The Prodigy
The Prodigy navigated the high-wire, balancing artistic merit and mainstream visibility with more flair than any electronica act of the 1990s. Ably defeating the image-unconscious attitude of most electronic artists in favor of a focus on nominal frontman Keith Flint, the group crossed over to the mainstream of pop music with an incendiary live experience that approximated the original atmosphere of the British rave scene even while leaning uncomfortably close to arena-rock showmanship and punk theatrics. True, Flint's spiky hairstyle and numerous piercings often made for better advertising, but it was producer Liam Howlett whose studio wizardry launched the Prodigy to the top of the charts, spinning a web of hard-hitting breakbeat techno with king-sized hooks and unmissable samples.
After Howlett, the prodigy behind the group's name, met up with Keith Flint and Leeroy Thornhill in the growing British rave scene, the trio formed the Prodigy. The band showed they were no one-anthem wonders in late 1992, with the release of The Prodigy Experience, one of the first LPs by a rave act. During 1993, Howlett added a ragga/hip-hop MC named Maxim Reality. After several months of working on tracks, they issued "No Good (Start the Dance)" single. "Music for the Jilted Generation" album provided a transition for the group, from piano pieces and rave-signal tracks to more guitar-integrated singles like "Voodoo People."
The Prodigy spent much of 1994 and 1995 touring around the world, proving that electronica could make it in a live venue. The group had already made a transition from the club/rave circuit to more traditional rock venues. Howlett managed to bring out the next new Prodigy single in March 1996 called "Firestarter." In the middle of the electronica buzz, the Prodigy dropped their third album, The Fat of the Land. The LP entered both British and American charts at number one, shifting several million units worldwide.
The "Baby's Got a Temper" single appeared in 2002 and soon after Leeroy Thornhill left the band. Maxim and Keith Flint were still in the band but they weren't to be found on 2004's Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. Instead the album featured guest spots from Oasis' Liam Gallagher, Kool Keith, Twista, and actress Juliette Lewis. Flint and Maxim did join Howlett for a worldwide tour to support the album that launched in October 2004. A year later Their Law: Singles compiled the big hit