The Fat of the Land

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The Fat of the Land
File:TheProdigy-TheFatOfTheLand.jpg
Studio album by The Prodigy
Released 30 June 1997 (1997-06-30)
Recorded 1995–1997
Studio Earthbound Central
Genre Big beat[1]
Length 56:24
Language English
Label
Producer Liam Howlett
The Prodigy chronology
Music for the Jilted Generation
(1994)Music for the Jilted Generation1994		 The Fat of the Land
(1997)		 The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One
(1999)The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One1999
Singles from The Fat of the Land
  1. "Firestarter"
    Released: 18 March 1996
  2. "Breathe"
    Released: 11 November 1996
  3. "Smack My Bitch Up"
    Released: 24 November 1997

The Fat of the Land is the third studio album by English electronic dance music group 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. The album title comes from the old English phrase 'living off the fat of the land', which means living well or being wealthy.[2] The band name was shortened to simply "Prodigy" for the release and its singles. While Liam Howlett is generally responsible for the compositions and Maxim Reality is featured on two tracks, this is the first record to include contributions by Keith Flint, who provides vocals on four of the songs.

The album has received critical acclaim and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide as of 2012.[3][4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[5]
Christgau's Consumer Guide (1-star Honorable Mention)[6]
Entertainment Weekly B[7]
Los Angeles Times 4/4 stars[8]
NME 8/10[9]
Pitchfork Media 7.9/10[10]
Q 5/5 stars[11]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars[12]
Spin 7/10[13]
Sputnikmusic 5.0/5[14]

The Fat of the Land has received critical acclaim. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.[15] The album has since gone double platinum, selling over 2 million copies in the US[16] In 1999, the album entered the Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling UK album and was also nominated for a Grammy Award.[17]

It has been featured in a number of music publication lists:

  • 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.[citation needed] It has also been ranked number 43 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime" list,[18] and was included in their "90 Best Albums of the 1990s"[19] and "50 Best Albums of 1997" lists.[20]
  • Rolling Stone included in their "Essential Recordings of the 90s" list.[21]
  • Spin ranked it number 20 on their list of the "Top 20 Albums of the Year [1997]" list.[22]
  • Melody Maker ranked it number 13 on their list of "Albums of the Year" for 1997[23] and number 29 in their 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.[24]
  • NME ranked it number 17 in their 1997 Critics' Poll.[25]

The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album was also nominated for the 1997 Mercury Music Prize.[citation needed]

In 2004, KISS co-founder Gene Simmons covered "Firestarter" on his second solo album, Asshole. "Firestarter" was also covered by Sepultura on their album Kairos, and by Jimmy Eat World on their Firestarter (EP).

The album also caused some controversy. The National Organization for Women objected to the seeming misogyny of "Smack My Bitch Up", though the band maintains that its true interpretation is "doing anything intensely".[26]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Smack My Bitch Up"   Liam Howlett, Cedric Miller, Trevor Randolph, Maurice Smith, Keith Thornton 5:42
2. "Breathe"   Howlett, Keith Flint, Keith Palmer 5:35
3. "Diesel Power" (featuring Kool Keith) Howlett, Thornton 4:17
4. "Funky Shit"   Howlett, Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch 5:16
5. "Serial Thrilla"   Howlett, Flint, Leonard Arran, Deborah Dyer 5:11
6. "Mindfields"   Howlett 5:40
7. "Narayan" (featuring Crispian Mills) Howlett, Crispian Mills 9:05
8. "Firestarter"   Howlett, Flint, Kim Deal, Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, Gary Langan, Jonathan Jeczalik, Paul Morley 4:40
9. "Climbatize"   Howlett, Timothy Taylor 6:38
10. "Fuel My Fire" (featuring Saffron) Donita Sparks, Peter Jones, Ross Knight, Bill Walsh 4:19

Personnel

The Prodigy
Additional musicians
Other personnel
  • Neil McLellan – engineer
  • Christian Ammann – photography
  • JAKe – illustrations
  • Alex Jenkins – art direction, design, photography
  • Pat Pope – photography
  • Alex Scaglia – photography
  • Lou Smith – photography
  • Terry Whittaker – photography
  • Konrad Wothe – photography
  • Mike Champion – management

Charts and certifications

Album

Chart (1997) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[28] 1
Australian ARIA Albums Chart 1[29]
Canadian Albums Chart 1[15]
Finnish Charts 1[30]
Swedish Albums top 60 1[29]
US Billboard 200 1[15]

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[31] 2× Platinum 140,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[32] Gold 25,000
Canada (Music Canada)[33] 3× Platinum 300,000
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[34] Platinum 42,426[34]
France (SNEP)[35] 2× Gold 200,000
Germany (BVMI)[36] Gold 250,000
Italy (FIMI)[37] Gold 50,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[38] Gold 25,000
Sweden (GLF)[39] Platinum 80,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[40] 4× Platinum 1,392,273[41]
United States (RIAA)[42] 2× Platinum 2,000,000
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[43] 2× Platinum 2,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Singles

Year Song Chart Peak
position
1996 "Firestarter" UK Singles Chart 1[44]
1996 "Breathe" UK Singles Chart 1[44]
1996 "Firestarter" Australian ARIA Singles Chart 22[45]
1996 "Breathe" Australian ARIA Singles Chart 2[45]
1997 "Smack My Bitch Up" UK Singles Chart 8[44]
1997 "Smack My Bitch Up" Australian ARIA Singles Chart 41[45]
1997 "Smack My Bitch Up" Canadian Singles Chart 12[46]
1997 "Firestarter" US Billboard Hot 100 30[46]
1997 "Firestarter" US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 11[46]
1997 "Firestarter" US Modern Rock Tracks 24[46]
1997 "Breathe" US Modern Rock Tracks 18[46]
1997 "Breathe" Canadian Singles Chart 65[47]
1997 "Smack My Bitch Up" US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 19[46]
1998 "Smack My Bitch Up" US Billboard Hot 100 89[46]

Appearances in other media

  • "Mindfields" is the seventh track on the soundtrack of the film The Matrix. In the movie itself, it appears in the club scene where Neo meets Trinity.
  • "Smack My Bitch Up" has appeared in films Charlie's Angels, Scary Movie 2 and Closer.
  • 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".
  • "Climbatize" appeared in the pilot of the TV show "Harsh Realm".
  • "Funky Shit" was used during the ending credits of the film "Event Horizon (film)".
  • Both "Firestarter" and "Breathe" have appeared in the film "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle."
  • An instrumental version of "Firestarter" appears in video game "Wipeout 2097"
  • A vocal version of the Japanese bonus track "No man army" called "One man army" is featured in the movie "Spawn" and its soundtrack respectively.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ only CD released from Sony Music Entertainment Japan
  28. ↑ July 1997 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 The Fat of the Land – Charting
  30. ↑ Finland's Official List – ylex.yle.fi[dead link][dead link]
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Prodigy in the field Interpret. Enter The Fat of the Land in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "FinlandProdigyThe_Fat_of_the_LandalbumCertRef" defined multiple times with different content
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter The Fat of the Land in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 46.3 46.4 46.5 46.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
19–26 July 1997		 Succeeded by
Men in Black: The Album by various artists
Preceded by UK number one album
12 July – 22 August 1997		 Succeeded by
White on Blonde by Texas
Preceded by Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
13–19 July 1997		 Succeeded by
Middle of Nowhere by Hanson
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