How To Be The Prodigy

I don’t think smack my bitch up is a particularly great prodigy song. With that said, I believe most people would say that what sets the prodigy apart (and makes the great) is the fact that they aren’t just dj’s, they actually perform… and do quite a very good job of it.

Now let me stop there and say that is not what I think. As far as my opinion goes, I have always LOOOVED the prodigy. It has nothing to do with how many chords, filters and channels you use. It’s simply a matter of how good a song sounds. Liam makes songs that are catchy and I want to hear.

Let me say it like this. When “take me to the hospital” drops, I feel a rush. It’s a bit of musical magic. It’s hard to create that. It’s rare (rare, rare, rare, rare, rare rare) to really get that in a song. I can’t think of a single renoise song ever, with the single exception of Beautiful Lies by B-Complex that had that truly catchy pull me in feeling. (Small aside, Beautiful Lies reminds me so much of Halcyon by orbital, like a D&B version… just so pretty).

This is obviously 100% personal opinion, and no slander against anyone who uses renoise (and remember I also use Renoise!). Just don’t dismiss the fact that at the end of the day, I want to listen to many songs by the prodigy.

To attempt to break a song down scientifically in order to qualify it’s value would simply mean that the more technically complex the music, the better it is. And we know that is not true! My 2 cents!

Prodigy has ALWAYS been about sampling… seriously, Liam Howlett said that himself a thousand times…

Maybe there are two camps of people…ppl who like to dance and people that don’t.

I think many people who enjoy dancing to edgy music(of our generation) will enjoy listening to the prodigy. If you don’t…maybe its just noise??

This is a blanket statement of course, I myself am a musician as well as a tracker and did not fully get electronic music until I discovered I had a gift for dance.

Which turn has led me to using Renoise:)

When dancing you are more in tune with the right side of your brain, therefore are more in the moment as opposed to analysing and dissecting.

Sometimes when in musician or critical producer mode we use the left side and therefore looking at things in the linear sense as opposed to just feeling in the vertical here and now.

I consider Prodigy to be braindance myself. Not in the IDM sense… but I’ve tried dancing to the Prodigy, and it jest duznt werk.

don’t even dare to start a discussion about genres (and certainly not IDM)! :P

Screwed around with Renoise today, had me thinking. I should try create a track composed with resampling only. And that was before I opened this thread. Resampling my own sounds and melodies tho but this is an inspiration.

To clear this up for good:

Evil Empire by RATM was released in 1996
Fat of the Land by Prodigy was released in 1997

So yes, Howlett had a lot of time to sample that guitar bit. I was listening to Evil Empire this week. Thinking it came out much much later. For a mid 90’s heavy rock record it had a lot of 00’s sound to it. If that makes any sense.

It worked just fine when they were still making kickass dance music, but I’m really not sure what the heck they’re doing these days. The “Experience” album is hands down one of my all time favourites, in any genre, by anyone, bar none. Here we are 18 years later and I still play it constantly. With each album that followed “Experience”, I found that I did not really care for a certain track, then two tracks, three, four, and so on… until we get to their latest album “Invaders Must Die”, which I honestly think is a huge pile of crap. There isn’t a single track on there that I genuinely completely enjoy, and the only one that I’m even slightly interested in is “Take me to the hospital” which, surprise surprise, contains a lot of the rave sounds that made me fall in love with the band in the first place, but it still pales in comparison to their early work.

Ah well… I realise that all bands evolve and change their sound, but The Prodigy just managed to take things in a direction that I really didn’t enjoy. All the silly, pseudo-punk aggressive nonsense, and the mega rockstar attitudes. Not my cup of tea I’m afraid!

Still… I’ll always have Experience and the good old days :) If you manage to find yourself at an underground party with some oldskool music, and the DJ puts on a few early Prodigy tunes, well… it’s really something special! :P

.

I think I’m the only one in existence that thoroughly enjoys “Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned”

That’s because RATM were highly inspirational innovators. People like copying their style.

Not that that’s a bad thing. I get so pissed off at the “X band is copying Y’s style” … especially when it’s from the same people who are like “I wish Y band would go back to their old style”.

