WHY isn't LIAM HOWLETT ranked alongside RDJ? [ the Prodigy ]

I think Liams arrangements and programming surpassed Richard back in the day by a very long way. The baton was passed on around the late 90's when the Prodigy flew up their own coked up arses and started to make shit festival music where Richard spent most of his life tweaking REX files, bullshitting on NME plus having Chris Cunningham boost his profile into orbit.

Didn't Rich once claim Prodigy stole a synth from him on tour?

  On 6/26/2012 at 11:21 PM, soundwave said:

I think Liams arrangements and programming surpassed Richard back in the day by a very long way.

lol just no.

mmmm this thread is a bit odd.....

the prodigy are pure cheese. generic synth sounds, "pounding" rhythms, vaguely ethnic sounding textures and "atmospheres". the song names are sort of new agey, celestial. i think of glow sticks and alex grey paintings when i hear the prodigy. maybe i just hate dance culture and most dance music, which is why i like aphex. it's not you, the prodigy, it's me.

  On 6/27/2012 at 1:09 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 6/26/2012 at 11:21 PM, soundwave said:

I think Liams arrangements and programming surpassed Richard back in the day by a very long way.

 

lol just no.

Compare what they were doing in 1992. Prodigy's stuff was highly sequenced with breakdowns and individual sections, where RDJ's stuff was mostly fading looped sequences in and out..

  On 6/27/2012 at 2:55 AM, modey said:

  On 6/27/2012 at 1:09 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 6/26/2012 at 11:21 PM, soundwave said:

I think Liams arrangements and programming surpassed Richard back in the day by a very long way.

 

lol just no.

Compare what they were doing in 1992. Prodigy's stuff was highly sequenced with breakdowns and individual sections, where RDJ's stuff was mostly fading looped sequences in and out..

yes yes, I see what you mean about there not being any individual sections. like how there isn't a sequenced break at 1:10. Or how he hasn't put a break down in to build to the last section which introduces a new counterpoint line. And never mind that he did that in 1991.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgknhfyrYYs

(ok this is 1993, but listen to the compositional structure. Liam wishes he could layer that well.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9HYjesSpTs

Or introducing new rhythmic elements at 1:35 (ish) after a programmed break.

Yeah he totally just faded the loops in and out and got lucky. No arrangement necessary.

Look, I like the prodigy, and I think Experience and Music For the Jilted Generation are wicked albums. But Liam's compositional and arranging skills are nowhere near what Richard's were/are.

And As for why Liam isn't rated alongside Richard? Liam devolved into a parody of himself, while Richard kept progressing.

I revisited Experience and MFAJG... Let's just say there's a reason those are collecting dust.

do not care about present argument

jamming out to Jericho

still.

  On 6/27/2012 at 2:55 AM, modey said:

  On 6/27/2012 at 1:09 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 6/26/2012 at 11:21 PM, soundwave said:

I think Liams arrangements and programming surpassed Richard back in the day by a very long way.

 

lol just no.

Compare what they were doing in 1992. Prodigy's stuff was highly sequenced with breakdowns and individual sections, where RDJ's stuff was mostly fading looped sequences in and out..

seriously, what the fuck modey? are you trolling this thread for any particular reason?

Pffft, it's not like either of them are Stockhausen.

Aphex is excellent emotional and (weird) party music. Prodigy is excellent party music. That's how I see it.

  On 6/27/2012 at 1:57 AM, zaphod said:

the prodigy are pure cheese. generic synth sounds, "pounding" rhythms, vaguely ethnic sounding textures and "atmospheres". the song names are sort of new agey, celestial. i think of glow sticks and alex grey paintings when i hear the prodigy. maybe i just hate dance culture and most dance music, which is why i like aphex. it's not you, the prodigy, it's me.

Well back in 1992, i'm sure that was the point? It was rave culture after all, which was the freedom / party scene.

P.L.U.R

Jilted and Experience are such nostalgia rushes, still sound amazing to me. Also no amen! Amazing innit.

  On 6/27/2012 at 12:18 PM, BCM said:

  On 6/27/2012 at 2:55 AM, modey said:

  On 6/27/2012 at 1:09 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 6/26/2012 at 11:21 PM, soundwave said:

I think Liams arrangements and programming surpassed Richard back in the day by a very long way.

 

lol just no.

Compare what they were doing in 1992. Prodigy's stuff was highly sequenced with breakdowns and individual sections, where RDJ's stuff was mostly fading looped sequences in and out..

 

seriously, what the fuck modey? are you trolling this thread for any particular reason?

I'm not trolling, I'm just trying to look at this argument neutrally, rather than as an RDJ fanboy. You seriously can't hear it? Most of RDJ's stuff until HAB was one or two layered synth sequences with a few layers of percussion, and the 'song' consists of muting and un-muting the layers on the fly/knob tweaks etc. I'm not saying that's bad or anything (shit, almost everyone on Warp did that in the early 90s), just that it's a different approach to Liam's, where everything is highly sequenced with very distinct breakdowns and 'drops'. And no, I'm not saying that RDJ's music didn't have those elements, just that it sounds different when you're doing it on the fly.

regardless of the method, they both had breakdowns and individual sections. RDJs rhythmic and melodic arranging, as well as the sounds that he programmed were far "better" (as subjective a term as possible) than Howlett's, who tended to use stock sounds on his synths.

