Prodigy, The - The Fat of the Land [2LP]

Few albums were as eagerly anticipated as The Fat of the Land, the Prodigy's long-awaited follow-up to Music for the Jilted Generation. The Fat of the Land was touted as the album that would bring electronica/techno to a wide American audience; and indeed it went on to sell 2.8 million copies in the US. It delivers exactly what anyone would expect: intense hip-hop-derived rhythms, imaginatively reconstructed samples, and meaningless shouted lyrics from Keith Flint and Maxim.Half of the album does sound quite similar to "Firestarter," especially when Flint is singing. Still, Liam Howlett is an inventive producer, and he can make songs like "Smack My Bitch Up" and "Serial Thrilla" kick with a visceral power, but he is at his best on the funky hip-hop of "Diesel Power" (which is driven by an excellent Kool Keith rap) and "Funky Shit," as well as the mind-bending neo-psychedelia of "Narayan" (featuring guest vocals by Crispian Mills of Kula Shaker) and the bloodcurdling cover of L7's "Fuel