Prodigy have the 2 best singles, Firestarter and Smack My Bitch Up, but Chemical Brothers have the better body of work so I have to go with them. Their more recent stuff (Music: Response, Star Guitar) is decent as well.
I'd give the edge to the Prodigy. And my favourite Prodigy songs would have to be One Love, Claustophobic Sting, Break & Enter... and Voodoo People. That said, Chemical Brothers are still class.
Aphex Twin has the best videos. I've always really liked the video for Setting Sun - in its own semi-creepy way it told a story. And the song itself was one of the premier examples of Noel Gallagher recycling his own lyrics, because at least he picked a decent one, off of an fine but obscure B-side; "You said your body was young but your mind was very old".
The Chem Brothers' songs with Beth Orton are amazing (Alive Alone, Where do I Start). They win this matchup just for those songs. Never mind Life Is Sweet.
Waht about that Chemical Borthers song from 2 or so years back, taken like it was shot in a moving train? It's a trancy song & one of the best videos perhaps ever. It would have swept up a lot more 'awards' had it not been for Fatboy Slims video w/ Christopher Walken (bit too drunk to remember the names of said songs... but €5 up from Texasa Hold 'Em after goign all in on the last 3 hands & being down €35).
Sorry, champ, but "Firestarter" is one of the worst songs ever made. My brother and I and some friends used to have long discussions about what song was the worst from that year (excluding bad pop music, country, etc.), and "Firestarter" was an easy winner. And the lyrics are woeful. "I'm a fire staht-uh / TWISTED fire staht-uh" is one of the lamest attempts at sounding like an insane badass ever recorded. It's the sonic equivalent to a high school nerd wearing a trenchcoat and buying throwing stars and The Necronomicon.
I agree that those lyrics were total pants, but the track itself was/is killer...the fast/slow/fast thing coupled with that excellent stuttery drum fill? Dance floor sweetness.
Right. Prodigy (or any electronica flash in the pan from the mid 90s for that matter) was never about the lyrics - well, lyrics mattered, but for their pure absurdity. I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter. / I'm the bitch you hated, filth infatuated. / Yeah. I'm the pain you tasted, well intoxicated. Beautiful.
Firestarter was the first time prodigy really had any lyrics in their songs...their first two albums were hard dance albums ... The first album being more of a rave sound... seems that people on this thread dont know much about them apart from firestarter .They been around for over a decade.
Yeah, Charly was a cool single (got it on an XL Recordings comp disc), this was when it was the DJ by himself, yeah? I still prefer Chem Bros.
Toss up. Prodigy is rougher, better drum patterns and hard nose. Chemical Bros. know when the drop the bass in the right spots and have better melodies. I'd go with Chemical Bros. just because their productions are a bit more intricate and complicated than Prodigy.
I tend to gravitate toward the harder beats of The Prodigy. Chem Bros are quality too, but I just like The Prodigy a bit better for getting the beats. Oh and Smack My Bitch Up is undoubtedly one of the best videos ever made.