During the 90s, The Prodigy changed the course of Electronica, giving a fresh sound with every release. Although the more recent Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned was a breath of fresh air, signaling that original techno music was still around by giving twelve 4-6 minute tracks, most with live guitar and vocals, Music for the Jilted Generation has that originality showing up in pure rave techno songs. Music for the Jilted Generation is filled with 9 minute epics, switching over from raw beats to beautiful orchestrated melodies. Music for the Jilted Generation is the masterpiece that most groups only dream of accomplishing. The downfall of this record is when the sound effects come in, whether it's a tiring statement of "I've decided to take my work back underground to stop it from falling into the wrong hands" being backed up by generic typewriter clicks during the intro, or if it's bong bubblings and joint puffings that come close to ruining a 20 minute ode to narcotics.
Intro - 1/5
I'm not against intros to daring albums, in fact it seems almost fitting in most cases to have some sort of buildup before the music starts, but this intro fails to build up to anything. It does nothing but show the cheesy ideas of some stoned ravers.
Break & Enter - 5/5
This song incorporates all the elements needed to create a great techno song. The song kicks off with a great beat and moves on to sample and orchestrate into a 9 minute masterpiece.
Their Law - 3.5/5
This is definately not the highlight of the album. A live guitar replacing synthesized sounds is more than welcome any day in my world, but the same 3 power chords get pretty old after a while. To spice things up, the music drops out to make room for a statement of "F*** 'em, and their law!" The song then gets a bit more interesting, with a guitar solo and some interesting keyboard work. A guest appearance from Pop Will Eat Itself is cited in the liner notes.
Full Throttle - 5/5
Short but sweet. Full Throttle starts out with a beat much faster than the previous tracks. It uses some great synthesizer riffs, and has a great piano and string melody.
Voodoo People - 5/5
This seems to be the song that Their Law failed to be. Starting out the same way (minus the "What we're dealing with here is a total lack of respect for the law"), Voodoo People introduces a much more catchy guitar riff, and instead of the "F*** 'em" line, it breaks to a line of "Magic People, Voodoo People." The song then incorporates much more catchy riffs, including some help from a live flute. The clever line of "The voodoo who do what you don't dare to people" adds to the great feel of this song.
Speedway {Theme from Fastlane} - 4/5
This song is yet another classic Prodigy song, with almost everything going for it. The one downfall is the cheesy racecar sound effects used at the beginning and then incorporated throughout the song.
The Heat (The Energy) - 4/5
This song gets fairly repetitive, the one highlight being the string interlude that shows up on almost every song on the album. All in all, this song seems to just be filler.
Poison - 5/5
The intro to this song is yet another example of the sampling/sound effects that hurt the album a bit. Fortunately, I can't understand much of what's being said through the thick accents, so this bit can go unnoticed for the most part. The rest of the song shows the same great Prodigy sound, plus some great drum machine work. The sampling throughout the song ("I got the poison, I got the remedy") adds a nice touch.
No Good (Start the Dance) - 5/5
One of the best songs on the album. It starts out with a great bass/synth and drum intro, and goes on to utilize some great synthesizers, strings, and vocals.
One Love [Edit] - 5/5
The string and synth intro sets a choppy, uneven beat in the casual listeners mind, until the drum beat comes in to set a backbeat to the song. The rest of the song goes on pretty much the same way, and would turn into a terribly repetetive song if it weren't for the short 4 minute length. If this is the edit, I'd really hate to hear the full version.
The Narcotic Suite - 5/5
20 minutes of sheer genius. The suite is meant to immitate a narcotic trip. The highlight by far is the first movement, 3 Kilos. The drums, synthesizer, strings, piano, and flute work so well together. The next track, Skylined, is great and moody, using the drum beats and strings to their fullest. The song then moves on to Claustrophobic Sting, showing the uglier sides of a high. The on-edge beat is backed by laughs and screams, giving a very paranoid feel. This is by far the most amazing work Liam Howett has ever done.