I completely skipped the last 2 prodigy albums because I was so disenfranchised with their direction.

But then I heard worlds on fire before the latest album was released and I knew I had to buy it. Dblue – considering that there is so little new oldskool being made… are you not in the same boat as myself being glad that at least they had worlds on fire and take me to the hospital on the lastest album? =)

Now that I think of it. Not a lot of bands went for the RATM sound. I know I heard at least 2 or 3 bands who tried to directly copy the Korn sound with the clicky bass and tortured vocals. But there was never the same phenomena for RATM. We are pushing in to the 2010’s and they still sound fresh despite raprock/numetal fad dying out a decade ago. Might be the reason why they’re touring now is because there was never a proper successor.

Some people thought Killing in the Name was written spesifically for the ‘Christmas #1 in UK’ campaign, that it was a brand new song. They didn’t realise that song is 17 years old now.

Some people have supported the campaign. We’ve got everything connected and it’s hard to be sure when it works or not. I’ve been Prodigy fan since 1996 and I’m still really connected to the Prodigy. I’ve done a lot of Prodigy remixes and they made me eventually.

Maybe people, in general, have different taste of music. Some like metaltrash, some like opera, some like country a.s.o. Just let everybody enjoy what they… it’s christmas after all! B)

Just writing to clarify!

If anybody reads the above post with selected quote and response it makes it sound as if I was saying one camp is better than the other and that a judgement was implied!

If anybody reads the rest of my post, I was explaining the differences in thinking processes that are involved in dance and more linear music (maybe melodic for ex as melodic lines can take place over a few lines as opposed to dance music which is loop based)

I have been on both sides of the coin so I know the difference as I now think differently as a new lover of dance music. :)

I’ve always wanted to be in a band to be able to sound like RATM, just to see what happens… but then I remember I don’t play an instrument. I’ve only managed to see them live once, but it was also the very first concert I went to in my life. Unforgettable experience, especially considering Asian Dub Foundation was the opening act and the act that got me interested in, well… making music.

Anyway, carry on. How to be Rage against the Machine?

Rage against the machine is the result of “Inside Out” splitting up.

Everyone in Inside Out was part of legendary music projects. (108, Gorrilla Biscuits, Chain Of Strength, Drive Like Jehu…). the “RATM” moniquer comes from a Zine run by same guy who runs Ebullition records. Rage Against The Machine didn’t come out of nowhere. Inside Out was one of the most influential bands of the 90s hardcore scene.

Same thing for Prodigy. They are a quintessential part of the beginnings of the rave scene in the UK.

The lesson here is “be a part of something bigger than yourself.”

OMFG BUT THAT’S SELLING OUT!!!

lmfao

Well, I don’t know what that is supposed to mean.

Make music that pushes things forward, relevant to a context people share, not “make music that sounds like…” is what i am trying to say.

When I hear musicians say they went to a show, as if it was some sort of hollywood spectacle they are completely removed from, it’s very confusing to me.

Give me a breakcore show in the back of some sketchy used mannequin store, in ten years someone from that small show will probably be playing in a stadium, or maybe not.

Prodigy and RATM forged new ground into pop, but they didn’t drop from the sky. Life is not an American Idol contest. The fact that someone can copy something is a neat trick and good technique, but (and i read this in some other thread so it’s not my quote) the hard part is to get there when nobody has arrived yet.

The caps indicate nonseriousness ;)

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Where is this sketchy used mannequin store? I would like to purchase it.

There’s always the question of “is this just progress for the sake of progress?” though… it’s the classic battle between emotion and technicality in music. I listen to certain DnB acts that some other DnB fans I know shrug off because they feel it’s just flagrant “tech” DnB … too technical, not enough soul. Granted, I disagree with them entirely, but the question still remains:

Is there a point where we need to stop trying to arrive where others haven’t, and when we need to start connecting with people more?

I just re-iterate that the prodigy has always been awesome, and yes they were early, and yes they actually performed which helped them stand out. But all this stuff aside, pop in experience and it’s still awesome to listen to. That probably has something to do with their success! I dont know if this comment has anything to do with what is currently being discussed in the thread, but I still wanted to throw it out there!

You know what it ish? There’s more water than fish.