The Fat of the Land

The Fat of the Land
Studio album by The Prodigy
Released	30 June 1997 (1997-06-30)
Recorded	1996–1997, Earthbound Central
Genre	Big beat, electronica, alternative rock, breakbeat, alternative dance, industrial rock, synthpunk, rave
Length	56:24
Language	English
Label	XL (UK) Maverick (US)
Producer	Liam 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
"Firestarter" Released: 18 March 1996 (1996-03-18) "Breathe" Released: 11 November 1996 (1996-11-11) "Smack My Bitch Up" Released: 24 November 1997 (1997-11-24)

The Fat of the Land is the third studio album by British electronic 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.^[1] The album has sold over 10 million copies worldwide as of 2012.^[2][3] While Liam Howlett is generally responsible for the compositions and Maxim Reality is featured on two tracks, this is the first record to include contribution by Keith Flint who provides vocals on four of the songs.

Composition

Samples are used on a majority of tracks on the album (see the Samples section for more details). Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and later Pearl Jam, who is erroneously credited as "Mark" in the liner notes, is also understood to have contributed samples to the album, though it is not clear where.^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	(B)[6]
Robert Christgau	[7]
Pitchfork Media	(7.9/10)[8]
Q	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Music Emissions	[11]
Sputnikmusic	[12]
Spin	[13]
BBC Music	(very favourable)[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. 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.

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	5:42
2.	"Breathe"	Howlett, Keith Flint, Maxim Reality	5:35
3.	"Diesel Power" (feat. Kool Keith)	Howlett, Kool Keith	4:17
4.	"Funky Shit"	Howlett	5:16
5.	"Serial Thrilla"	Howlett, Flint, Len Arran, Skin	5:11
6.	"Mindfields"	Howlett, Maxim Reality	5:40
7.	"Narayan"	Howlett, Crispian Mills	9:05
8.	"Firestarter"	Howlett, Flint, T. Horn, A. Dudley, J. Jeczalik, P. Morley, and G. Langan of Art of Noise, Kim Deal	4:40
9.	"Climbatize"	Howlett	6:38
10.	"Fuel My Fire (L7 cover, from Hungry for Stink)"	Donita Sparks, Walsh, James, and Knight of Cosmic Psychos	4:19

Japan bonus tracks[27]
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Molotov Bitch"	4:56
12.	"No Man Army"	4:10

2012 Reissue Bonus EP: The Added Fat EP
No.	Title	Length
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

The Prodigy

• Keith Flint – vocals ("Breathe", "Serial Thrilla", "Firestarter", "Fuel My Fire")
• Liam Howlett – keyboards, synthesizers, sampling, programming, production, engineering, mixing, art direction
• Maxim Reality – vocals ("Breathe", "Mindfields")

Additional musicians

• Shahin Badar – vocals ("Smack My Bitch Up")
• Kool Keith – vocals ("Smack My Bitch Up", "Diesel Power")
• Crispian Mills – vocals ("Narayan")
• Saffron – vocals ("Fuel My Fire")
• Gizz Butt – guitar ("Fuel My Fire)
• Jim Davies – guitar
• Matt Cameron – drums
• Tom Morello – guitar ("No Man Army")

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

Samples

• The main vocal sample from "Smack My Bitch Up" is taken from "Give the Drummer Some" by American hip hop group Ultramagnetic MCs. Thus, The Prodigy invited group member Kool Keith, who raps the portion sampled by the Prodigy in the original track, to do the lyrics and vocals for another track, "Diesel Power". The track also features a looped sample of the bassline and drums from the beginning of "In Memory Of" by jazz musician Randy Weston and a sped-up riff from "Funky Man" by American funk group Kool and the Gang; both of these samples remain uncredited on the album. A heavily manipulated sample from Bulls On Parade by Rage Against the Machine is used in the breakdown.

• "Breathe" samples sound effects from American hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan's music video for their single "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'".

• Three credited samples are present on "Funky Shit": the main vocal sample which gives the song its title is sampled from "Root Down" by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, the horn riff that appears throughout the song is sampled from "Theme from "S.W.A.T."" by American disco-funk group Rhythm Heritage, and the "Break!" vocal is sampled from "2, 3, Break" by American hip hop duo the B–Boys.

