The Prodigy, still raving after 20 years
April 29, 2014 8:11 PM   Subscribe

Twenty years after originally forming, the English electronic/ rave/ big beat group The Prodigy were back on tour for their fifth studio album, Invaders Must Die. On July 24, 2010, the "40-somethings bounce around a stage like men half their age, owning festival-sized audiences" like rising dance stars wish they could. The performance was recorded and released the next year, and you can see the hour plus of World's On Fire in full on Vimeo. (NOTE: NSFW lyrics)

If you haven't kept track of The Prodigy, Wikipedia has a thorough overview, or you can get a more audio-visual experience with this overview from Alt Sounds.

For a quick review, here are their albums:
1992 - Experience (YouTube playlist)
1994 - Music for the Jilted Generation (extended edition on Grooveshark)
1997 - The Fat of the Land (YT playlist)
2004 - Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Grooveshark, with a duplicate track) - this album was a solo effort from Liam Howlett, without vocalists and hype-men Keith Flint and Keith Palmer a.k.a. Maxim
2009 - Invaders Must Die (full album in one YT video/track) - a return to form, much more rawkin' than AONO

While World's On Fire, which was recorded at the National Bowl at Milton Keynes was the first official live album from The Prodigy, there are a number of other live performances recorded available online:

1991 - clips from a Cambridge rave, part 1, part 2, part 3
1992 - "Everybody in the Place" live on BBC (TV broadcast with frantic cuts)
1993 - Sunrisezone, Athens, Greece (decent audience recording)
1994 - Zoom Night Club, Sydney, Australia (decent audience recording)
1995 - Glastonbury (Poison, Funky Shit, Out Of Space, Rhythm Of Life, Break & Enter, No Good)
1996 - Phoenix Festival
1997 - Brixton Academy (TV broadcast?)
1998 - Reading Festival, Reading, UK (decent audience recording)
1999 - Sofia, Bulgaria (low quality audience recording)

2009 - Rock Am Ring (Mtv broadcast)
2009 - Glastonbury (TV or web feed rip)
2013 - Kubana (audience recording with good audio and decent video)

Final note: here is the full setlist for the Milton Keynes show (text only), which includes a few tracks not found on the recording.
posted by filthy light thief (66 comments total) 40 users marked this as a favorite
 
Most of The Prodigy's stuff hasn't aged well for me, but I still love the Pendulum remix of Voodoo People to death.

Looking forward to making my way through the links!
posted by bfranklin at 8:15 PM on April 29, 2014 [4 favorites]


Of course, this is just a sampling of the live videos you can find on YouTube and elsewhere, but it's a quick pick from their progress over the years. My internet connection was giving me sass, so I stopped going year-by-year at 1999.

And a fun tangent: Howlett's second single, Charly, features a sample from one of a series of old British public information films known collectively as Charley Says. The specific clip is known as Charley Says Always Tell Your Mommy, or Mummy Should Know. Here are all six clips together in a less than ideal framerate.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:19 PM on April 29, 2014 [2 favorites]


I might be on a rave nostalgia kick, but I've been listening to the live album a bunch recently - it's my go-to "I need to kick ass, or at least wake up" music. I was quite happy to find the video online.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:21 PM on April 29, 2014


OK, one final link I was going to drop into the original post, but I didn't after finding the '97 Brixton show: live in 1997 in Red Square, broadcast by Mtv.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:30 PM on April 29, 2014


Ahhh, man. Memories.

I discovered the first three albums in reverse, Fat of the Land came out when I was getting super-into that sort of thing, then I discovered Music for the Jilted Generation in someone's car and fell in love with it (opening an album with a track like "Break and Enter" helped), and finally Experience became a go-to for me in the early 2000's. In particular, I remember so many burn rides where "Weather Experience" was the soundtrack.

This actually couldn't have come at a better time for me. I've been listening to a lot of electronic stuff from this era again lately. Thanks for the post, and I look forward to diving in again!
posted by rollbiz at 8:30 PM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Most of The Prodigy's stuff hasn't aged well for me

Dunno... Crystal Method, Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, JunkieXL and Moby (esp. Play) all seem to hold up to modern listenings in ways other contemporaneous stuff just doesn't - Nine Inch Nails and Marylin Manson and Utah Saints, for instance, all sound really, unmistakably '90s.

