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The Prodigy

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AboutThis Braintree, Essex, England-based outfit, originally formed by Liam Howlett (b. 21 August 1971, Braintree, Essex, England), Keith Flint (b. 27 March 1969, England), Leeroy Thornhill (b. 8 October 1968, Essex, England) and MC Maxim Reality (b.

Keith Palmer, 21 March 1967, Cambridgeshire, England), shot to fame in the mid-90s as one of the first dance music acts to achieve the same level of success and media coverage as rock bands.
During the 80s Howlett was a breakdancer and DJ with the hip-hop crew Cut To Kill, but, inspired by the sounds of such artists as Meat Beat Manifesto and Joey Beltram, he began to write his own hard, edgy dance music. The Prodigy signed to XL Records in 1990 and, in February the following year, released their first EP, What Evil Lurks, which proved highly popular on the underground rave scene. Their next record, "Charly", which used samples of the famous public information road safety advertisement, was equally popular on the underground scene. On its commercial release, however, it climbed to number 3 on the UK charts, bringing the Prodigy to the attention of a wider audience. Its success spawned a number of similar "toytown" techno releases from other outfits, including tracks based on The Magic Roundabout and Sesame Street. The crew had already made a name for themselves performing at parties around the country, but differed from many anonymous dance acts by presenting a frenetic live show, with Flint and Thornhill dancing and Maxim on vocals. Their mainstream success continued with a series of Top 20 hits, including the Everybody In the Place EP, "Fire", "Out Of Space" and "Wind It Up", which were included on their debut album, released in 1992. The Prodigy Experience was a frantic blend of hard fidgeting breakbeats, rumbling basslines, rigid, angular melodic ideas and fragments of vocals, interspersed with the occasional breakdown. Howlett mostly employed harsh, metallic, edgy synth sounds, which were frequently offset by pianos and trivial sounds, serving to relieve the tense industrial feeling. Their next single, "One Love" (which had been released earlier that year as an anonymous white label entitled "Earthbound"), hinted at a change of direction in 1993, confirmed a year later by the Top 5 single "No Good (Start the Dance)" and the album Music For The Jilted Generation, which entered the UK album chart at number 1.

Two more singles, "Voodoo People" and "Poison", continued the Prodigy's commercial success. While they retained some elements of the hardcore sound (notably the breakbeats), musical mastermind Howlett had broadened their sound with "radio-friendly" vocals ("No Good (Start The Dance)"), heavy rock guitar ("Their Law" and "Voodoo People"), environmental sounds ("Break & Enter" and "Speedway"), flute ("Poison" and "3 Kilos"), and live drums. At the same time he dropped the angular, hardcore-style melodies and created an individual sound more influenced by techno-style repetition and abstraction, but still distinctively Prodigy.

The crew's reputation as a live act was further enhanced in the summer of 1995 by successful performances at Glastonbury and various other festivals, an area traditionally dominated by rock. Over the next 12 months the Prodigy continued to tour around Europe, Australia and America. In March 1996, they achieved their first UK number 1 single with "Firestarter". Combining clattering breakbeats, dirty sub-bass and whining guitar with Flint's punk-influenced vocals, the single appealed to a wide audience and brought the Prodigy to the attention of the rock press. In performances on that year's festival circuit, the line-up was augmented by guitarist Gizz Butt. Towards the end of the year, "Breathe" became their second UK number 1 single and confirmed their popularity with a mainstream audience both at home and abroad. In June 1997, Fat Of The Land entered the UK album chart at number 1. As with Music For The Jilted Generation, the album continued to explore new combinations of sound. By now they had completely abandoned the hardcore touches and, if anything, Fat Of The Land moved towards a punk and thrash-style, blending techno and breakbeat sounds with guitar, live drums and vocals to create a distinctive, futuristic hybrid of rock and dance.

2002

The Prodigy invoked media outrage with the release of the controversial "Smack My Bitch Up" and its "pornographic" promotional video. This did not stop them winning Best Dance Act at the 1998 BRIT Awards. The following year Howlett released an acclaimed mix album under the Prodigy name. Thornill left the band while they were in the process of recording their fourth studio album, later releasing Beyond All Reasonable Doubt under the Flightcrank pseudonym. The Prodigy made their return to the UK charts in July 2002 with the provocative but inane single, "Baby's Got A Temper". Once again, the band courted controversy by including references to the so-called "date rape" drug Rohypnol in the song's lyrics. The song's music video was also controversial, which featured barely covered women milking cows in a suggestive fashion. The complete, unedited video was aired on MTV2 in 2002 as part of a special late-night countdown showing the most controversial videos ever to air on MTV. In the same year Q magazine named the Prodigy one of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die".