• "Serial Thrilla" features a sample of a riff from "Selling Jesus" by English rock band Skunk Anansie.

• The main riff on "Mindfields" is sampled from English composer John Barry's "Hip's Trip", from the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun.

• "Climbatize" samples a horn riff from "The Horn Track" by Egyptian Empire, the stage name of electronic musician Tim Taylor. The main drum loop was sampled from "Air Drums from Outer Bongolia" by English electronic duo The Jedi Knights; Liam Howlett sampled the drums without the group's permission, and The Jedi Knights threatened to sue The Prodigy. However, Howlett already knew that The Jedi Knights themselves had sampled the drums from an older track entitled "Bongolia" by American funk group Incredible Bongo Band without permission; XL Recordings, the Prodigy's record label, bought the rights to the Incredible Bongo Band track and threatened to sue The Jedi Knights. The media coverage cornered around the event attracted film producer George Lucas, who sued The Jedi Knights for taking their stage name from the Star Wars term "Jedi Knight", which Lucas created.^[28]

• "Firestarter" samples a guitar riff from "SOS" by American rock group The Breeders, and the "Hey!" vocal from "Close (To the Edit)" by Art of Noise (the vocal was also previously used by the band in "Full Throttle" on Music for the Jilted Generation). The drums on the song are sampled from a track on the Zero-G sample CD Jungle Warfare, Vol. 1; another Zero-G sample CD was sampled on The Prodigy's previous single, "One Love".

• "Fuel My Fire" features guitar sounds and feedback effects by Gizz Butt taken from an unreleased remix by Kris Needs of an earlier version of the same song. Recorded shortly after the Autumn UK tour of 1996.

Sales chart positions

Album

Chart (1997)	Peak position
UK Albums (OCC)[29]	1
Australian ARIA Albums Chart	1[30]
Canadian Albums Chart	1[15]
Finnish Charts	1[31]
Swedish Albums top 60	1[30]
US Billboard 200	1[15]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[32]	2× Platinum	140,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[33]	Gold	25,000x
Canada (Music Canada)[34]	3× Platinum	300,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[35]	Platinum	42,426[35]
France (SNEP)[36]	2× Gold	200,000*
Germany (BVMI)[37]	Gold	250,000^
Italy (FIMI)[38]	Gold	50,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[39]	Gold	25,000x
Sweden (GLF)[40]	Platinum	80,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[41]	3× Platinum	900,000^
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

Preceded by Spice by Spice Girls	Billboard 200 number-one album 19–26 July 1997	Succeeded by Men in Black: The Album by various artists
Preceded by OK Computer by Radiohead	UK number one album 12 July – 22 August 1997	Succeeded by White on Blonde by Texas
Preceded by Album of the Year by Faith No More	Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album 13–19 July 1997	Succeeded by Middle of Nowhere by Hanson

The Prodigy Liam Howlett Keith Flint Maxim Leeroy Thornhill Sharky Albums Experience Music for the Jilted Generation The Fat of the Land Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned Invaders Must Die The Day Is My Enemy EPs What Evil Lurks Lost Beats The Added Fat Singles "Charly" "Everybody in the Place" "Fire/Jericho" "Out of Space" "Wind It Up (Rewound)" "One Love" "No Good (Start the Dance)" "Voodoo People" "Poison" "Firestarter" "Breathe" "Smack My Bitch Up" "Baby's Got a Temper" "Girls" "Hotride" "Spitfire" "Voodoo People / Out of Space" "Invaders Must Die" "Omen" "Warrior's Dance" "Take Me to the Hospital" "Nasty" "The Day Is My Enemy" "Wild Frontier" "Wall of Death" "Ibiza" Compilations Their Law: The Singles 1990–2005 Mix albums The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One Back to Mine Live albums World's on Fire Other songs "Serial Thrilla" Video albums Electronic Punks Related articles Discography Ragged Flag Flint Warriors Dance Festival