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

[joshuatxuk]

Im pretty sure if you asked a bunch of people that weren't on an Aphex Twin message board, you'd get a reply to the effect of "Who the fuck is Richard?" and "The prodigy are awesome!".

 

Something like that.

^yep.

 

The general public probably ranks The Prodigy higher than RDJ (they probably don't rank RDJ at all)

 

This. I find Liam among one of many producers of great talent and originality but on many levels you can't really compare him to RDJ, and vice-versa. Also, this is WATMM so yeah...

 

Also, I do have to say this, I don't think the general public ranks the Prodigy higher. I think more are simply aware of the Prodigy. Most people don't know anything about electronic music. A fair amount would be like "I love Prodigy and [insert EDM group you hate here]! Aphex? That guys nuts, Come to Daddy right?!" Then there's avid electronic music listeners to which the whole notion is debatable or simply irrelevant.

[schlucharski]

RDJ is a boss artist, Liam is a talented producer

[YEK]

I have actually listened to Invaders Must Die a LOT more than the Tuss/Analords.

 

while maybe i haven't listened to it as much as you, Invaders is a great album...

[Guest FuncRandm]

Was this thread just trolling of the highest order?

 

What metric are we going to use to work out that the 6ish albums don't really stack up against the output of someone that evolved their sound over many albums and eps across many different pseudonyms and whose output has a massive effect on other electronic artists today?

 

...Or is that too harsh.

 

oscillik.. I mean, FuncRand(m)

[YO303]

I have actually listened to Invaders Must Die a LOT more than the Tuss/Analords.

 

Yeah and what else? always outnumbered always outgunned is better than SAW 1?

[modey]

I have actually listened to Invaders Must Die a LOT more than the Tuss/Analords.

 

Yeah and what else? always outnumbered always outgunned is better than SAW 1?

No. Was just sayin', yo (303). That said though, I was pretty obsessed with Experience back in the day; my play count for that is probably up there with SAW1..

 

I generally prefer RDJ, but for awesome high energy dance music, Howlett wins, imo.

[Npoess]

Invaders Must Die is terrible. I can't believe I actually bought that album.

 

At least Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned had Girls.

[l1fef0rm]

I always thought this sounded a bit Aphexy. Not to mention the thanks to Aphex Twin on the liner notes of the album this was on. As for the thread title...no comparison.

 

[xyrofen]

The Prodigy sounds pretty generic by today's standards. Doesn't seemed to have aged particularly well.

 

And RDJ has?

He looks ok for 40 and still has a full head of hair

 

Meant the music, but I'd say a lot of it has aged a lot better. ICBYD has aged pretty well and a fair bit of the RDJA has (though some hasn't). Drukqs has aged well.

[Guest zaphod]

the best stuff aphex twin released was probably on the two ambient works albums. those still sound pretty much timeless to me. the prodigy sounds like the late 90's. there's nothing in the prodigy's discography that comes close to the best of rdj. it's the difference between genius and very good.

 

basically:

 

[youtubehd]TkVT2NwiAgY[/youtubehd]

 

there is simply no comparing the two

[Guest sljiva]

SAW II (and I to a certain extent) is to ambient what MFTJG is to energetic dance music (big beat let's say). They were both done in a masterful way, and you liking ambient more doesn't mean AFX is on some next level compared to Liam. And saying that a simplistic synth playing against some reverberated dripping-sound loop is timeless is not really fair, you could then say that most of minimalistic ambient sounds timeless, which somewhat nullifies your argument. And yeah, Eno did this type of music before (Discreet Music and Apollo are probably the finest examples) and did it very good (which is not to say SAW II is not a masterpiece), which you really can't say about MFTJG.

[modey]

SAW II (and I to a certain extent) is to ambient what MFTJG is to energetic dance music (big beat let's say). They were both done in a masterful way, and you liking ambient more doesn't mean AFX is on some next level compared to Liam. And saying that a simplistic synth playing against some reverberated dripping-sound loop is timeless is not really fair, you could then say that most of minimalistic ambient sounds timeless, which somewhat nullifies your argument. And yeah, Eno did this type of music before (Discreet Music and Apollo are probably the finest examples) and did it very good (which is not to say SAW II is not a masterpiece), which you really can't say about MFTJG.

And Cluster did it before Eno

 

But yes, this, essentially.

