Music for the Jilted Generation is the second studio album by English
electronic dance music band The Prodigy. The album was released through XL
Recordings in July 1994. The album was re-released in 2008 as More Music for
the Jilted Generation, including remastered and bonus tracks. Similarly
to their previous record Experience, Maxim Reality is the only group member,
besides Liam Howlett, from the then line-up to contribute to the album.
Album information The album is largely a response to the
corruption of the rave scene in Britain by its mainstream status as well as
Great Britain's Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which
criminalised raves and parts of rave culture. This is exemplified in the song
"Their Law" with the spoken word intro and the predominant lyric, the "Fuck 'em
and their law" sample. Many years later, after the controversy died down, Liam
Howlett derided the title of the album, which he referred to as "stupid", and
maintained that the album was never meant to be political in the first
place. Many of the samples featured on the
album are sound clips from, or inspired by, movies. "Intro" features a sample
that sounds like it's from the film The Lawnmower Man, however it is an American
voice on "Intro" instead of Pierce Brosnan's English accent and the words
are subtly different, "Their Law" samples Smokey and the Bandit, "Full
Throttle" features a reverse sample from the original Star Wars movie, and "The
Heat" features a sample from Poltergeist III. In "Claustrophobic Sting", a voice
whispers "My mind is glowing", similar to HAL 9000 saying "My mind is going" in
the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. When Liam Howlett came to the cutting
room for the final phase in the album production he realised that all the
tracks he had originally planned for wouldn't fit onto a CD, so "One Love"
had to be edited which resulted in a cut of approximately 1 minute and 41
seconds, "The Heat" was slightly cut, and the track called "We Eat Rhythm" was
left out. "We Eat Rhythm" was later released on a free cassette with Select
Magazine in October 1994 entitled Select Future Tracks. Liam Howlett later
asserted that he felt the edit of "One Love" and "Full Throttle" could have
been dropped from the track listing. "The Narcotic Suite" includes live flute
parts, played by Phil Bent. Originally, Howlett asked Ian Anderson of Jethro
Tull to play this part or to give permission to use samples of one of his
flute parts; according to Anderson, the letter from Howlett got stuck in his
office and when Ian found it, the album was already released.
The cover of the inner artwork of the record was analysed in an article
published in 2008 in the techno underground Magazine Datacide. The
author compares the picture with a persiflage which was published in 2003
on the Kid606 album Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You. The article not only
describes the representation of raves in graphic artwork but also describes the
marketing strategy of the band with the album and criticises it:
With the picture The Prodigy are taking a stance in the conflict of ravers
versus the police in those days. At the same time this statement is used to
market a rebellious attitude. The picture is part of the artwork of a
record – which is of course a commodity. The teenage consumer ought to identify
himself with the presented rebellion. With the help of the artwork a certain
image of The Prodigy is established: They should be seen as anti-stars, who
define themselves through refusal and opposition [...].
Reception Music for the Jilted Generation has
received critical acclaim. Rolling Stone gave it three-and-a-half stars, calling
it "truly trippy" and that it "generates universal dance fever". Alternative
Press said it "throws much darker shapes than its predecessor" and "slams harder
and rawer and covers more ground". Robert Christgau called it "one of the
rare records that's damn near everything you want cheap music to be". Mojo ranked
it number 83 in their "100 Modern Classics" list.
Spin ranked it number 60 in their "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s" list. NME
ranked it number 9 in their "Top 50 Albums of 1994" list. Q readers voted it
the 62nd greatest album of all time in early 1998 and ranked it as one of the
best British albums of the last 50 years in 2008. On 4 December 2008, radio
presenter Zane Lowe inducted it into his 'masterpieces' by playing the album in
full on his BBC Radio 1 show. It is included in the book 1001 Albums You
Must Hear Before You Die. Track listing
All songs written and composed by Liam Howlett, unless indicated otherwise.
Chart positions Certifications
Personnel Liam Howlett – performing, synthesizers,
keyboards, sampling, drum-machines, production at Earthbound studios,
co-production at The Strongroom, mixing, engineering
Maxim Reality – co-writer and vocalist on "Poison"
Neil McLellan – co-production and mixing at The Strongroom
Pop Will Eat Itself – performer on "Their Law"
Phil Bent – live flute Lance Riddler – live guitar on "Voodoo
People" Mike Champion – management
= Artwork= Les Edwards – inside sleeve painting
Stuart Haygarth – front cover Jamie Fry – rear sleeve
References