The Fat of the Land

The Fat of the Land is the third studio album by English electronic music group The Prodigy. It was first released on 30 June 1997 by XL Recordings in the United Kingdom and on 1 July 1997 by Maverick Records in the United States.

The album received critical acclaim, and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide as of 2012.

Content
The album title comes from the old English phrase 'living off the fat of the land', which means living well or being wealthy.

The band name was shortened to simply "Prodigy" for the release and its singles.

While Liam Howlett is generally responsible for the compositions and Maxim Reality is featured on two tracks, this is the first record to include contributions by Keith Flint, who provides vocals on four of the songs, including a cover of the L7 song "Fuel My Fire" (from the 1994 album Hungry for Stink).

Release
Released in the last week of June, the album hit #1 on the Billboard chart on 19 July 1997. Certified double platinum on 2 December that year, it sold 2,600,000 copies in the United States.

The album caused controversy. The National Organization for Women objected to the seeming misogyny of "Smack My Bitch Up", though the band maintains that its true interpretation is "doing anything intensely". "That record was for the fans," observed Liam Howlett. "Only brainless people get some stupid message out of it… I'm often misquoted. Some magazine said, 'Liam Howlett says his band are dangerous.' What I said was, 'For this band to survive, it has to be dangerous for us'… I wasn't saying we were dangerous because we're firestarters and we have spiky hair."

In 1999, The Fat of the Land entered the Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling UK album. The album was also nominated for the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, but lost to Radiohead's OK Computer.

Legacy
It has been featured in a number of music publication lists:


 * In 1998, Q magazine readers voted The Fat of the Land the ninth greatest album of all time. In 2000, Q placed it at number 47 in its list of the 100 greatest British albums ever. It has also been ranked number 43 in Q ' s "Best 50 Albums of Q ' s Lifetime" list, and was included in their "90 Best Albums of the 1990s" and "50 Best Albums of 1997" lists.
 * Rolling Stone included in their "Essential Recordings of the 90s" list.
 * Spin ranked it number 20 on their list of the "Top 20 Albums of the Year [1997]" list.
 * Melody Maker ranked it number 13 on their list of "Albums of the Year" for 1997 and number 29 in their 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.
 * NME ranked it number 17 in their 1997 Critics' Poll.

The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album was also nominated for the 1997 Mercury Music Prize.

Cover versions

 * In 2004, KISS co-founder Gene Simmons covered "Firestarter" on his second solo album, Asshole. "Firestarter" was also covered by Sepultura on their album Kairos, and by Jimmy Eat World on their EP Firestarter.
 * In 2007, Kula Shaker, led by Crispian Mills, incorporated elements from "Climbatize" and "Narayan" (which lyrics were written by Mills) in the song "Song of Love / Narayana" from the album Strangefolk.

Personnel
The Prodigy
 * Keith Flint – vocals ("Breathe", "Serial Thrilla", "Firestarter", "Fuel My Fire")
 * Liam Howlett – keyboards, synthesizers, sampling, programming, production, engineering, mixing, art direction
 * Maxim Reality – vocals ("Breathe", "Mindfields")

Additional musicians
 * Shahin Badar – vocals ("Smack My Bitch Up")
 * Kool Keith – vocals ("Diesel Power")
 * Crispian Mills – vocals ("Narayan")
 * Saffron – vocals ("Fuel My Fire")
 * Gizz Butt – guitar ("Fuel My Fire")
 * Jim Davies – guitar ("Breathe", "Firestarter")
 * Matt Cameron – drums
 * Tom Morello – guitar ("No Man Army")

Other personnel
 * Neil McLellan – engineer
 * Christian Ammann – photography
 * JAKe – illustrations
 * Alex Jenkins – art direction, design, photography
 * Pat Pope – photography
 * Alex Scaglia – photography
 * Lou Smith – photography
 * Terry Whittaker – photography
 * Konrad Wothe – photography
 * Mike Champion – management