The Prodigy is a British electronic group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990, in Braintree, Essex, England. Along with Orbital, The Chemical Brothers and The Crystal Method,
As well as other acts they are pioneers of the big beat electronic dance genre which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s, and are known for high-quality live sets. They have sold over 16 million records worldwide which is unequalled in dance music history. Their music consists of various styles ranging from rave, industrial and breakbeat in the early 1990s to electronic rock, big beat and nu skool breaks with punk vocal elements in later times. The current band members include Liam Howlett (composer/keyboards), Keith Flint (dancer/vocalist) and Maxim Reality (MC/vocalist). Leeroy Thornhill (dancer/very occasional live keyboards) was a member of the band from 1990 to 2000, as was a female dancer/vocalist called Sharky who left the band during their early period. The Prodigy first emerged on the underground rave scene in the early 1990s, and have since then achieved immense popularity and worldwide renown. Some of their most popular songs include "Charly", "Out of Space", "No Good (Start the Dance)", "Voodoo People", "Firestarter", "Breathe", "Smack My Bitch Up", "Omen" & "Warrior's Dance." The name displayed on album covers changed from "The Prodigy" to "Prodigy" between Music for the Jilted Generation and The Fat of the Land in 1997 and back again with the release of Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned in 2004. However, Howlett has stated that the title has always been "The Prodigy". The change was made only to fit within the displayed logo, according to Howlett.
The Prodigy began with an initial 10-track demo by Liam Howlett, put together on a Roland W-30 music workstation in Essex, England. XL Recordings picked up the demo after Howlett played several tracks to XL boss Nick Halkes in a meeting and an initial 12" pressing of "What Evil Lurks" was released in February 1991. There are some few thousand bootlegs of this release; the original should have "the exchange" carved in the vinyl around the center of the single. The Prodigy's name was a moniker Liam had chosen as a tribute to his first analogue synthesiser, the Moog Prodigy. The Prodigy's first public performance (with Howlett augmented by dancers Keith Flint and Leeroy Thornhill) was at the Four Aces in Dalston, London (then home to "Club Labrynth"). "Charly", released six months later, became a huge hit in the rave scene at the time, largely due to the popularity of AA-side track Your Love which was arguably more popular within the scene at the time. The release reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart, catapulting the band into the wider public attention. The Kaos Theory compilation series featured "G Force (Energy Flow)" from their third single "Everybody in the Place". In the wake of Charly's success the music charts were filled with unsophisticated "hardc..." rave tracks to which speed and ecstasy-fuelled clubbers had danced all night, but which did not appeal to critics in the music press. Examples were tracks such as Urban Hype's "Trip to Trumpton", and Smart E's (as in Ecstasy) "Sesame's Treet", instigating death-by-publicity to the underground "hardc... rave" scene according to many critics, ravers and followers of the scene. As a result "Charly" (a contemporary reference to cocaine), with its memorable sample of the "Charley Says" children's Public information films and The Prodigy were briefly identified by critics as "kiddie rave" or "Toytown Techno". "Charly" was soon followed by the band's first full length album, Experience, a landmark release in the history of British rave music. After Experience (album track "Death of the Prodigy Dancers" featured Ragga MC band member Maxim Reality) and the run of singles that accompanied it, the Prodigy moved to distance themselves from the "kiddie rave" reputation that now dogged them. The rave scene was beginning to move on from its hardc... phase, with the Criminal Justice Act's "anti-rave" legislation on the horizon. In 1993, Howlett released an anonymous white label, bearing only the title "Earthbound I". Its hypnotic, hard-edged sound won wide underground approval. Many former critics of the band were astounded when Howlett finally acknowledged responsibility for the record. It was officially released as "One Love" later that year, and went on to chart at #8 in the UK.
Members
Current members
* Liam Howlett – Keyboards, Programming, Songwriter (1990 – present)
* Keith Flint – Dancer, Vocalist (1990 – present)
* Maxim Reality – MC, Vocalist (1990 – present)
Former members
* Leeroy Thornhill – Dancer, occasional live Keyboardist (1990 – 2000)
* Sharky – Vocalist, Dancer (1990)
Live members
* Leo Crabtree – Drummer (2008 - present)
* Rob Holliday – Live Guitarist (2005 – 2006, 2008 - present)
Former live members
* Kieron Pepper – Drummer, occasional Guitarist (1997-2007)
* "The Rev" – Guitarist (2007)
* "Snell" – Drummer, (July 2007)
* Brian Fairbairn – Drummer (2007)
* Jim Davies – Live and Studio Guitarist (1995 – 1996, 2002 – 2004)
* Alli Maclnnes – Guitarist (2001, 2002)
* Gizz Butt – Live Guitarist (1996 – 1999)
Discography
Studio albums
* 1992: Experience
* 1994: Music for the Jilted Generation
* 1997: The Fat of the Land
* 2004: Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned
* 2009: Invaders Must Die
EPs
* 1991: What Evil Lurks
* 1995: Voodoo People
* 2002: Baby's Got a Temper
* 2004: Hotride
* 2009: Lost Beats
Compilations
* 1999: The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One
* 2005: Their Law: The Singles 1990-2005
Selected Remixes
* Dream Frequency - Take me
* The Time Frequency - Retribution
* Baby D - Casanova
* Art of Noise - Instruments of Darkness
* Front 242 - Religion
* Jesus Jones - Zeroes and Ones
* Method Man - Release Yo 'Delf
* Oasis - Falling Down
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