Customer Reviews

Their Law - The Singles 1990 - 2005

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Do not buy this DVD if you are expecting the "Smack My Bitch Up" video that was aired only a few times on MTV in the '90s or on MTV2 around 2001 when they had a Controversial Videos countdown. This DVD contains an EDITED version of the video, specifically it is missing a shot of the main character shooting up in a bathroom stall, a shot of the character hitting a pedestrian on the street with a car, and the entire sex scene with the prostitute is toned down. I compared the DVD version with the version that I recorded off of MTV2 and it is DEFINITELY edited.

Why in the world this video would be edited completely escapes me, especially where the DVD cover has a Parental Advisory sticker. But it is misleading the buying public (since I would guess most people would buy this DVD for this infamous video). In any case, I have no idea when the record companies are going to wake up to not selling substandard product, and that contributes more than anything to the bootlegging problem. In any case, send a message to Prodigy, their record company, and whoever else was involved with this mess, buy a bootleg of the video and make sure not a penny goes to Prodigy or their record company. Don't be a sucker like I was and waste your money on this DVD.

The Prodigy try to salvage what mass audience they have left to release a compilation of their heydays - and after numerous disappointments recently, they couldn't have released this compilation at a better time. Their Law reminds the listener of the glory days: when the band was able to produce gems like The Fat Of The Land - until Liam Howlett began to lose his touch and released "Baby's Got A Temper" in 2002. And that was officially the start of The Prodigy's imminent downfall (although 2004 album Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned contained some excellent tracks, it had - unlike any of their preceding albums - many tracks that were just simply fillers).

Their Law starts with "Firestarter" - the song responsible for putting the boys from Essex at the forefront of the British dance music scene in the mid-nineties. This track is without a doubt the band's most successful single to date. And why wouldn't it be? The controversy surrounding the song and the music video was enough to send millions of young people dancing around in public sewers whilst it made old people run scared to the opposite direction. "Their Law" follows next - a song that inspired the name for this compilation. The naming is possibly a tribute to this song as it was purportedly meant to be released a single from Music For The Jilted Generation, but was eventually declined. The rest of the tracks proceed very nicely as we are taken on a journey through the bands triumphs - undeniably most of the tracks on this compilation - and tribulations - an example being the third release off Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned, "Hot Ride", which failed to break even the UK top 40 chart.

In short, Disc One has basically got a nice mix of selections from their four studio albums, and gives us snippets of the best of the band's music through the fifteen years that they've been around. The tracks quite obviously missing from this otherwise quite complete collection has got to be "Fire" and non-album single "Baby's Got A Temper". I am not quite that surprised that the latter has been decided to be left out of this pretty much perfect list of punk electronica: it is heavily muted and under-produced as far I am concerned; a single best forgotten to have ever existed. "Fire" on the other hand leaves a large hole in the compilation. It was without a doubt one of the best releases from the Experience LP, apart from "Out Of Space".

Disc Two offers some new material, live tracks and some fairly interesting mixes. The new tracks are nothing to shout about - they are yet again examples of the band's failure at producing fresh exciting songs they once seemed to dish out effortlessly. Metal scratches across tarmac floors and electronic sound warps however all fit quite nicely together in the mixes. Nonetheless, there is still something missing from the mixes that leaves much to be desired. In fact, it will probably have most listeners wondering if much effort has been put into them at all.

I would recommend this dual disc edition to any serious fan of the band, just on the merit of the band's decision to include new (yet mediocre) tracks - which makes it a must-have for any serious collector. But for the rest of us, the single CD edition should do just nicely as it includes most of the band's top tracks.

All that's left for us to do now is to dance to this compilation of re-hashed numbers whilst we wait and see where the band heads to next after this. And we certainly all wait with much anticipation.

This has got to be the absolute best DVD for a band EVER!!! Not only do you get all The Prod's video's (even the banned in the US "Smack My [...] Up") but also live concert footage, behind the scenes of their video's production & other goodies. I've got all their albums and most singles already, & I picked up both the best of CD & the DVD, I'm not at all sorry. Worth every penny(though I coulda done without the naked guy running around in the beginning of the live footage... You'll see)the DVD absolutely captures the intensity of the bands raw energy, couldn't ask for a better interpretation. Anyway, don't hesitate if you've ever been a fan of dance music ever, you'll definately love both the CD & DVD.

Man, what a treat ! I was hooked on this band upon the release of their much acclaimed ¨The Fat Of The Land¨ album so as soon as this dvd was launched I knew I had to get myself this visual document. I already had a dvd of a show of a TV broadcast of a festival in Phoenix in 96 but this dvd is in a totally different league. Main feature is concert at the Brixton Academy in 97; why such an old concert when there are tons of gigs of this bands recorded with good quality ? Because this one is the best of them all; they were at their peak/heyday and presenting ¨The Fat Of The Land¨,so half of the setlist is from that album, which is great, and there also are 3 more tracks from Glastonbury 95, RedSquare in Moscow 97 (watch the ruskies going crazy over ¨Their Law¨ -priceless-) and another one at Pinkpop 2005. All this makes for like 1 1/2 hour of concert with KILLER perfect PCM 2-channel stereo sound, no 5.1, and 4:3 crystal-clear picture feauturing mega-fast MTV-styled editing .13 tracks in all.

