The Prodigy: The Official Story: Electronic Punks: The Early Years 1988-1994

by Martin Roach

THE PRODIGY have sold 25 million records and single-handedly reinvented the crossover between dance and rock music, with legendary songs such as 'Firestarter', 'Omen' and 'Breathe'. However, long before they became a stadium-filling rock monster, The Prodigy were prowling the underground of the UK rave scene, first as a blistering demo of tunes by the 'prodigious' teenage Liam Howlett, then latterly with their breakthrough masterpiece, Music For The Jilted Generation.Martin Roach was present throughout the band's early years and documented their rise from the underground into the bright lights of music superstardom. Containing hours and hours of exclusive interviews, the book chronicles the band's early years in minute detail, speaking to each band member and all the key players along the way.With a new introduction by Liam Howlett putting this classic early phase in the context of their historically important career, this book is a must-buy for the millions of Prodigy fans eager to learn about the band's formative days.

208 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2010

Reviews

[Adrián · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best written, but a testament of one of the most unique forces in the history of music.

Delightful to discover all these stories from their beginnings.

[Povilas Jarmala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ankstyvuosius, bet labai svarbius grupei The Prodigy metus aprašanti knyga. Šiaip neblogai, bet galėjo būti išsamiau, o kai kurie klausimai taip ir liko neatsakyti. Kažkaip mažoka pasirodė tik paminėti, kad "pirmajame koncerte buvo sugroti 8 kūriniai" arba "pirmojoje demo kasetėje buvo 10 kūrinių". Spragų buvo dar kelios, bet knygos pabaigoje publikuotas 1994 m. interviu su Liamu į kai kuriuos jų atsakė. Ir kadangi kur kas daugiau teko skaityti roko muzikos atlikėjų biografijų, ant reivo/techno bangos iškilusio kolektyvo istorija pasirodė mažiau įdomi.

[Mark Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the better type of authorised biography – i.e. warm towards its subject in a way that enables them to talk candidly, but stopping short of outright sycophancy and with critical faculties still engaged. The writing is straightforward and engaging, the anecdotes are entertaining and the insights into both The Prodigy and the late 80s/early 90s dance music scene more broadly are interesting if you’re into that kind of thing.

[Peter O'Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Love the Prodigy but don't love this book. After reading the foreword by Liam Howlett at the start you can pretty much skip to the interview with same at the end of the book as it really is the best parts. Fan's of the early rave years may get something out of it but I would like to think there is better stuff out there on the Prodigy.

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not think twice when I dropped this book into my shopping cart. It was rather simple, I love the band and "official" always works for me. A day or so later sat down to read and was done about half a day later.

The book is not bad. It gives some insight to what was going on in the scene and some insight to the formation of the group itself, however I do feel it could have been so so much better. While chronologically this was more or less linear, the side stories and memories offered were just not written with any degree of "I was there" and more like a writer just rewriting what he was told. Almost all the tour stories seem to either end abruptly or seem to head no where.

The writer does have a nice casual style which makes the reading easy and the pictures were a plus. I definitely recommend reading this with the earlier music booming from the speakers.