Big Beat just had so much going on, such refined production and was so influential to what came after, it slots in with modern musical sensibility pretty neatly, kind of the same way grunge fits in with modern alt-rock playlists without trying too hard.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:37 PM on April 29, 2014 [10 favorites]


Listening to Fat of the Land again, the last time I heard this album I was in the back of a pickup, making out to the Chino Valley 4th of July fireworks. 10 years ago, maybe 12 or 13, in the desert.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 8:44 PM on April 29, 2014


Although technically it's just Liam Howlett, I think the albums list is missing something if it doesn't include The Dirtchamber Sessions.
posted by Jimbob at 9:01 PM on April 29, 2014 [6 favorites]


Invaders Must Die is an excellent workout album
posted by hellojed at 9:02 PM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


1998 - Reading Festival, Reading, UK (decent audience recording)

I was at that gig. It was quite controversial at the time - the Beastie Boys were headlining, and asked the Prodigy not to play Smack My Bitch Up. Prodigy did not take kindly to being told to do anything, and played it anyway (it's at about 46 minutes in the video, there's a transcript of what Maxim said to the crowd, and some background here).

It was a genuinely unpleasant experience being in the crowd at that moment - there was a huge release of energy, but it felt like a negative, toxic, even violent energy: "we do what the fuck we want" - and if that involves problematic lyrical references to violence against women, or even actual violence, well we're going to do that anyway. It compared very badly to the energy in the Rancid crowd earlier in the day.
posted by Pink Frost at 9:07 PM on April 29, 2014 [4 favorites]


Although technically it's just Liam Howlett...

Which is pretty much The Prodigy.
posted by xmutex at 9:15 PM on April 29, 2014


And a fun tangent: Howlett's second single, Charly

I have a Rhino compilation of electronic music from about 15 years ago, when I was trying to broaden my tastes in that area, that has one of the mixes of this song. I had almost forgotten it and I had not made the mental connection to the later Prodigy stuff that I own.

Also, way cool to find out where the sample is from.
posted by immlass at 9:24 PM on April 29, 2014


It's obligatory in such a thread to link to Jim Pavloff's "Making of" videos for Voodoo People and Firestarter.

So much awesome covert sampling.
posted by probu at 9:36 PM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Terrific post. "Firestarter" is so fossilized in mid-90s big-beat amber it's nearly a museum piece, so contextualized by a time it was never quite able to escape.
posted by four panels at 9:38 PM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Ranks as one of the best bands I've seen live. Sweaty and full of energy. Exhale.
posted by arcticseal at 9:50 PM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


I think Experience has aged great. I mean it's not polished and it totally sounds dated, but it also is still great to listen to. There's lots of electronic music from then that doesn't hold up the same way.

I didn't even know about Invaders Must Die, which kind of says a lot about how I felt about Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned. Usually it takes way more bad albums than that before I stop buying someone's music, but no, that pretty much singlehandedly killed what interest I had.

"Firestarter" is so fossilized in mid-90s big-beat amber it's nearly a museum piece of music so contextualized by its time it was never quite able to escape.

I very much prefer the instrumental mix, and I'm pretty sure it's not just because of Wipeout XL. Though it is clearly the right track for Gare D'Europa. (In case anyone's wondering wondering, FSOL - Landmass goes with Sagarmatha).
posted by aubilenon at 9:52 PM on April 29, 2014 [3 favorites]


I don't know diddly about music, and never was into The Prodigy back when it would have been "current" to do so, but I generally love nearly everything I find of theirs. I've been listening a ton to Invaders Must Die recently.

It's funny, I have to listen on headphones in the house, so miss the body-shaking bass while being able to get the volume to an appropriate level--but cannot listen loudly enough in the workshop to stay married and out of jail, so it's mostly headphones music for me. Sigh.

I've never interpreted "Smack my Bitch Up" as being literal, always assumed it was about attitude, drugs or oneself...but I've never investigated.
posted by maxwelton at 10:57 PM on April 29, 2014


The Fat of the Land was one of the first electronic albums I ever bought. Which lead me to years of raving in the SoCal desert as a young teenager. Fantastic post, I can't wait to dive into it.
posted by Arbac at 11:09 PM on April 29, 2014


I think Experience has aged great. I mean it's not polished and it totally sounds dated, but it also is still great to listen to. There's lots of electronic music from then that doesn't hold up the same way.

I was listening to some of that album just now off the links and I feel the same way. I don't know if it's because it's (almost) happy hardcore and thus isn't pinned to a specific time and place for me the way the poppier mid to late 90s electronic stuff is or what. It might also be that it's so authentically happy.
posted by MillMan at 11:43 PM on April 29, 2014


I've never interpreted "Smack my Bitch Up" as being literal, always assumed it was about attitude, drugs or oneself...but I've never investigated.