[Guest zaphod]

SAW II (and I to a certain extent) is to ambient what MFTJG is to energetic dance music (big beat let's say). They were both done in a masterful way, and you liking ambient more doesn't mean AFX is on some next level compared to Liam. And saying that a simplistic synth playing against some reverberated dripping-sound loop is timeless is not really fair, you could then say that most of minimalistic ambient sounds timeless, which somewhat nullifies your argument. And yeah, Eno did this type of music before (Discreet Music and Apollo are probably the finest examples) and did it very good (which is not to say SAW II is not a masterpiece), which you really can't say about MFTJG.

 

which is my point. why are the two being compared? the prodigy never produced ambient music (i could be wrong), or piano pieces, or really anything beyond that sort of energetic dance music. rdj has gone through various innovative guises and produced a wide variety of music. and their brand of dance music is fairly generic. i'm really saying that, for me, their music lacks whatever soul i find in a lot of aphex twin's better work. it's obviously a personal opinion, but that's what this is all about.

eno did it before, whatever. i like saw more than anything eno ever touched, but that isn't what the thread's about. and reducing that track to its component (pretty sure it's a backwards manipulated violin sound, not a synth) completely misses the point. the track is timeless (to me) because it possesses a magical quality that the best music has. i've never found that with the prodigy. or most ambient music, to go back to your argument.

[Guest zaphod]

whoops, double post

[joseph]

ICBYD has aged pretty well

 

really? i feel like it's not aged very well

[modey]

I think Jericho is pretty timeless, despite the actual sounds used being pretty dated. The main synth/piano melody gets me every time. Amazing stuff.

[QBLA]

ICBYD has aged pretty well

 

really? i feel like it's not aged very well

 

I'll say that most of that album has aged well. A lot of it still sounds fresh to me, but then tracks like Wax the Nip, Come On You Slags, and Start As You Mean To Go On sound about its time it was produced.

 

As for The Prodigy, I liked them around Music for a Jilted Generation. But I haven't listened to them since around the late 90s and I still listen to Aphex constantly... so...

[Guest sljiva]

and their brand of dance music is fairly generic. i'm really saying that, for me, their music lacks whatever soul i find in a lot of aphex twin's better work. it's obviously a personal opinion, but that's what this is all about.

 

Generic? Care to elaborate?

 

And I don't like the term soul when it comes to describing music, but their music is not supposed to be emotion-inducing, subtle or whatever. So looking for emotions and soul in MFTJG would be like searching for an energy rush in SAW II. Not finding a quality you appreciate in some type of music doesn't mean this type of music is somehow inferior. As I said in the first post, it's a taste issue because on a technical level their music is not that world apart.

[ghOsty]

They really aren't in the same league...

 

Liam's work on the first 3 prodigy albums was quite good, especially when the era is considered. I'll always have a spot in my heart for the first 3 albums. The Prodigy were a huge staple in the rise of the big beat sound, but these days the big beat scene is pretty much dead. The Fat of the Land really was his peak... Everything after that album has been kinda meh, sure Always Outnumbered... had a few good tracks but never didn't really match up to the quality of earlier works, especially considering how long it took to follow up (meanwhile Rich was still managing to be rather prolific.)

 

Hell, even if you really look at it other artists that have come out of the big beat era, others have become more successful than Liam, I.E. Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, Meat Beat Manifesto, and even The Crystal Method.

[YEK]

RAINSTORM!

[Capsaicin]

Hell, even if you really look at it other artists that have come out of the big beat era, others have become more successful than Liam, I.E. Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, Meat Beat Manifesto, and even The Crystal Method.

Is Meat Beat Manifesto really all that well known? I mean, apart from Prime Audio Soup being used in The Matrix, I NEVER hear anything about MBM or any of Jack Dangers' music.

 

And I agree with most people in this thread. Comparing Liam Howlett and RDJ is like comparing the proverbial apple and orange.

[syd syside]

why anyone cares about ranking is a mystery to me

[psn]

Best post. ^

[ManjuShri]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU5Dn-WaElI

 

[oscillik]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZYLp5uX9Yw

 

It's easy to do it now, yes. But as I said, up until The Fat Of The Land, Liam was sequencing using these beasts

 

 

I'm sure he's said that at one point he was using 3 in tandem.