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The Fat of the Land

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For the short story by P. G. Wodehouse, see The Fat of the Land (short story).

The Fat of the Land
Studio album by
the Prodigy
Released30 June 1997 (1997-06-30)
Studio
Genre
Length56:21[4]
Label
ProducerLiam Howlett
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
  1. "Firestarter"
    Released: 18 March 1996
  2. "Breathe"
    Released: 11 November 1996
  3. "Smack My Bitch Up"
    Released: 17 November 1997

The Fat of the Land is the third studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy, released on 30 June 1997 through XL Recordings. The album received critical acclaim and topped the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. It has sold over 10 million copies worldwide as of 2019.[6][7] It is their best-selling album.

Background, artwork and album title

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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. The Fat of the Land album cover featured an image of a moon crab[8] and a new logo, dropping "The" and adding an ant silhouette. The album title comes from the old English phrase 'living off the fat of the land', which means living well or being wealthy.[9]

Release

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Released in the first week of July, the album hit number one on the Billboard chart on 19 July 1997. Certified double platinum on 2 December that year,[10] it sold 2,600,000 copies in the United States.[11]

In 1999, The Fat of the Land entered the Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling dance album in the UK. The album was also nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards, but lost to Radiohead's OK Computer.

Controversy

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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".[12] Liam Howlett observed, "That record was for the fans. Only brainless people get some stupid message out of it… I'm often misquoted. Some magazine said, 'Liam Howlett says his band are dangerous.' What I said was, 'For this band to survive, it has to be dangerous for us'… I wasn't saying we were dangerous because we're firestarters and we have spiky hair."[13]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB[14]
The Guardian[15]
Los Angeles Times[5]
The New Zealand Herald[16]
NME8/10[17]
Pitchfork7.9/10 (1999)[18]
5.9/10 (2018)[19]
Q[20]
Rolling Stone[21]
Spin7/10[22]

The album has been featured in a number of music publication lists:

  • In 1998, Q 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,[23] and was included in their "90 Best Albums of the 1990s"[24] and "50 Best Albums of 1997" lists.[25]
  • Rolling Stone included it in their "Essential Recordings of the 90s" list.[26]
  • Spin ranked it number 20 on their list of the "Top 20 Albums of the Year [1997]" list.[27]
  • Melody Maker ranked it number 13 on their list of "Albums of the Year" for 1997[28] and number 29 in their 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.[29]
  • NME ranked it number 17 in their 1997 Critics' Poll.[30]
  • In 2000 it was voted number 269 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[31]
  • Heavy metal-focused magazine Metal Hammer included it in their 2020 list of the top 10 1997 albums, citing it as "the point at which rave culture collided with metal culture".[32]

The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,[33] and was nominated for the 1997 Mercury Music Prize.[34]

Following Flint's death on 4 March 2019, fans used the hashtag 'Firestarter4Number1' on various social media platforms to replicate the song's success by getting it to the number one spot again; which was done out of respect for Keith Flint and to raise awareness of suicide among men.[35] Shortly afterwards, "Firestarter" returned to the Billboard charts, entering number 13 on its Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart in its 26 March 2019 issue, marking the first time that this song has appeared on a dance chart of any kind.[36]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Smack My Bitch Up" (featuring Shahin Badar)
5:42
2."Breathe"
5:35
3."Diesel Power" (featuring Kool Keith)
  • Howlett
  • Thornton
4:17
4."Funky Shit"
5:16
5."Serial Thrilla"
5:11
6."Mindfields"
5:40
7."Narayan" (featuring Crispian Mills)
9:05
8."Firestarter"
4:41
9."Climbatize"
  • Howlett
  • Timothy Taylor
6:38
10."Fuel My Fire" (L7 cover; featuring Saffron)
4:19
Total length:56:27
Japanese edition bonus tracks[37]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Molotov Bitch"Howlett4:56
12."No Man Army"
4:10
2012 Reissue Bonus EP: The Added Fat EP
No.TitleLength
1."Smack My Bitch Up" (Noisia Remix)5:53
2."Firestarter" (Alvin Risk Remix)3:18
3."Breathe" (Zeds Dead Remix)4:36
4."Mindfields" (Baauer Remix)3:51
5."Breathe" (The Glitch Mob Remix)4:25
6."Smack My Bitch Up" (Major Lazer Remix)5:05

Personnel

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Cover versions

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Charts

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Singles

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Year Song Chart Peak
position
1996 "Firestarter" UK Singles Chart[78] 1
1996 "Breathe" UK Singles Chart[78] 1
1996 "Firestarter" Australian ARIA Singles Chart[79] 22
1996 "Breathe" Australian ARIA Singles Chart[79] 2
1997 "Smack My Bitch Up" UK Singles Chart[78] 8
1997 "Smack My Bitch Up" Australian ARIA Singles Chart[79] 41
1997 "Smack My Bitch Up" Canadian Singles Chart[80] 12
1997 "Firestarter" US Billboard Hot 100[80] 30
1997 "Firestarter" US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[80] 11
1997 "Firestarter" US Modern Rock Tracks[80] 24
1997 "Breathe" US Modern Rock Tracks[80] 18
1997 "Breathe" Canadian Singles Chart[81] 65
1997 "Smack My Bitch Up" US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[80] 19
1998 "Smack My Bitch Up" US Billboard Hot 100[80] 89