I'm not sure it actually was meant literally, but from what I remember at the time, they never explained it, just argued freedom of speech. The Beasties were saying that even if it wasn't meant literally, it could be taken that way.

Anyhoo, don't want to drift into 'your favourite band sucks', so I'll say I really love Out of Space and No Good. And here's Their Law, their anti-Criminal Justice Act tune.
posted by Pink Frost at 12:08 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


I was never that in to The Prodigy before AONO, but I love Invaders Must Die. It's one of those albums I have to be careful about cranking up if I'm driving on my own, lest I start driving like a maniac.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:51 AM on April 30, 2014


Although I guess if I timed it right, the inevitable horrific car wreck could be soundtracked by "Welcome to the scene of the crash / take me to the HOS-PI-TAL".
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:01 AM on April 30, 2014


Everybody In The Place still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up for reasons that are probably eminently deducible (I heard it for the first time when Top Buzz dropped it as the first tune of their set at Head v Raindance, New Year's Eve 1991).
posted by Chairboy at 1:23 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


Charly - Alley Cat Mix - Full 12" Version. I love the beat at the beginning (before the "your crazy" sample kicks in) it is usually missed off.

edited as I forgot to add - the video is just the record playing on a deck, so if you hated the super-fast cuts on the video in the FPP you may find this more enjoyable. And you can see where the break is by the reflection of the tracking light on the vinyl.

Also, so so tempted....
posted by marienbad at 1:47 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]


Made it this far without the teeth-grindingly stupid word 'electronica' appearing. Well done everyone.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 3:14 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


In my case the boom kip dipdadip da beat on the other mix of Charley was a favourite catch phrase. While we are in the 'Belgian hoover' area here is Mentasm and Insomniak. I prefer Liam's melody, but Insomniak has some nice retriggering of a sample of itself.

Rave culture at the time had a penchant for re-purposing childhood sounds:
Aphex Twin - Pac Man
Mark Summers - Summer's Magic
The Badman - Magic Style
K-Klass - Wildlife
Blockbusters - Give us an E
Bassheads - Is there anybody out there? (Impossible to mix and worth hearing the whole 9 minutes)
And a bit later Sasha put out a mix of the remix of the Bladerunner theme that was doing the rounds with an Inner City acappella.

I remember seeing the Prodigy at Glastonbury in 1995 with a crusty raver on one side singing along to the melody lines and a miffed posh girl in a I'm Common t-shirt shouting at him that he was ruining it on the other. Good times!
posted by asok at 3:17 AM on April 30, 2014 [4 favorites]


"Always Outnumbered..." is a bloody great album. I still play it a lot. Usually when I'm feeling like a bit of musical aggression.
posted by Decani at 3:34 AM on April 30, 2014


four panels: "Firestarter" is so fossilized in mid-90s big-beat amber it's nearly a museum piece, so contextualized by a time it was never quite able to escape.

Back in the late 1990s or early 2000s, I came across what someone claimed was the original punk version of Firestarter by some UK band that I had never heard of. The song sounded convincingly like an older punk version of Firestarter, but it could have been a cover for all I know.

I have since forgotten the band name, and I haven't found any record of that track in any subsequent internet searches. I keep meaning to dig through my CDr archives to see if I can find it, but this might be the nudge to do so, unless anyone can shed light onto my hazy memory. Hopefully I saved that text file along with the MP3 itself.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:18 AM on April 30, 2014


Made it this far without the teeth-grindingly stupid word 'electronica' appearing. Well done everyone.

I remember when this was supposed to be THE NEXT BIG THING in music but it never caught on in the States outside of clubs. I think it was way ahead of its time 20 years ago. Of course, aspects of the Prodigy's influence are everywhere if you pay enough attention. I don't think Skrillex would exist without a Prodigy.
posted by Renoroc at 4:55 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


Very true.

And they had been around for 6 years by the time Firestarter broke them worldwide as well.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:05 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


I remember when this was supposed to be THE NEXT BIG THING in music but it never caught on in the States outside of clubs.

It amuses the hell out of me, the number of US articles I've seen in recent months revealing this crazy new phenomenon of "Electronic Dance Music".
posted by Jimbob at 5:16 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]


Here is the Bladerunner remix by Remake for completions sake. I didn't get it at the time because I thought it was a bit cheesy, but it was a Vangelis lift so that comes with the territory.

