The Fat Of The Land

The Fat of the Land, released on XL Recordings on June 30th, 1997, became the best-selling album ever produced by The Prodigy. It’s safe to say that this LP has led breakbeat and big-beat out of underground since all the singles from it got heavy radio rotation. The Prodigy have got the recognition that they deserved and literally lived off the fat of land. But it was more of a side-effect than a deliberate goal. With The Fat of the Land, Liam raised the bar for the breakbeat and big-beat scene pretty freaking high. No one could even come close to the level Liam had reached, so it’s not surprising that this genre died out several years later.

Production-wise, this album got even more complex that the previous ones. Liam switched from his W-30 to Steinberg’s Cubase, but kept using W-30 at gigs to trigger samples. New pieces of gear came into play: Korg Prophecy (the acid synth in Smack My Bitch Up and the space fx in Firestarter) and Clavia Nord Lead (the lead synth in Funky Shit). Many drumloops were taken from a sample library by Zero-G, Jungle Warfare Vol. 1. In general, the use of sampling CDs in Liam’s production started to rise.

LP
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SINGLES
MINDFIELDS HEADROCK DUB
    Sample: beat
    Sample source: Schoolly-D – P.S.K. What Does It Mean? [Schoolly-D, 1985]
    Sample: stabs #1
    Sample source: Word Of Mouth – King Kut (Latin Rascals Instrumental) [King Kut, 1985]
    Sample: stab #2
    Sample source: Word Of Mouth – King Kut (Latin Rascals Instrumental) [King Kut, 1985]
MOLOTOV BITCH
    Sample: guitar
    Sample source: Adam And The Ants – Ants Invasion [Kings Of The Wild Frontier, 1980]
NO MAN ARMY FEATURING TOM MORELLO
    Sample: guitar feedback fx #1 (at 0:00 and throughout)
    Sample source: Sony Creative Software – Methods Of Mayhem: Industrial Toolkit – Feedback 13 49-01
    Sample: drum fill
    Sample source: Juice – Catch A Groove [Feel Like Good Music / Catch A Groove, 1976]
    Sample: wah-wah guitar
    Sample source: Rage Against The Machine – Bulls On Parade [Evil Empire, 1996]
    Sample: guitar feedback fx #2 (at 1:27 and throughout)
    Sample source: Sony Creative Software – Methods Of Mayhem: Industrial Toolkit – Feedback 04 48-04
THE TRICK
    Sample: piano
    Sample source: War – Searching For Youngblood & Rommel [Youngblood (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), 1978]
RARE STUFF
DIESEL POWER DIRTCHAMBER REMIX
    Sample: beat
    Sample source: UPP – Give It To You [UPP, 1975]
DIESEL POWER QUARASHI REMIX
    Sample: additional beat (at 2:12 and throughout)
    Sample source: Manzel – Midnight Theme [Sugar Dreams / Midnight Theme, 1979]
FUNKY SHIT MULDER EXCLUSIVE MIX
    Sample: shout (‘hey!’) (at 0:16 and throughout)
    Sample source: The Art Of Noise – Close (To The Edit) [(Who’s Afraid Of?) The Art Of Noise, 1984]
SMACK MY BITCH UP CLEAN EDIT
    Sample: a guitar sound that censores the word ‘bitch’
    Sample source: Psychedelic Skratch Bastards – Side B: Mud Cuts [Battle Breaks, 1992]
    Original source: Slayer – South Of Heaven [South Of Heaven, 1988]
    Sample: a camera shutter sound that censores the word ‘bitch’
    Sample source: Simon Harris – Effects & Scratches – Camera [Beats, Breaks & Scratches Volume 2, 1988]
SMACK MY BITCH UP VIDEO EDIT
    Sample: scream (at 2:18)
    Also can be found in: The Hidden [1997]
    Sample: reversed vocals (‘the wall of death one more time’) (at 2:46 and throughout)
    Also can be found in: The Hidden [1997]
    Note: These samples were added by the music video director Jonas Åkerlund, who had also used them in his short film ‘The Hidden’.
TITAN
    Sample: fx
    Sample source: Sony Creative Software – Methods Of Mayhem: Industrial Toolkit – LFO Impact 03 77-03
    Sample: wah-wah guitar loop
    Sample source: Rage Against The Machine – Bulls On Parade [Evil Empire, 1996]
    Sample: beat
    Sample source: Can – Halleluhwah [Tago Mago, 1971]

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SBER (RUS): 8950008190б

 

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