During the 1990's a new craze emerged on the music scene - electronic dance music. Groups like Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and The Crystal Method became popular during this era which focused on electronic and synthesized styles. One of the pioneering groups of the big beat electronic dance genre was The Prodigy, a group formed in Braintree, Essex in 1990 by Liam Howlett. By mixing the styles of rave, hardcore, industrial, and breakbeat music this group has achieved worldwide renown for songs like Charly, Out of Space, Woodoo People, and Firestarter.

The Prodigy

All Prodigy music is raw, and that will never change, the production is raw, the sounds are dirty, you can't get away from that. Take it or leave it.

During the 1990's a new craze emerged on the music scene - electronic dance music. Groups like Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and The Crystal Method became popular during this era which focused on electronic and synthesized styles. One of the pioneering groups of the big beat electronic dance genre was The Prodigy, a group formed in Braintree, Essex in 1990 by Liam Howlett. By mixing the styles of rave, hardcore, industrial, and breakbeat music this group has achieved worldwide renown for songs like Charly, Out of Space, Woodoo People, and Firestarter.

The Prodigy got its start when XL Recordings picked up a 10-track demo created by Liam Howlett on a Roland W-30 music workstation and their first public performance was held at the Four Aces in Dalston, London. Their popular rave hit, Charly was released six months later which propelled the group into the public eye and heralded in the release of their first full-length album, Experience. Despite the popularity of this album music critics had tagged the group with a reputation of producing "kiddie rave" music, a label which Howlett tried to dispel by releasing an anonymous white label titled Earthbound I which won a great underground following. When Howlett finally took responsibility for the album it was released as One Love and reached number eight on the chart in the UK.

In 1994 The Prodigy released their second album, Music for the Jilted Generation which entered the UK album charts at number one. This album covered a wider range of musical styles and was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. Over the next few years the band tried to prevent over-exposure in the media preferring to dedicate themselves to making The Prodigy a hard dance band. In 1997 the group released The Fat of the Land which represented a milestone both for the band and for the mainstream dance music scene. With a greater punk feel and simplified melodies, this album solidified the band's position as one of the most successful groups in the dance genre.

The most recent albums released by The Prodigy include their fourth studio album, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned released in 2004 and Invaders Must Die released in 2009. Invaders charted at number one in the UK and had sales over 97,000 within one week of the release. The band continues to hold a strong following and rumors of a fifth single from the album are circulating online. Other rumors suggest that the band will be performing at the V Festival this year in Chelmsford.

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