The guy who has uploaded the Bladerunner track has a number of other uploads, including this one from the Dust Brothers before they changed their name to Chemical Brothers. A couple of remixes by them that kick ass. Dirtier big beat than the polished sound that came from Fat Boy Slim or the West Coast contingent.
posted by asok at 5:25 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


Made it this far without the teeth-grindingly stupid word 'electronica' appearing. Well done everyone.

EDM is worse.

It's techno, people, get it straight!

I remember when this was supposed to be THE NEXT BIG THING in music but it never caught on in the States outside of clubs.

For a brief while, electronic music was gloriously democratic and egalitarian - these were huge, illicit raves, held in empty fields and abandoned warehouses. Nerds, freaks, geeks, hippies, stoners and kids who just liked to dance were all invited. The original "pop-up" venues. It was co-opted, transplanted to major festivals, and then strangled until it could be stuffed back into a nightclub. The notions of PLUR became a sick joke, something for the beautiful elite to sneer at from behind the velvet rope. And then "club music" was no longer the next big thing, but just another aspirational luxury brand.

New acts like Skrillex and Nero and Infected Mushroom and the Bloody Beetroots have picked up the standard and are charging forward in new and bizarre directions I approve of. Stuff like Benassi and Tiesto and the like, homogenized pablum that defined "club life" that supplanted rave and big beat - now sounds so old, shallow and played out. Good.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:57 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]


The next big thing? Huh. We here in Europe were SMS-ing each other about it 20 years ago.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 6:04 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]


It was quite controversial at the time - the Beastie Boys were headlining, and asked the Prodigy not to play Smack My Bitch Up.

Howlett subsequently included both 'Give The Drummer Some' by the Ultramagnetic MCs (where the sample comes from) and 'The new Style' by the Beastie Boys ("The girlies I like are underage") on Dirtchamber Sessions (which is a great mix album).
posted by ninebelow at 6:20 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]


I remember reading an article in CMJ (college music journal) about US audiences and/or consumers "saying 'heck no' to techno" around 2000, when I was a few years into my love of all things electronic. Yes, the American audiences, by and large, have been slow to adapt (or adopt) to such sounds born from Detroit but raised in Europe.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:22 AM on April 30, 2014


But it is so ubiquitous now that drum'n'bass is used in 'edgy' car commercials and in ad breaks on Cartoon Network.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:25 AM on April 30, 2014


"Firestarter" is so fossilized in mid-90s big-beat amber it's nearly a museum piece, so contextualized by a time it was never quite able to escape.

Likewise 'Block Rocking Beats' by the Chemical Brothers. In contrast, Experience manages to be really of its time whilst also being timeless. In fact, that's why 'Warrior's Dance' off Invaders Must Die was so exciting: it sounded old.
posted by ninebelow at 6:25 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]


A friend of mine was in The Prodigy's tech crew at the time they released Fat of the Land. They were the loudest thing he'd ever experienced. He built a stage monitor setup for Liam that was hifi clear, markedly louder than a jumbo jet taking off and would run full blast 4 feet away from his ear.

When they started touring Fat they were playing 5000 seater venues... the support would play and 5000 people would be jumping. And then the Prodigy would come on and slay the joint.

There was a gag though.... the support band were playing to the venue just through the stage monitors. 50,000W of stage monitors - which is a decent amount for a venue that size. It was only when the Prodigy stage only then would they turn on the front of house PA... an ADDITIONAL 120,000W of specially crafted, incredible sounding audio weaponry.

Apparently it was amazing. As an aside I saw them at a festival in the UK soon after that and it one of the most mixed festival crowds I've ever bounced with... metal heads, techno heads, pop fans, indie kids, young, old, all races, all going absolutely crazy. It was indeed good times....
posted by Mr Ed at 6:26 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]


I love Invaders specifically for that nostalgic kick of early '90s hardcore sound, which is paired nicely with more modern styles and techniques.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:29 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


Mr Ed maybe there was some competition between Prodigy and Leftfield who also had a notoriously loud sound system. Stories about them include the Dutch police threatening arrest their sound man due to excessive volume levels and Brixton Academy telling them not to return after plaster fell from the ceiling during a gig. According to the link above the Leftfield soundsystem has been recorded as putting out 137dB which is well above the pain threshold.
posted by asok at 7:22 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


four panels: "Terrific post. "Firestarter" is so fossilized in mid-90s big-beat amber it's nearly a museum piece, so contextualized by a time it was never quite able to escape."

aubilenon: "I very much prefer the instrumental mix, and I'm pretty sure it's not just because of Wipeout XL. Though it is clearly the right track for Gare D'Europa. (In case anyone's wondering wondering, FSOL - Landmass goes with Sagarmatha)."

