Experience (The Prodigy album)

Experience (also known as The Prodigy Experience) is the debut studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy. It was released on 28 September 1992 by XL Recordings in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States.

Album information

Liam Howlett was the sole composer; of the additional three members at that time, only Maxim Reality actually contributed to the album, performing the vocals on the last track. A wide variety of artists in the breakbeat hardcore scene in the early 1990s are given respect and namechecked in the sleeve notes of the album, including SL2, Carl Cox, Moby, Tim Westwood, Orbital and Aphex Twin. Experience peaked at No. 12 in the UK Albums Chart and went on to achieve platinum status in that country. It also went gold in Poland.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Christgau's Consumer Guide
Entertainment Weekly	B
Mojo
Philadelphia Inquirer
Q
Record Collector
Select	5/5
Spin	9/10

From contemporary reviews, Kris Needs of NME declared that "the time-pod to enable future generations to get a handle on what happened in 1992, The Prodigy's debut album will be a much safer bet to illustrate the Rave Phenomenon than any half-assed "40 Bowel-Erupting Rave Greats" compilation. If only to show what killed it, some would say."

Experience received very positive reviews upon its release. In a posthumous AllMusic gave the album 5 out of 5 stars, saying that it "shows the Prodigy near the peak of their game from the get go" and stating that "almost every song sounds like a potential chart topper". Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger commended the album as "four-minute-warnings, hyperactive ravey blasts which boasted genuine irreverence rather than learned attitude."

Moby credited Experience with changing his perception about dance albums; previously he felt that "dance albums had always failed because they didn't work over the full length of the record. Mostly they were singles collections which was exactly what I didn't want to do," and noted that Experience "impressed me because they'd managed to create a full listening experience which encompassed various styles. This was the kind of vision I had for my debut album."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Liam Howlett

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Jericho"	3:42
2.	"Music Reach (1/2/3/4)"	4:12
3.	"Wind It Up"	4:33
4.	"Your Love" (Remix)	5:30
5.	"Hyperspeed (G-Force Part 2)"	5:16
6.	"Charly" (Trip into Drum and Bass Version)	5:12
7.	"Out of Space"	4:57
8.	"Everybody in the Place (155 and Rising)"	4:10
9.	"Weather Experience"	8:06
10.	"Fire" (Sunrise Version)	4:57
11.	"Ruff in the Jungle Bizness"	5:10
12.	"Death of the Prodigy Dancers" (Live)	3:43
Total length:		59:28

*Experience Expanded* disc 2
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Your Love" (from "Charly" single)	6:02
2.	"Ruff in the Jungle Bizness" (Uplifting Vibes Remix; from "Out of Space" single)	4:16
3.	"Charly" (Alley Cat Remix; from "Charly" single)	5:21
4.	"Fire" (Edit; from "Fire/Jericho" single)	3:24
5.	"We Are the Ruffest" (from "Wind It Up" single)	5:18
6.	"Weather Experience" (Top Buzz Remix; from "Wind It Up" single)	6:53
7.	"Wind It Up (Rewound)" (from "Wind It Up" single)	6:21
8.	"G-Force, Pt. 1 (Energy Flow)" (from "Everybody in the Place" single)	5:23
9.	"Crazy Man" (from "Everybody in the Place" single)	4:05
10.	"Out of Space" (Techno Underworld Remix; from "Out of Space" single)	4:44
11.	"Everybody in the Place" (Fairground Remix; from "Everybody in the Place" single)	5:07
Total length:		56:54

*Experience Expanded* disc 2 UK bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Android" (from What Evil Lurks EP)	5:04
13.	"Out of Space" (Live from Pukkelpop 2005; previously unreleased)	3:27
Total length:		65:25

Personnel

Liam Howlett – production, keyboards, synthesizers, sampling, programming, engineering
Maxim Reality – vocals on "Death of the Prodigy Dancers (Live)"
Simone – vocals on "Music Reach (1/2/3/4)", "Ruff in the Jungle Bizness" and "Rip Up the Sound System" (non-album song)
Alex Garland – artwork

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1992–93)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)	163
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	20
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)	39
French Albums (SNEP)	59
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	75
Scottish Albums (OCC)	91
UK Albums (OCC)	12
UK Dance Albums (OCC)	5
UK Independent Albums (OCC)	14

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Poland (ZPAV)	Gold	50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	Platinum	300,000
Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ Bush, John. "Experience – The Prodigy". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
Christgau, Robert (2000). "The Prodigy: Experience". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
"The Prodigy: Experience". Entertainment Weekly. 1 August 1993. p. 54.
Harrison, Ian (1 June 2015). "Mojo - June 2015". Mojo. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
Romero, Dennis (26 January 1993). "From Prodigy, a Computer Symphony at Warp Speed". Philadelphia Inquirer.
"The Prodigy: Experience". Q (266): 117. September 2008.
"The Prodigy: Experience". Record Collector: 83. ike a runaway E-train peppered with proto-jungle breakbeats, euphoric piano, fairground keyboards and manic vocal samples, all forged by studio mastermind Liam Howlett.
Howe, Rupert (November 1992). "The Prodigy: Experience". Select (29): 84.
Reynolds, Simon (September 2001). "The Prodigy: Experience: Expanded: Remixes & B-Sides". Spin. 17 (9): 166. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
Needs 1992.
Ewing, Tom (10 November 1999). "31. THE PRODIGY – "Out of Space"". FreakyTrigger. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
Moby < Replay - The Life and Times by Martin James (Pg. 70)
"Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 13 September 2016". Imgur.com. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
"Dutchcharts.nl – The Prodigy – Experience" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
Pennanen, Timo (2021). "The Prodigy". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 205.
"Lescharts.com – The Prodigy – Experience". Hung Medien.
"Offiziellecharts.de – The Prodigy – Experience" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
"Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
"Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 October 1992.
"Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
"Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
"Wyróżnienia – Złote płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 1997 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
"British album certifications – The Prodigy – Experience". British Phonographic Industry.

Sources

Needs, Kris (26 September 1992). "The Prodigy: Experience (XL)". Retrieved 4 November 2021. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

External links

Experience at Discogs (list of releases)

v t e The Prodigy
Liam Howlett Maxim Keith Flint Leeroy Thornhill Sharky
Studio albums	Experience Music for the Jilted Generation The Fat of the Land Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned Invaders Must Die The Day Is My Enemy No Tourists
EPs	What Evil Lurks
Live albums	World's on Fire
Compilation albums	Their Law: The Singles 1990–2005
DJ mix albums	The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One
Video albums	Electronic Punks
Singles	"Charly" "Everybody in the Place" "Fire/Jericho" "Out of Space" "Wind It Up (Rewound)" "One Love" "No Good (Start the Dance)" "Voodoo People" "Poison" "Firestarter" "Breathe" "Smack My Bitch Up" "Baby's Got a Temper" "Girls" "Hotride" "Spitfire" "Voodoo People / Out of Space" "Invaders Must Die" "Omen" "Warrior's Dance" "Take Me to the Hospital" "Nasty" "The Day Is My Enemy" "Wild Frontier" "Ibiza" "Rhythm Bomb" "Get Your Fight On"
Related articles	Discography Awards and nominations Ragged Flag Flint Warriors Dance Festival

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