Prodigy - Fat Of The Land (XL Recordings) Thoughts of a dance music combo inevitably bring to mind techno boffins who hibernate eternally in studios and behind banks of computers, with a session rapper or soul singer to boot. But for a dance group to sell out stadium shows and put on a wholesome performance with an in-your-face stage presence, the Prodigy can surely claim to be unique. Instead of the plastic disco-friendly, mind-numbing oompah-oompah that your second-rate but platinum-selling dance acts churn out time after time, the Prodigy experiments with a collage of hardcore rhythms and breakbeats. Fat Of The Land, the band's third album in its six-year career, is the fruit of perfection. Witness the manic breakbeat anthems Firestarter and Breathe, which indulge in so provocative a style with start-stop breakbeats, sound samples mangled up with guitar riffs and demented vocals from frontman Keith Flint. In Fat Of The Land, the band has created the masterpiece of the genre this year.