Try the music-less version...
posted by Auz at 8:54 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


asok: "Leftfield who also had a notoriously loud sound system."


Two things:

1) I saw Leftfield in Dublin in the 1990s. Amazing set: theremins, drummers, a chorus. And *so loud*. I was in the front couple of rows and it started getting louder. And louder. And louder. When my teeth started resonating and I felt vague GI pain, I recall turning to a friend and signing that we should move out of the hot zone. Fighting to move backwards through massed ranks of dilated pupil people pushing forward was quite alarming.

2) Saw Prodigy first at a Dublin university party over 20 years ago. In a little tent, just a small stage, a few dozen audience at first. The band was already spectacularly better than pretty much any other group there without any of the stadium tricks, and that Experience-era music sounded quite progressive for its time while also becoming perfectly redolent of its era. Saw them a few years later in a stadium in full Nuremberg mode. Impressive. But it would still be worth seeing them perform unaugmented by FX trickery.
posted by meehawl at 9:27 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


I always thought that "smack my bitch up" referred to that knob on the left side of electronic keyboards that change the pitch up if you push it up or change it down if you push it down. The whole line goes "changed my pitch up, smacked my bitch up". I also don't really like that line for obvious reasons but I love the whole song otherwise.
posted by I-baLL at 9:54 AM on April 30, 2014


The Chemical Brothers

oh, man, The Private Psychedelic Reel, om nom nom
posted by Damienmce at 11:21 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]


Oh man did I love Music For The Jilted Generation when it came out. Like, holy fuck ohmygodohmygodthisisthegreatestmusicever love. I still enjoy the shit out of it, between the relatively only-good-on-the-dance-floor rave music of Experience and the damn-it-you-are-not-an-arena-rock-act overtly pop songwriting of Fat Of The Land it hit that sweet spot between purist and populist. It has managed not to date itself too badly, too which is pretty rare for electronic music albums. Lord knows any one of the 9 Happy2BHardcore compilations I had did not fare as well.
posted by mediocre at 2:44 PM on April 30, 2014


Also: The legendary 303 line from the breakdown of Voodoo People was my first ringtone.
posted by mediocre at 2:50 PM on April 30, 2014


It's techno, people, get it straight!

Here you forgot your hamburger
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 5:37 PM on April 30, 2014


mediocre: Lord knows any one of the 9 Happy2BHardcore compilations I had did not fare as well.

You're saying that you really (don't) like to rock the funky beat? Personally, I am always prepared to reach out, reach out, reeeeaaach ooouuuttt. Seriously, H2BH comps are my go-to "I need to drive for another 30-60 minutes, but I really should be asleep, so it's time to sing falsetto at the top of my lungs" music.

And how can you not love happy hardcore superman? I didn't know I loved him, but he might have been beaten by happy hardcore Bruce Lee (warning: nonsensical YouTubePoop).
posted by filthy light thief at 6:24 PM on April 30, 2014


I have loved Prodigy and their ilk since the 90s, but I was rather young then and had no idea how to find more.

This thread rekindled my sense of wonder and delight.

Metafilter, you are my people!
posted by Monochrome at 7:03 PM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


Here you forgot your hamburger

I lived through the '90s. I still have the (ritual) scars. If you wanted to buy a Moby, Utah Saints, or Apotheosis CD, a bored attendant at the Chain Record Store wouldn't look up at you, and hook a thumb at a pine shelf screwed to the wall above the "Dance Hits and Classic Disco" bins. This shelf had an index card thumbtacked to it that said: "TECHNO"

You knew it was the right shelf, as you stayed up to three in the morning every Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday listening to different college radio shows called, respectively, "Techno Evolution," "Techno Conspiracy" and "Ultimate Techno 360."

You bought this CD just for the first track on it.

By you I mean me. Slack.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:32 PM on April 30, 2014


Oh. Oh my God. Slap*Happy. I died.

also filthy light thief, there was a time when H2BHC 2 and 3 would play a lot around my place. That Demo & Ad Man track used to be my go-to get ready to party music.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:09 PM on April 30, 2014


Slap*Happy: You bought this CD just for the first track on it.

