The Fat of the Land - Definition

The Fat of the Land
Album by The Prodigy
Released	June 30, 1997
Recorded	Earthbound Central
Genre	Electronica
Length	52 min 21 s
Record label	XL Recordings
Producer	Liam Howlett
Professional reviews
AMG (http://www.Allmusic.com)	4.5 stars out of 5	link (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70403121920353271&sql=Awtfozfj8ehak)
Q	5 stars out of 5	June 1997 (http://www.q4music.com/nav?page=q4music.review.redirect&fixture_review=130691&resource=130691&fixture_artist=146077)
Pitchfork (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com)	7.9 out of 10	link (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/p/prodigy/fat-of-the-land.shtml)
The Prodigy Chronology
Music for the Jilted Generation (1995)	The Fat of the Land (1997)	The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One (1999)

The Fat of the Land is an album by electronica act The Prodigy. The album was released by XL Recordings on June 30, 1997 (see 1997 in music).

The album cause some minor controversy in Britain. The video for first single, "Firestarter", caused a minor uproar because of vocalist Keith Flint's appearance, and several people objected to the seeming misogyny of "Smack My Bitch Up", though the band maintain that it was a humourous poke at gangsta rap.

"Mindfields" later appeared on the soundtrack of The Matrix, while "Smack My Bitch Up" has appeared in both Charlie's Angels movies.

"Serial Thrilla" features a sample of a riff by Skunk Anansie, "Funky Shit" features a sample from "Root Down" from the Beastie Boys album Ill Communication, "Fuel My Fire" is a cover of an L7 song from Hungry for Stink.

In 1998 Q magazine readers voted The Fat of the Land the 9th greatest album of all time.

Track listing

1. "Smack My Bitch Up" (L. Howlett, M. Smith, C. Miller, K. Thornton, T. Randolph), 5:42
2. "Breathe" (L. Howlett, K. Flint, Maxim), 5:35
3. "Diesel Power" (L. Howlett, K. Thornton), 4:17
4. "Funky Shit" (L. Howlett), 5:16
5. "Serial Thrilla" (L. Howlett, K. Flint, Skin, Arran), 5:11
6. "Mindfields" (L. Howlett), 5:40
7. "Narayan" (L. Howlett, C. Mills), 9:05
8. "Firestarter" (L. Howlett, K. Flint, T. Horn, A. Dudley, J. Jeczalik, P. Morley, G. Langan, K. Deal) - 4:40
9. "Climbatize" (L. Howlett) - 6:36
10. "Fuel My Fire" (D.J. Sparks, Walsh, James, Knight) - 4:19

Personnel

• Christian Ammann - Photography
• Shahin Bada - Vocals
• Jim Davies (Pitchshifter) - Guitar
• Keith Flint - Vocals
• Jake Holloway - Illustrations
• Liam Howlett - Producer, Art Direction, Mixing
• Alex Jenkins - Art Direction, Design, Photography
• Kool Keith - Vocals
• Maxim - Vocals
• Crispian Mills (Kula Shaker) - Vocals
• Neil McLellan - Engineer
• Pat Pope - Photography
• Saffron (Republica) - Vocals
• Alex Scaglia - Photography
• Lou Smith - Photography
• Terry Whittaker - Photography
• Konrad Wothe - Photography

Charting singles

Album positions

1997  The Fat Of The Land      The Billboard 200                            No. 1
1997  Fat Of The Land          Top Canadian Albums                          No. 1

Singles positions

1997  Smack My Bitch Up        Canadian Singles Chart                       No. 12
1997  Firestarter              Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales           No. 11
1997  Smack My Bitch Up        Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales           No. 19
1997  Breathe                  Modern Rock Tracks                           No. 18
1997  Firestarter              Modern Rock Tracks                           No. 24
1997  Firestarter              The Billboard Hot 100                        No. 30