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[82] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[83] Gold 25,000*
Belgium (BEA)[84] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[85] 3× Platinum 300,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[86] Platinum 42,426[86]
France (SNEP)[87] 2× Gold 200,000*
Germany (BVMI)[88] Gold 250,000^
Italy (FIMI)[89] Gold 50,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[90] Platinum 200,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[91] 2× Platinum 200,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[92] Platinum 15,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[93] Platinum 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[94] Gold 25,000^
Sweden (GLF)[95] Platinum 80,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[96] 5× Platinum 1,500,000‡
United States (RIAA)[98] 2× Platinum 2,600,000[97]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[99] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "Big Beat". Spin. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  2. ^ Lawrence, Alistair (30 June 2022). "The Prodigy's The Fat of the Land at 25: the electronic punk record that put a bomb under heavy music". Loudersound. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  3. ^ Deviant (31 January 2010). "Review: The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Fat of the Land – The Prodigy". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  5. ^ a b Hilburn, Robert (29 June 1997). "Prodigy Burns Down Barriers Dividing Rock, Hip-Hop, Dance". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  6. ^ "The Prodigy to release 15th anniversary edition of 'The Fat of the Land'". NME. 19 October 2012. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  7. ^ "Prodigy's "The Fat of the Land" To Get 15th Anniversary Rerelease -". bloody-disgusting.com. 17 October 2012.
  8. ^ Radas, Zoë (21 March 2019). "What's the Story?: The Prodigy, 'The Fat of the Land' (1997)". Stack. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Living off the fat of the land". phrases.org.uk. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
  10. ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - May 18, 2015". Recording Industry Association of America.
  11. ^ Pattison, Louis. "The Prodigy Fat of the Land Review". BBC.
  12. ^ "Prodigy". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  13. ^ Elliott, Paul (February 1998). "Their year: The Prodigy". Q. No. 137. p. 95.
  14. ^ Browne, David (11 July 1997). "The Fat of the Land". Entertainment Weekly. No. 387. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  15. ^ Bennun, David (20 June 1997). "Beats workin'". The Guardian.
  16. ^ "Album review: Prodigy, Fat of the Land". The New Zealand Herald. 8 December 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  17. ^ Moody, Paul (28 June 1997). "The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land". NME. Archived from the original on 5 October 2000. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  18. ^ Lewis, Jim (31 December 1999). "Prodigy: Fat of the Land". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  19. ^ Dorris, Jesse (19 August 2018). "The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  20. ^ "The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land". Q. No. 129. June 1997.
  21. ^ Hoskyns, Barney (7 August 1997). "The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land". Rolling Stone. No. 766. p. 82. Archived from the original on 13 February 2002. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  22. ^ Weisbard, Eric (September 1997). "Prodigy: The Fat of the Land". Spin. Vol. 13, no. 6. p. 155. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  23. ^ Q. No. October 2001. p. 46. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ^ Q. No. December 1999. p. 92. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. ^ Q. No. January 1998. p. 114. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. ^ Rolling Stone. 13 May 1999. p. 82. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  27. ^ Spin. No. January 1998. p. 87. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  28. ^ Melody Maker. No. 20 December 1997. pp. 66–67. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. ^ "Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll". The Village Voice. 24 February 1998.
  30. ^ "Critics' Poll". NME. No. 20 December 1997. pp. 78–79.
  31. ^ Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 118. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  32. ^ "The Top 10 best albums of 1997". Metal Hammer. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  33. ^ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  34. ^ "Mercury Prize - Prodigy". mercuryprize.com. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  35. ^ Colothan, Scott (6 March 2019). "Prodigy fans launch 'Firestarter for Number 1' campaign in memory of Keith Flint". Planet Radio. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  36. ^ "The Prodigy Return to Billboard's Charts After Keith Flint's Death" from Billboard (13 March 2019)
  37. ^ only CD released from Sony Music Entertainment Japan
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  87. ^ "French album certifications – Prodigy – The Fat of the Land" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  88. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Prodigy; 'The Fat of the Land')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
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  90. ^ "Japanese album certifications – Prodigy – The Fat of the Land" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 12 September 2019. Select 1998年5月 on the drop-down menu
  91. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Prodigy – The Fat of the Land" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter The Fat of the Land in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2003 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  92. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Prodigy – The Fat of the Land". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
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  94. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('The Fat of the Land')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
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  98. ^ "American album certifications – Prodigy – The Fat of the Land". Recording Industry Association of America.
  99. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1997". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

Further reading

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[edit]
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