Oh wow, that's a trip. I wonder if it was a "response record" of sorts to James Brown Is Dead, which is more hardcore and militaristic in its beat, but there is a very similar feel, between the hard beat and the vocal samples.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:58 PM on April 30, 2014


For me it was The Chemical Brothers' "Exit Planet Dust" - "Leave Home" was the white rabbit that led me down the whole techno-color garden path.

I know it sounds so tired and old now to some of you, but I hope you get to have the same experience in your lives, discovering a piece of music and then a genre that, even when it gets played out and turned into the soundtrack of your life or whatever-becomes-the-new-Buick ad, will make you remember fondly that time when you came across something that opened a doorway for you (in a good way).
posted by lon_star at 10:31 PM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]


also filthy light thief, there was a time when H2BHC 2 and 3 would play a lot around my place

H2BHC Chapter 3
is the pinnacle of Happy Hardcore. Just look at that track listing: Break of Dawn! Shooting Star! Sensation! Eyeopener ffs! It's like a non-stop jumping good time.

Just listening to this will guarantee that you will have a fine day - you might need to open some windows.
posted by Arbac at 11:58 PM on April 30, 2014


Well I really liked Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. I'm not sure why it's so scorned.

How I wish I had all my 90s dance music tapes. Damn you, obsolete format.
posted by Summer at 4:02 AM on May 1, 2014


H2BHC Chapter 3 is the pinnacle of Happy Hardcore. Just look at that track listing: Break of Dawn! Shooting Star! Sensation! Eyeopener ffs! It's like a non-stop jumping good time.

ahem

TAKE ME TO THE PLACE I'VE NEVER BEEN AND SHOW ME THE LIFE I'VE NOT YET SEEN (Set your volume to eleven thousand for that one)

Also while I'd gotten into trance (shut it, everyone) in a pretty big way before I'd actually ever gone real raving (gateway drug: Tranceport, as it was for so many), I think it was probably skylab2000 - Rollergirl (Thomas Michael Remix) (and sorry it's not on the youtubes anywhere) that really made me go "Whoa." But now I'm also having all sorts of flashbacks to El Nino and 1998 and You're Not Alone and well basically everything Thomas Michael, Dave Seaman, or James Boatman ever touched.

And then, a bit later, there were this and this and this that just wormed deep into my head.

And this which will always induce brainmelting (oh Grant Plant how I miss you). First time I ever heard this (included on this unbelievably good mix by Goa Gil) I swear what was left of my brain leaked out of my ears--money shot at 2:26.

But not a lot holds up like Vegas does. It sounds as fresh and new now as it did then.

Why can't you trip like I do?

(Cue 303 hook in every single person's brain reading this thread)
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:27 AM on May 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oh man - Vegas is such a solid album. Thanks for an exciting soundtrack for my boring morning at work.

I take Vegas and I raise you one Remedy by the always fantastic Basement Jaxx.
posted by Arbac at 12:20 PM on May 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


I wonder if it was a "response record" of sorts to James Brown Is Dead,

That would be James Brown is Still Alive by fellow dutch hardcore funsters, Holy Noise.

Second summer of love was a quarter of a century ago.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 11:03 PM on May 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


Favourite Jaxx Trak. Just thinking about it makes me feel the rushing, rushing in our bones. So many awesome moments engrained in the brain. My dream of the 90s looks nothing like Portland.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 11:08 PM on May 1, 2014


Now that we've gone down this road I'll have to throw The Hypnotist into the mix too... Hardcore U Know The Score and then of course The House Crew's We Are Hardcore
posted by Chairboy at 5:56 AM on May 2, 2014


All this dancing is making me hungry. I think I'll go grab a few sandwiches.
posted by Arbac at 8:54 AM on May 2, 2014


Space is the place.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 11:10 AM on May 2, 2014


inpHilltr8r: "Favourite Jaxx Trak. Just thinking about it makes me feel the rushing, rushing in our bones."

Not Set Yo Body Free?
posted by meehawl at 9:07 PM on May 3, 2014


Vegas is a great album, but it came out five years later than Experience, which was a pretty revolutionary five years for electronic music. For a good point of reference, Fat of the Land was also released before Vegas.

Though other than Experience (and I guess Messiah 21st Century Jesus) none of my other early favorites are really hardcore - because there was so much great acid & ambient house going on back then too!
posted by aubilenon at 9:17 PM on May 3, 2014


For hardcore, I like Technohead: Headsex or The Passion.
posted by meehawl at 9:23 PM on May 3, 2014


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