Flint formed the offshoot band Flint in 2003.

2003 also saw the marriage of Howlett and All Saints' Natalie Appleton on 6 June. Their son, Ace Billy, was born on 2 March 2004.

Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (2004–2008)

The Prodigy's fourth studio album, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, was released on 23 August 2004 in UK and 14 September 2004 in the US. A precursory and experimental single, "Memphis Bells", was released in very limited numbers, followed by the traditional release of the single "Girls". The US version of the studio album contained a bonus track; a remix of "Girls", entitled "More Girls". The album, which topped the UK Albums Chart in its debut week, was promoted by a two-year-long tour.

5,000 digital copies of "Memphis Bells" were sold over the Internet. Each copy was a combination of customer-chosen instrumental, rhythmic, and melodic options, of which 39,600 choices were available. Five mixes were sold in three file formats, WAV, two audio mixes in MP3, and a 5.1 DTS surround sound mix, and all were free of digital rights management.

2005

Their Law: The Singles 1990–2005, a compilation album which spawned a single containing new remixes of the songs "Out of Space" (the "Audio Bullys Remix") and "Voodoo People" (the "Pendulum Remix"). The artwork represented drawn versions of the front covers of the "Out of Space" and "Voodoo People" single releases. Sharky, the group's only female member, is shown running and winning the race depicted in the video. Also in 2005 the song "You'll be under my wheels" from the "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" album appeared on the soundtrack of "Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

2006

The song "You'll be under my wheels" from the "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" album shows up on the soundtrack of "The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift".

Invaders Must Die (2008–2010)

The Prodigy's first two albums, 1992's Experience and 1994's Music for the Jilted Generation, were re-released in expanded, deluxe editions on 4 August 2008. As well as being remastered, the new packages featured a bonus disc including mixes, rarities, and live tracks. The two albums also featured expanded artwork in addition to the new musical content.

The Prodigy tested a few of the new tracks at Rainbow Warehouse Birmingham and Plug in Sheffield in May 2008. The Prodigy showcased four new songs at the Oxegen Festival in the early hours of 13 July 2008. Among the tracks previewed were "Worlds on Fire", "Warriors Dance", "Mescaline", and "First Warning", which was featured in the gangster movie Smokin' Aces and as among the songs featured in the soundtrack for Electronic Arts video game Need for Speed: Undercover.

On 5 November 2008, it was announced that the band's fifth studio album would be called Invaders Must Die and would be released on the band's new label, Take Me to the Hospital. It was released in the US on 3 March 2009, and was the first Prodigy album since 1997's The Fat of the Land to feature all three members of the band.

The album featured drummer Dave Grohl on drums for "Run with the Wolves". The top five hit "Omen" and "Invaders Must Die" were co-produced with Does It Offend You, Yeah? frontman James Rushent. The band said that the album would go back to their "old-school but cutting edge" roots. The album was released as a CD, CD-DVD set, double vinyl, digital download, and a luxury 7-inch vinyl box set including five 7-inches, CD-DVD, bonus CD, poster, stickers, and stencils.

Invaders Must Die was released on 21 February 2009 in Australia and in Europe on 23 February 2009, charting at number one in the UK with week one sales of over 97,000—a higher figure than for either Always Outnumbered or their singles collection. The album also reached the top five in Germany and Australia and top 10 in Norway and several other European countries.

To coincide with the release of the album, the band embarked on a nine-date UK arena tour, with support from Dizzee Rascal, Noisia, Herve, and DJ Kissy Sell Out. The tour included the first edition of the band's own annual dance gig, the Warriors Dance Festival. The single "Omen" debuted at number 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart the week of 25 February 2009 and won the Kerrang! Award for Best Single. Initial critical response to Invaders Must Die was somewhat mixed. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 60, based on 20 reviews but was well received by the fans, who welcomed it in a positive light compared to Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. Two singles followed, "Warrior's Dance" and "Take Me to the Hospital", which were released on 11 May and 31 August 2009 respectively. The former song peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart, while the latter included a VHS-filmed music video that premiered on VidZone. A fourth single, "Invaders Must Die (Liam H Reamped Version)", from the Special Edition of the album, was released. Howlett would later describe the album as "more of a celebration. We'd come back together and were like, 'Yeah! We're here, we're really buzzing!"

