Initial Pop Music Influences Assignment - The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English band formed in 1990 by Liam Howlet who plays keyboard and composes, the other two main members are Keith Flint and Maxim Reality who both sing and dance/MC. Their genre is mainly electronic dance, but also has rock, breakbeat, punk and rave elements to it.
Currently they have five studio albums - Experience (1992), Music For The Jilted Generation (1994), The Fat of The Land (1997), Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned (2004) and their most recent album Invaders Must Die (2009) which features Dave Grohl on drums. They have sold over 17 million records which is more than any other dance artist. The Prodigy are also known to do good live performances as Keith Flint and Maxim Reality were originally dancers before they joined the band. From NME, Live Reviews http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-prodigy/10358 - “We’re under attack. An incredible onslaught of noise. The sound of missiles, choppers, shelling: boom boom boom. Strobe lights disorientate us, the smell of smoke and adrenaline thick in the nostrils, hellish screaming all around.
Early music from the Experience album is influenced by dance and rave music which was popular in the early nineties. They use a lot of old school keyboard sounds and synthesisers. The drums are break beat and are played very fast with extra percussion like bongos and shakers. The baseline is heavy and there is no guitar or lyrics, but rave style vocal samples are played throughout. Artists like this that could have influenced them are Acen, Future Sounds of London and Channel X.
Their second album Music For The Jilted Generation is very similar to Experience. It has the same kind of drum patterns, keyboard sequences and vocal samples that are still influenced from early 90’s rave artists like Acen. I think there are artists now that were influenced by these albums like Glowstiyx who released the album Class of 92 in 2007.
Their next two albums were The Fat of The Land and Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned, they had a punk guitarist called Gizz and the style had moved from rave to heavy punk and dub - step. The guitar riffs, vocal styles and their image were similar to punk artists like The Sex Pistols. The drums and bass had slowed down and got heavier and now they had punk - style singing.
Interview from Kerrang http://www.theprodigy.info/articles/kerrangnov96.shtml - "I guess you get influenced by what you see", says Howlett, "We just got bored with the typical sound of the dance scene and wanted to expand on that”.
Their latest album is Invaders Must Die, the style has mixed genres, rock, electronic, break beat and also has dance style keyboards again. QOTSA were an influence and songs by Pendulum sound similar to Invaders Must Die. The vocals still have a punk style to them - "I have to write angry music - not like Rage against the Machine, politically angry, but just a reaction to the energy of the music that comes from angry, hard sounds. ".
The Prodigy are an English band formed in 1990 by Liam Howlet who plays keyboard and composes, the other two main members are Keith Flint and Maxim Reality who both sing and dance/MC. Their genre is mainly electronic dance, but also has rock, breakbeat, punk and rave elements to it.
Currently they have five studio albums - Experience (1992), Music For The Jilted Generation (1994), The Fat of The Land (1997), Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned (2004) and their most recent album Invaders Must Die (2009) which features Dave Grohl on drums. They have sold over 17 million records which is more than any other dance artist. The Prodigy are also known to do good live performances as Keith Flint and Maxim Reality were originally dancers before they joined the band. From NME, Live Reviews http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-prodigy/10358 - “We’re under attack. An incredible onslaught of noise. The sound of missiles, choppers, shelling: boom boom boom. Strobe lights disorientate us, the smell of smoke and adrenaline thick in the nostrils, hellish screaming all around.
Early music from the Experience album is influenced by dance and rave music which was popular in the early nineties. They use a lot of old school keyboard sounds and synthesisers. The drums are break beat and are played very fast with extra percussion like bongos and shakers. The baseline is heavy and there is no guitar or lyrics, but rave style vocal samples are played throughout. Artists like this that could have influenced them are Acen, Future Sounds of London and Channel X.
Their second album Music For The Jilted Generation is very similar to Experience. It has the same kind of drum patterns, keyboard sequences and vocal samples that are still influenced from early 90’s rave artists like Acen. I think there are artists now that were influenced by these albums like Glowstiyx who released the album Class of 92 in 2007.
Their next two albums were The Fat of The Land and Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned, they had a punk guitarist called Gizz and the style had moved from rave to heavy punk and dub - step. The guitar riffs, vocal styles and their image were similar to punk artists like The Sex Pistols. The drums and bass had slowed down and got heavier and now they had punk - style singing.
Interview from Kerrang http://www.theprodigy.info/articles/kerrangnov96.shtml - "I guess you get influenced by what you see", says Howlett, "We just got bored with the typical sound of the dance scene and wanted to expand on that”.
Their latest album is Invaders Must Die, the style has mixed genres, rock, electronic, break beat and also has dance style keyboards again. QOTSA were an influence and songs by Pendulum sound similar to Invaders Must Die. The vocals still have a punk style to them - "I have to write angry music - not like Rage against the Machine, politically angry, but just a reaction to the energy of the music that comes from angry, hard sounds. ".
