Day 0846 - Fat of the Land

Prodigy "Fat of the Land"  - got it

Prodigy dropped the 'the' from their name, got themselves a shiny new ant logo, and got PUNK.  

From Keith Flint's spiky hairdo and punky vocal contributions to the album, to the confrontational nature of opening track "Smack my Bitch up".

The album was a bit of a change up from its predecessors.  It still had the big thumping beats and aggressive razor-blade synth lines but there are a lot more vocals here.    As well as Flint's contributions to hits "Breathe" and "Firestarter" and a couple of other tracks, Prodigy member Maxim Reality is on a couple of tracks and Doctor Octagon himself Kool Keith features on the slightly lower tempo "Diesel Power".

The change worked well for them, with the first couple of singles going to number one and the album in general being a critical and commercial success.  

The band tried to recapture the magic with single "Baby's got a temper" but it was seen as a bit of a weak retread and their next full album would see the focus move from Maxim and Flint back to Howlett's beats and production.

Day 0811 - Dr Octagonecologyst

Dr Octagon "Dr Octagonecologyst" (1996)

Originally a founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, Kool Keith started working on solo material.  He completed a couple of tracks with collaborator Kutmasta Kurt which they sent out to radio stations and local DJs.   The tracks got into the hands of producer Dan 'the Automator' Nakamura who came on board and recorded the album with the two KKs in his home studio in his parents' basement.

It's a concept album featuring (particularly for a rap album) surreal lyrics about Kool Keith's alter-ego, a time-travelling gynaecologist Dr Octagon.   Though Keith would go on to downplay the input of Kurt and the Automator on the sound of the album, Nakamura is a sorely underappreciated producer.   From his own projects such as Handsome Boy Modelling School, Lovage and Got a Girl, to his production work for bands like Kasabian and Head Automatica, to his collaborative work such as Peeping Tom, the first Gorillaz album and several projects with Del tha Funky Homosapien.

The music here is inventively produced, loaded with film samples, and cinematic production, mixing strings, sci-fi/horror cues and interesting beats.

I'd say that as a fan of the Automator I wanted to like it more than I did.  I enjoyed the music and didn't actively dislike Keith's rhymes but for some reason the whole thing didn't really 'capture' me.

Day 0784 - Music for the Jilted Generation

Prodigy "Music for the Jilted Generation" (1994) - got it

Liam Howlett handed Keith Flint a cassette with some dance mixes on one side and some of his own material on the other, labelled with the name 'Prodigy'.  The name was taken from an old Moog synthesizer and was being used by Howlett for his DJ performances.  The two, along with rapper Maxim and keyboardist/dancer Leroy then formed a group to pin the name Prodigy too.

The group achieved success on the rave scene with their initial singles and debut album "Experience".   Jilted Generation marked a kick against the mainstream adoption of the rave scene and the Conservative Party's attempt to crack down on that scene (the track "Their Law" seeming to be a direct attack against this).

This album still sounds pretty damned fresh for a release creeping up on 30 years old.   "Poison" is still a banger, and Howlett's mix of aggressive beats, hypnotic loops and dialogue sound samples works nicely.   I daresay that the album could stand to be a track or two shorter, but I really enjoyed revisiting it.

Day 0510 - Black Metal

Venom "Black Metal" (1982)

A bunch of Geordies having fun, playing speedy, punky metal and kind of having a bit of a laugh with it.  Yet they somehow manage to help create the genre of speed metal, and to spawn (or at least to help christen) a new, dark, twisted subgenre of metal that would go on to take itself and its church-burning far too seriously.

This album starts with the drummer cutting through a metal door with a chainsaw (according to the book... and it does sound like that's what's happening) and once the music gets going, the acoustics make it sound like it was recorded in a cave. All of this helps give the music on the album a special, feral charm.

Day 0466 - Group Sex

Circle Jerks "Group Sex" (1980)

14 tracks in 15 minutes... it doesn't get much more punk than that, motherfucker!

Keith Morris had left Blackflag to form his own band which he did, forming Circle Jerks with Red Kross guitarist Greg Hetson.

The songs are raucous party tracks and pretty much set down the blueprint for every party punk band to follow e.g. NOFX.

Day 0449 - Metal Box

Public Image Ltd "Metal Box" (1979)

Where the first PIL album had been all over the place, with some noisy drone pieces, and some remnants of John Lydon's punk stylings; Metal Box is much more cohesive, and more 'its own thing'.

The title and album cover really spell out the feel of the music: cold, bleak, and nihilistic. Blasts of bass-heavy post-punk that preceded many other such grinding, industrial bands. Bringing in influences seemingly as diverse as dub, and krautrock into the mix.

The album finishes with the somewhat out of place melodic, almost classical (but still cold and a little harsh somehow) piece "Radio 4".

Day 0431 - The B-52s

The B-52s "The B-52s" (1979) - got it

Like a weird mix of 50s rock n roll, 60s surf rock with the directness of punk, the twang of 1960s spy or batman music, mixed together with a whole lot of quirkiness and theatricality.

Prior to hearing this I was mostly familiar with the song 'love shack' that I'd heard at so many school discos and then bars/clubs that the name 'B-52s' was shrouded in commercialism and 'classic rock' radio. In contrast this album is fresh and interesting post-punk with all the ingredients listed above.

Full disclosure, I first checked out this album in the days when I enjoyed Family Guy and saw Peter Griffin perform 'rock lobster' and it seemed too brilliantly ridiculous to be a real song.... still kind of does.

Day 0407 - Public Image: First Issue

Public Image Ltd. "Public Image: First Issue" (1978)

 
I didn't realise that the Sex Pistols had imploded quite so quickly. John Lydon (nee Rotten) formed PiL shortly afterwards and moved on from his punk background to communicate his nihilistic, destructive street poetry via new idioms.

I seem to remember enjoying Metal Box and one or two other PIL tracks, but this one didn't really appeal to me. It sounds as though John didn't really know what he wanted to do at this stage and was just lashing out lyrically and casting about musically... which is an approach that can be interesting when done well, but on this occasion it just didn't really hold my attention.

Day 0193 - Live at Leeds

The Who "Live at Leeds" (1970)

The book muses on the fact that the studio always somewhat deadened the energy of the band, and that the best way to experience them was live.  That sure as hell seems to be the case here, the band is explosive.  Moon's drumming seems totally out of control yet fits perfectly into the songs.  Entwistle's bass-playing pins the song down while still being dexterous and exciting!  Townsend and Daltry paint over the top of all of this.

There's a hilarious contrast between the wild rocking performance and the quiet, polite well-spoken moments in between (with the occasional cheeky interjection by Keith up the back in the cheap seats).

Day 0128 - Truth

Jeff Beck "Truth" (1968)

 

 
Hadn't really heard much of Jeff's music outside of some of his work with the Yardbirds, and his beautiful playing on the version of 'A day in the life' for Sir George Martin's "In my life" album.

This is a nice bluesy rocking album (aside from a breezy acoustic rendition of Greensleeves) with various star players featuring, most notably Beck's upcoming young singer Rod Stewart.  The Who's Keith Moon appears on one track and the Rolling Stones' Ron Wood pops up on another. Beck shines most in the instrumental tracks, but then I'm glad that it's not an entirely instrumental guitar album as the vocals add some variety to proceedings.