  On 6/25/2012 at 8:02 AM, compson said:

why anyone cares about ranking is a mystery to me

qft

love em both for different reasons. prodigy was one of my first electronic loves... i bought Experience when i was 8 or 9 (not sure how i even heard about it). it's always felt like "violently happy" music to me, and i still like it when i'm in that sort of mood

ranking, lol, fuck it

when i was a youth i used to burn cali weed

FIIIIRE!

'Experience' was pretty good (there's an Aphex Twin shout out in the liner notes of that album) the rest af their albums were corny. The track that was youtube linked at the beginning of this thread was lame. No way is that as good as Aphex Twin.

A short argument for the artistry, originality, and creativity of Prodigy as a group during their first two or three albums:

Each album is different... at least from EXPERIENCED to JILTED to FAT... there is a creative progression. I say that's a sign of a genuine and creative artist... it provides the means to frame the forward progress and ideas within a structure. By comparing the sound of EXPERIENCED to JILTED, you can see the totality of what Jilted actually is, and you get a better idea of what they were thinking. They were working with intent.

It's easy to just write them off as some big beat morons. I do that all the time with artists I don't like, and it's somewhat true.

I can probably point to about 20 albums that sound similar to Ambient Works 85-92, and try as you might, you will not be able to find anything that sounds like Experienced or Music for the Jilted Generation. I guarantee it. I guess you could make the argument that those 20 albums I find don't REALLY capture what's great about Ambient Works 85-92... but expect me to make the same argument towards stuff like Altern 8, T99, etc in comparison with Prodigy.

I just wanted to write this, it's something I think about a lot, as I'm hugely inspired by being a kid and blasting this stuff and driving with my dad playing it on the speakers. I can't just write it off, I still listen to it today and think there's something cool about it...the way it blends disparate sounds and ideas into a new whole. I'm not saying the same things about Moby or Propellerheads. I'm not claiming Better Living Through Chemistry or Homework were great albums...I listened to them a lot but they never compelled me like Experienced and MFTJG, because they're generic. So, just some thoughts. I have stake in this opinion because I make music that is heavily inspired by the "good/original" elements of Big Beat as I hear it.

  On 6/24/2012 at 11:42 AM, kinski said:

my bet is on 'he was never as good'

well he's probably sold more records, had more parties and done more drugs. :)

but, a lot of his tracks have been shit, cheese rave crap.

AFX is better in a lot of respects.

but the Prodigy are definitely richer. and i guess in the music bizz world that = more successful, and thus ranked higher than RDJ.

  On 6/28/2012 at 4:55 AM, vamos scorcho said:

 

 

I can probably point to about 20 albums that sound similar to Ambient Works 85-92, and try as you might, you will not be able to find anything that sounds like Experienced or Music for the Jilted Generation. I guarantee it. I guess you could make the argument that those 20 albums I find don't REALLY capture what's great about Ambient Works 85-92... but expect me to make the same argument towards stuff like Altern 8, T99, etc in comparison with Prodigy.

 

 

List your 20 albums then.

For shit that sounds like Experience (all from 1992):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkbXJ7hWaiw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNfM4iKxBkA

OK I'm gonna cheat on this one - it's from 93. But you can't leave out The Slammer

In one of the massive d'n'b/jungle threads in here, someone posted like a 9 minute video that covered 4 or 5 great tracks from the era, all of which sound like something you'd hear the prodigy put out.

yeah, i have to agree with chen, here... even though he's some kind of net robot and not a real human, i'm sure ;)

but there's so much shit out there that was spawned off of/sounds like the prodigy.

damn, vamos... i thought u were better than this??

he is still ranked very highly anyway, mate, if it's any consolation. the uk still loves him/the prodigy,...in fact WAY more than afx!! lol

i don't really understand why you'd think otherwise. unless u live on the moon with 56kbps access to watmm, only... ? :/

  On 6/28/2012 at 7:00 AM, chenGOD said:

For shit that sounds like Experience (all from 1992):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymMzjKKRefw

That's a good track. I like the beat and everything about it. However I do prefer this:

I do think that my fanhood is more based on childhood nostalgia than I want to admit.

  On 6/28/2012 at 7:00 AM, chenGOD said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkbXJ7hWaiw

Not the same level in concept or execution as this:

Still a good track though. I prefer the big, well thought out melodies here.

In the end the comparison is maybe similar to

[1989-1990]

vs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7RBqzzfsqU

[1993]

I like both those, just for comparisons.

In the end this is just a thread for me to profess my love for Prodigy. I'm biased because I was raised on it.

I'm not convinced that either is inherently better though, unless my ears aren't as good as I thought. I don't choose one over the other, I hope that's clear. I refuse to state that I would rather listen to "Xtal" than "Their Law." That's not something I'm willing to write. They're both good. Equally? - I don't know. Haha.

that Polygon Window track is amazing.

  On 6/26/2012 at 11:06 AM, oscillik said:

awww

 

feelsbadman.tif

.TIF?!?! How hi-res are the reaction images you normally employ?!

The Prodigy is dance music, Richard's stuff isn't necessarily. Most of the music I like of both sounds quite dated, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. You can't really compare one to the other, anyw