'don't get' what the Prodigy stand for.

The Prodigy truly is a prodigy.

I bought this album after purchasing "Fat of the Land," attempting to determine how much variance The Prodigy had in its albums (as in, do they have so much of a David Bowie syndrome that every time they come out with a new album, you're not sure if you're still a fan; or do they stay so static from album to album that by the third one you begin to get the titles confused?) The answer, thankfully, is somewhere in between.

This is a true no-appologies Rebel Break album. "Their Law," with Pop Will Eat Itself, is a perfect example of the album's philosophy. Prodigy isn't looking for popularity, or revenue-- Prodigy is looking for itself, in the underground. Some of the tracks, such as "The Heat (The Energy)", were too redundant for me, but "No Good (Start The Dance)" and "Voodoo People" make up for all of it, and then some.

I do not regret purchasing this album, even slightly. However, if you haven't already, I suggest you find some good samples of the music before you buy it yourself. Like I said, this isn't everyone's album. It's Prodigy's.

Having owned this album for 5 years now, I thought I should review it after all this time. Well here goes, it's a great album, it's extremely danceable with wonderful melodies and a very hard edge. It's better than Fat of the Land, but only because there are more songs on this album than Fat. The main reason I love this album is just because it is so tight and well made, and so extremely rhythm oriented, there are no dull spots. Dull spots are the main weakness of most bad electronic music. While a lot of "electronica" goes on too long, becomes self-indulgent or pretentious and really doesn't mean much. Liam Howlett and his gang have crafted a beautiful album that has really lasted for me at least. I can still pop in this and listen to Break & Enter and feel the same as when I first heard it. There aren't many electronic artists than make music that will do that. My words aren't going to really mean much if you don't listen to it. It's not hard to get into, but it's extremely hard to forget.

I 've been a prodigy fan since day one and I can clearly remember the first time I listened to this album. To be honest, at first I wasn't too sure, after all my love of the prodigy was based on the old skool breakbeat of 'Experience' (another 5 star album) and I was only 15. But, as I listened to it more I began to realise just what a monumentous achievement it was. This album gets better with time, and for electronic music, that is very rare indeed. Jilted was nominated for the mercury music prize on its release in '94. Jilted is Liams piéce de resistance, he is yet to produce anything remotely as good as this album. Its dark, its edgy, its loud and its agressive and thats what the prodigy is about. The intro cheekily signaled Liams intention to stay underground and then bursts straight in to the fat chunky beats and breaking glass of Break and Enter, pure class. Everything is perfect, the production, the samples, the 'fists in the air' beats. Its a real anti establishment record. Stick it on, crank up the bass and try and hear all the layers of madness that Liam lovingly crafted onto this record. An audio catharsis, buy it.

The Prodigy is one of the strongest forces in the Electronica world today, and this album shows why.

01. "Intro": this intro is short but does a good job introducing the album.

02. "Break & Enter": this might be the best track on the album. It has a sweet lyrical sample and some breakneck beats.

03. "Their Law": a rebellious track featuring an obscure group titled "Pop Will Eat Itself". 04. "Full Throttle": it reminisces of "Experience" and has some sweet clean piano.

05. "Voodoo People": One of the best tracks on the album. the lyrical sample is all right but the guitar and catchy beats are what drew me in.

06. "Speedway (Theme From Fastlane)": I've never heard of any movie called "Speedway," but whatever it was, it had a good theme! This tracks is slow to develop, but it's great once it's fully grown. I think they may have tried to fuse two different tracks made for the movie into one song here because about halfway through the song, it sort of stops and starts up again with an entirely different sound. Great track though.

07. "The Heat (The Energy)": this track has a muggy feel to it sort of like a smokey underground club and seems to heat the atmosphere when you play it.

08. "Poison": supposedly, this was the hit single from this album, although I've never heard it on the radio or seen the vid or anything. It has hip-hop inspired beats and FX and a raspy voice sample. The closet track to Big Beat styling on the album.

09. "No Good (Start The Dance)": I like this track alot. It definitely has a club feel and a nice lyric sample. It has massive beats to get you dancing and is just a great song.

