Poptimists Album Science #6

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

This is about Proving By Science how good an album really is. But in the dog eat cat world of album ranking the Spice Girls have come something of a cropper. Only a 64% score for 'Spice' despite it being regarded by many as the 'most Pop album ever'. This is bad news for those who theorise that Pop music could and should work in album form as well as other genres. Much tutting and furrowing of brows from the white-coated PST boffins continues...

Now, if you please, join me in rating the following tracks from the (The) Prodigy's 'The Fat Of The Land' album out of ten:

[Poll #877851]



If you've not heard or can't hear the song you could either not mark it (if you dislike the artist generally) or give it a 5 for balance if you do like the artist generally.

Comments

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

I had completely forgotten the existence of Serial Thrilla. God that song was rub.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Lot of bad memories on this one - Oh my god that's some funky sh1t etc.

FUEL MY FIRE. :( :(

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Funky Shit is an 8/10 for me. the only real problem i have with it is that they'd been playing it live since early '95 so by the time the album came out it seemed quite stale. this is Howlett's problem as a lone producer and 'perfectionist'.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

only the third worst track on the album imo!

this might be the first album polled in which not one track gets a 10/10

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Sorry! I love Fuel My Fire. Short & sweet.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

'Breathe' RESCUES the album from UTTER IRRELEVANCE

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

just think how different things might've been if Howlett had agreed to produce tracks for Madonna's next album (at this point) as was her wish. she probably would've rejected them in the end (although you could've had something that sounded like 'Swinging London Town' which would've been neat).

Lest we forget

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Saffron doing L7
Skunk Anansie sample
CRISPIN

I bought this album on the day of release and played it over and over again. I went off it a bit but I still like the individual traxx0r very much.

Smack My Bitch Up

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

TS:

The 'controversial' video where IT IS A WOMAN omg.

vs

The fight scene in Charlies Angels 1

Re: Smack My Bitch Up

[juror8.livejournal.com]

I choo-choo-choose "White Collar Boy", the Belle and Sebastian music video that, bizarrely, is a parody/pastiche of "Smack My Bitch Up".

Re: Smack My Bitch Up

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

ha ha, that never occurred to me before. is the barmaid in that video the same woman in the 'Funny Little Frog' vid?

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Pick some albums I know, steve! (my strike rate so far = 1.5 out of 6) Obviously I'm less of a canon-whore than I thought.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

I'm picking albums that both sold well and i think would be known by the poptimist majority! i'm surprised you've not heard more of these! (altho to be honest 'The Fat Of The Land' is the first one I actually bought and knew all of before the poll so I should sympathaise really). This just highlights the difficulty of such experiments in this environment (i.e. should be doing all indie-canon stuff lol).

Is this really "pop" though?

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I know this album exists but not much more, really.

Maybe in the UK but in other places wasn't this a band and album that garnered more notoriety than airplay / hits? (Alternately, maybe it's a club thing, as I was never a clubgoer.)

Re: Is this really "pop" though?

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Actually, half taking that back as, looking again, I realize I overlooked 'Firestarter'. I think I am always confusing Prodigy and Shamen, though.

Re: Is this really "pop" though?

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

one of the more remarkable things about the band is that every single they released reached the top 20 in the UK prior to the ltd. edition release of 'Spitfire' only last year. so they were a hits act tho airplay support was never that big from any one outlet.

Prodigy tracks were bigger at indie/student discos (and later rock/nu-metal clubs) than actual dance clubs. they managed to attract big fanbase of rock kids mainly by playing festivals alongside rock bands (all over Europe)

what makes them as Pop as Pulp for me is Howlett's love and use of simplistic hooks that were either menacing or playful enough to be quite evocative in a cinematic (or indeed theatrical) way. he had a relatively decent ear for melody too, and the structure of the tracks remains reasonably conventional.

before Firestarter there was no controversy surrounding the band other than 'probably take drugs', 'opposed to CJB' and refusal to go on Top Of The Pops.

Re: Is this really "pop" though?

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Hmm... perhaps I will have to go back and Study The Canon (http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/121711.html) then.

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

i have never listened to this album

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Nor have I.

Singles vs album tracks

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Also this is def. an album where I favour certain album tracks over the singles. 'Diesel Power', 'Funky Shit', 'Mindfields' and 'Climbatise' are my favourites whereas the three singles, good singles as they are, never appealed to me quite as much.

'Mindfields' was supposed to be the third single but LH had second thoughts (I think XL bods were happy to do whatever he wanted as Prodigy's success was bringing them riches well beyond their expectations).

Re: Singles vs album tracks

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Mindfields does go on a bit.

I love the wumman's vocal on the end of SMBU though. I used to try and sing along without taking a breath. Tricky but not impossible!

[wholepint.livejournal.com]

Was very excited by this album when it came out, but I've not felt the need to listen to it for years...