The video section features 15 videos of their singles and runs for another 1 1/2 hours. These are super-cool and in incredible stereo dolby digital 2-channel(Spitfire realy put my speakers to a test); it features THE most amazing bottom end I'v e ever heard on a DVD). Most of the videos are in 4:3 aspect ratio which will annoy owners of 16:9 tvs.

On my edition, which is a rare region 5, russian made dvd, each feature is recorded in a separate title that is oddly numbered ¨63¨or ¨69¨ when there aren't that many on the dvd but there are no chapters; every song is tracked but the display won't show it, you have to go to the menu and select from there. I didn't have a problem with that save for the fact that you don't get any info on how much each track lasts, elapsed time, nothing.

All in all a must-have for fans of this band, even the casual ones like me.

I always kind of liked The Prodigy, but never heard that much of them. Latecomer. I like the counter-culture flavor of electronica videos, so I thought I'd catch up on Prodigy's music and check out some vids at the same time, and bought the "Their Law" DVD.
The studio videos are pretty average for the genre, w/ the exception of course of the infamous "Smack My Bitch Up", which is certainly noteworthy, but not my sole motivation, or even a major one, for buying this. It was all good, but I wasn't unduly impressed.
Then I clicked over to the live section.
Now, I'm impressed. I don't have a wealth of behind-the-scenes info (gossip?) about these guys, so I'm left w/ the evidence of my ears and eyes. These guys rock hard. I'm no omniscient music critic, but I feel like this live footage represents some sort of pinnacle for Rock and Roll. Vicious, whiplash dance beats, punky/metallic guitarist, a live drummer, a genius at the electronics end, and two incredibly charismatic and powerful frontmen. And I thought it was gimmicky when I heard about the guy who just dances, but he's great too.
Is Liam a hopocrite? Who isn't? Ideals are great, but they are a construct, not real life. Whoever wrote the title tune "Their Law" poured out their angry heart in those lyrics, and the kids in Brixton seemed to approve. Anarchy at the disco! Never thought I'd live to see the day, but I'm so glad I did.
I cannot recommend this DVD highly enough. Good rock and roll has always been about fun, and rebellion. I doubt you'll find more of either on any single DVD. America needs to wake up, we're missing this historic chapter in the story of a music that was born here. The fact that, as of this writing, there are only eight posted reviews of this DVD says a lot; and the talk ain't good. If you were interested enough to read this review, don't take my word for it; check it out.

Has it really come to this? After shaking up the dance world with Music For The Jilted Generation and subsequently wowing the commercial music realm with its 1997 follow-up The Fat Of The Land, all went quiet in the world of The Prodigy until last year's Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. At least, that's what Prodigy mainman Liam Howlett would like you to think. Their Law sees Howlett rewriting history by `absent mindedly' forgetting to include the 2002 single Baby's Got A Temper on Their Law. Following the release of the substandard track, Howlett scrapped early recordings originally destined for Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned and began again, this time erroneously discarding all tunes containing the input of Prodigy crowd favourites Maxim and Keith Flint in favour of vocals from Juliette Lewis, Princess Superstar and Twista. While it had its moments, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned was a far cry from the apoplectic energy of The Fat Of The Land, thus ensuring Their Law's damage control compilation has been speedily compiled sans new material.
While Their Law unintentionally divides The Prodigy's history into three defined periods of growth, it isn't all bad news. Firestarter remains a thrilling dance rock rush, a freakish chance collaboration between Prodigy beat broker Howlett and former long haired gurner turned punkin' instigator Flint, Smack My Bitch Up (derided by hip hop hypocrites the Beastie Boys yet far less shocking than 50 Cent or R Kelly's pervy output) and massive single Breathe ensure that Fat Of The Land's three volcanic hits are highlights. The surprise success of the Pop Will Eat Itself partnership on Their Law, the Jimmy Webb-filching Hot Ride and the sneery Hollywood punk of Spitfire are all decent additions, although Out Of Space and Charly sound like gimmicky rave artefacts over a decade on.
Fat Of The Land remains their pinnacle - if only for the fact they managed to momentarily be number one in the album and public enemy charts simultaneously - but airbrushed overview Their Law is an adequate catch-up for those that came in late.

Songs Include : DISC # 1 : Firestarter / Their Law / Breathe / Out Of Space / Smack My Bitch Up / Poison / Girls / Voodoo People / Charly / No Good Start The Dance / Spitfire / Jericho / Everybody In The Place / One Love / Hotride / DISC #2 : Razor / Back 2 Skool / Voodoo People - Pendulum Remix / Under My Wheels - Remix / No Man Army / Molotov Bitch / Voodoo Beats / Out Of Space - Audio Bullys Remix / The Way It Is - Live Remix / We Are The Ruffest / Your Love / Spifire - Live / Their Law - Live / Breathe - Live / Serial Thrilla - Live / Firestarter - Live

Definately worth the money to buy rather than to download the individual songs. If you are a true fan, then you'll notice how the songs (most not all) are ever so slightly different than the original. They're labeled nothing special, but it's just a little incentive to buy the album. The special edition is well worth the money, the second disc is full of remixes, b-sides, and live reditions. This one is for the fans for sure. Granted Baby's Got a Temper would have been a good addition, but i'm not dissapointed in the album at all.
Work of art.

Why did they not include "Baby's Got A Temper" ?
I hate it when collections aren't complete.

This album is very good, there is all of the best songs made by the prodigy, the beats are impressive, the best songs are breath, smack my bitch up, firestrater & spitfire. Buy this album, its the best one from the prodigy