10. "One Love (Edit)": this is an edit of a song featured on "Experience" and is nice ans short but sweet.

11. Narcotic Suite- "3 Kilos": the beginning of the appropriatly titled trio. It has some jazzy piano and flute which gives it a nice retro feel.

12. Narcotic Suite- "Skylined": this commonly overlooked track is one of the best on the album with nice strings and beats. Also features a seashore sound effext that leads into the next track.

13. Narcotic Suite- "Claustrophobic Sting": how better to end a excellent album than with an excellent track? it comes full with sweet synth lead sequence and eerie feeling samples and beats. This might be the best track on the album.

Well, all i can say is BUY THIS ALBUM. then stick it in your DVD Player and listen to it loud (this is important) and in its entirity. While your listening to it, turn off the lights and turn on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (with the volume off of course) and play Downtown Minneapolis. 78 minutes later your Mind Will Be Glowing!

In this second album, we see the Prodigy depart from their hyper, ultra-sweet techno-pop influences which Experience was chock-full of. They do keep a few of their characteristics, but move into darker territory, focusing on harder, more polished tracks.

1) Intro - Not a song, just a little spoken introduction to the album. Fairly useless, but kind of a nice touch.

2) Break & Enter (8:24) - This long, moody track kicks off the album nicely. Prodigy start out with the effect of glass breaking, and slowly add in choppy beats and a bittersweet female vocal. The only problem I really saw with this song is that it doesn't really go anywhere, considering its length. Most of the time is spent looping the same beat and female vocals over and over. (8/10)

3) Their Law (6:41) - A nice, mid-tempo track with visceral beats and some cool rock guitar incorporated into the mix. Again, maybe a tad too repetitive, but very enjoyable nevertheless. (8.5/10)

4) Full Throttle (5:03) - This is an infectious, dancey track, with some cool breaks, nice keyboard and dark acid, for good measure. Certainly a track to look forward to--reminiscent of many tracks found in Experience, but less upbeat. (9/10)

5) Voodoo People (4:08) - The shortest song on the album, but also one of the best. A catchy voice sample is repeated throughout, followed by big beats, guitar, flute and eventually acid-loops, late in the song. Great song. (9.5/10)

6) Speedway [Theme From the Fastlane] (8:56) - Very long, but it should hold your attention. It's fast, propulsive and beat-driven. The trippy loops and sounds of cars racing by in the background are nice touches. Serene, weaving interludes are also present, adding in some much-needed variety. (8.5/10)

7) The Heat [The Energy] (4:36) - A good track, but at the same time, nothing special. The dark, quick beats and catchy vocal samples are alternated with spacey, haunting soundscapes. (8/10)

8) Poison (6:42) - This is a hip-hop influenced breakbeat track. It's interesting, and is certainly little like any of the other songs on the album, trading the usual catchy melodies for a smoky vocal sample. (8.5/19)

9) No Good [Start The Dance] (6:18) - Best track on the album. It has cool, fast beats and an absolutely awesome female vocal chorus. This is everything that Experience's tracks wanted to be; you'll be listening to it over and over. (10/10)

10) 3 Kilos (7:25) - The first of three final tracks which are a distinct change in style. This one is jazzy, slow and laid-back. Not one of my favorite tracks, but it's nice if you want a little bit of variety. (8/10)

11) Skylined (5:58) - Probably the worst song on the album. It's not exactly bad, it's just not particularly good, either. It's too repetitive and boring for its own good. Really ordinary, with no especially interesting elements. (7/10)

12) Claustrophobic Sting (7:13) - Very good, fast goa/trance song to finish off with. It's energetic and propulsive, with pulsating, psychadelic melodies and an ethereal vocal sample. (9/10)

Jilted Generation completely blows away Fat of the Land, ranking way up there with Experience. Anyone who thinks Prodigy is Fat of the Land, you are sadly mistaken and missing the point completely. Jilted Generation is... liquid heaven, the tunes and phat beats are basically indescribable, and have never been matched since by any other artists, including the Prodigy themselves. Truly their masterpiece ever.