They also played Glastonbury in 2009.

The Day Is My Enemy (2010–2015)

In May 2011, the band released World's on Fire, their first live album and concert film documenting their 24 July 2010 show at the Milton Keynes Bowl as part of that year's Warriors Dance Festival. The film screened to select theaters across Europe for one night. On 16 November 2010, Howlett announced that after their American tour with Linkin Park, the Prodigy were to re-enter to the studio to record new material.

On 6 August 2011, the Prodigy headlined the Przystanek Woodstock in Poland, while at their two final shows of 2011 in Brazil, they premiered two new tracks: "A.W.O.L" and "Dogbite". They headlined the 2012 Download Festival on 8 June playing a regular setlist, with the addition of three new songs, "Jetfighter", "Dogbite" and "A.W.O.L", accompanied by on-stage imagery of jet aircraft. Liam Howlett has confirmed this album will not be dubstep, but that it will feel "fresh" whilst darker. In April 2012, to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of The Fat of the Land, the album was re-released alongside a remix EP, The Added Fat EP, featuring remixes from multiple groups such as Major Lazer, Noisia, and Zeds Dead.

On 3 May 2012, the Prodigy announced the working title of their new album How to Steal a Jetfighter. In December 2012, a new track titled "The Day" was debuted at Warrior's Brixton[citation needed] and in June 2013, a new track titled "Rockweiler" was debuted at Rock am Ring.[citation needed] The band headlined the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth in 2014. On 2 July 2014, the band revealed their upcoming album would have a different name and a "violent sound". In August 2014, they signed to the Three Six Zero Group for the United States, returning to Warner Music for the first time since 2004. Maxim indicated in September 2014 that the new Prodigy album would be released in the first quarter of 2015. It was later announced on 6 January 2015 that the next Prodigy album would be releasing 30 March 2015 and that it had been given the title The Day Is My Enemy.

On 12 January 2015 the Prodigy released "Nasty" as the lead single off their upcoming album along with the title track on 26 January 2015. Howlett found that "violent is the word that keeps on coming up" when describing the album. The entire recording process took almost six years taking in a number of studios and a few restarts to establish that "angry, energetic sound". Unlike previous efforts The Day Is My Enemy became a band-album where Flint and Maxim worked in tandem with Howlett. This created a degree of friction although Flint noted that "four years ago we sat down and talked about where the next album was gonna go, and we knew we had to bust out the most 'band' album we could create".

The band played at Future Music Festival Australia in February/March 2015 and toured Germany and France in April 2015[74] and the UK in May 2015. They also performed at the Rock Werchter, Rock am Ring/Rock im Park, Benicàssim and Isle of Wight festivals.

On 23 February 2015 the Prodigy released "Wild Frontier" as the second single off their upcoming album The Day Is My Enemy after announcing it three days earlier. The Stop-motion animation was directed by the Dutch filmmaker Mascha Halberstad and animator Elmer Kaan. The Cover Art was designed by Austrian artist and designer Moritz Resl. In 2015, the Prodigy announced a winter 2015 UK and mainland Europe tour on 26 May, with Public Enemy as support.

No Tourists (2016–present)

On 26 December 2016, the band announced that new music due for release at an unspecified date in 2017 on their Twitter account.[81] It is likely the new release will be an EP as Howlett stated in 2015 that the band may cease releasing full studio albums in favour of EPs, citing a lack of interest and the time it takes to make one.

In September 2017, the band signed a new recording deal with BMG Rights Management, which released their seventh studio album, No Tourists, on 2 November 2018. The deal reunites the group with Howlett's song publishing, which BMG had acquired from EMI Music Publishing in 2012 as part of the Virgin Music catalogue. During their European tour in December 2017, the band premiered three new songs: "Resonate", "Need Some1" (initially titled "New Beats"), and "Boom Tap".

On 18 July 2018, the band posted a snippet of an upcoming song to their various social media accounts with the caption "Tomorrow...". On the following day, they announced the new album on their Instagram page.

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