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Firestarter (The Prodigy song)

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"Firestarter" is a song by British electronic dance music band the Prodigy, released on 18 March 1996 by XL Recordings as the first single from their third album, The Fat of the Land (1997). It was co-written and produced by Liam Howlett and features vocals by Keith Flint. It also was the group's first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, staying on top for three weeks, and their first big international hit, topping the charts in the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, and Norway. The music video was directed by Walter Stern and filmed in the London Underground, in black-and-white. Melody Maker ranked the song number two in their list of "Singles of the Year" in 1996.[3] 24 years later, The Guardian ranked it number eight in their list of "The 100 Greatest UK No 1 Singles".[4]

"Firestarter"
song
Single by the Prodigy
from the album The Fat of the Land
B-side"Molotov Bitch"
Released18 March 1996 (1996-03-18)
RecordedEssex, United Kingdom
Genre
Length
  • 4:42 (album version)
  • 3:45 (edit)
LabelXL
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Liam Howlett
The Prodigy singles chronology
"Poison"
(1995) 		"Firestarter"
(1996) 		"Breathe"
(1996)
Music video
"Firestarter" on YouTube

Composition

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The songwriting credits include Kim Deal of alternative rock group the Breeders, as the looped wah-wah guitar riff in "Firestarter" was sampled from the Breeders' track "S.O.S." from the album Last Splash. The drums are sampled from a remix of the song "Devotion" of the group Ten City. The "hey" sample is from the 1984 song "Close (to the Edit)" by Art of Noise. Then-members Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, J. J. Jeczalik, Gary Langan and Paul Morley also receive songwriting credits. The "Empirion Mix", which does not include these samples, is credited solely to Liam Howlett and Keith Flint.

Critical reception

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Martin James from Melody Maker wrote, "'Firestarter' finds onstage dancer, MC and man of scary eye make-up Keith Flint delivering his first vocal performance and...it's not really up to much. A 60-Marlboros-a-day growl more suited to guitar-drenched cider punk than The Prodigy's fast and furious cyber punk. Never mind though, because musically this cut finds the boys slamming through an exhilarating, breakbeat techno theme for snowboarding freestylers. Half-pipe hardcore — you know the score."[5] A reviewer from Music Week gave "Firestarter" top score of five out of five, and named it Single of the Week and a "Powerful return for the kings of live techno."[6] Gerald Martinez from New Sunday Times noted its "heavy metal meets techno-dance stylisations".[7] Brad Beatnik from the Record Mirror Dance Update described it as "a typically searing chunk of heavy techno featuring some manic vocale and an awesome synth line". He concluded, "Straight in the Top 10, no question, and destined to be pounded in the clubs."[8] Writing for Pitchfork in 2005, Jess Harvell said, "'Firestarter' sounds like Trent Reznor in one of his all-too-rare moments of self-aware humor, like the Bomb Squad at +5 with a pink-haired British bulldog bellowing about how tuff he is."[9] David Sinclair from The Times noted, "A racing, twitchy, all-hands-on-deck rhythmic pulse, with a first beat in the bar that lands like a bodyblow, it is spiced up by a siren-wail synth sound and various shrieks that resemble an Art of Noise vocal sample."[10]

Music video

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The accompanying black-and-white music video for "Firestarter" was directed by English director Walter Stern and was filmed in an abandoned London Underground tunnel at Aldwych.[11]

Impact and legacy

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In December 1996, Melody Maker ranked "Firestarter" number two in their list of "Singles of the Year", writing, "Bringing vague but keenly felt terror to a million living rooms, "Firestarter" was superbly ominous, a funny, freakish and pulse-quickening rumble through the tunnels of the psychotic mind."[3] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 52 in its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[12] In 2017, Billboard ranked "Firestarter" number 25 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Pop Songs of 1997".[13] Following Flint's death on 4 March 2019, fans used the hashtag 'Firestarter4Number1' on various social media platforms to replicate the song's success by getting it to the number one spot again. This was done out of respect for Keith Flint and to raise awareness of suicide among men.[14] During this time the single also returned to the Billboard charts, entering number 13 on its Dance/Electronic Digital Songs Sales chart in its 16 March 2019 issue, marking the first time that this song has appeared on a Billboard dance chart.[15] In June 2020, The Guardian ranked "Firestarter" number eight in their list of "The 100 Greatest UK No 1 Singles".[16] In July 2022, Rolling Stone ranked it number 110 in their list of "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time".[17] "Firestarter" was also used in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 reveal trailer.

Track listings

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Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[67] Gold 6,452[67]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[68] Platinum 10,000*
Sweden (GLF)[69] Gold 15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[70] 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[71] Gold 500,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 18 March 1996
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 XL [72]
Japan 22 May 1996 CD Avex Trax [73]

Cover versions

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"Weird Al" Yankovic created a loose parody of "Firestarter", titled "Lousy Haircut", for an episode of The Weird Al Show; he could not do a full parody of the song as the network CBS did not want to pay royalties to the Prodigy.[74] The song has also been covered by Jimmy Eat World, Gene Simmons of KISS, Torre Florim of De Staat, Sepultura, Papa Roach, and Kristina Esfandiari under her project NGHTCRWLR.[75][76][77] [78] A cover has also been created for the video game Just Cause 3 by Torre Florim.[79]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Weiss, Dan (27 April 2015). "Q&A: The Prodigy Look Back on the Most Aggressive Career in Electronic History". Spin. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  2. ^ Pattison, Louis (2008). "The Prodigy Fat Of The Land Review". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Singles Of The Year". Melody Maker. 21 December 1996. p. 68. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  4. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben; Petridis, Alexis; Snapes, Laura (5 June 2020). "The 100 Greatest UK No 1s: 100–1". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  5. ^ James, Martin (9 March 1996). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 34. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Reviews" (PDF). Music Week. 9 March 1996. p. 12. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  7. ^ Martinez, Gerald (8 November 1998). "Dance fever for one and all". New Sunday Times. p. 13. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  8. ^ Beatnik, Brad (9 March 1996). "Hot Vinyl — Tune of the Week" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 9. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  9. ^ "The Prodigy: Their Law: The Singles Album Review - Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  10. ^ Sinclair, David (23 March 1996). "Pop Single; Weekend". The Times.
  11. ^ "Video - Firestarter | Video". Musicpilgrimages.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  12. ^ "150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years". NME. 26 March 2014. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  13. ^ Unterberger, Andrew (29 June 2017). "The 100 Greatest Pop Songs of 1997: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  14. ^ Colothan, Scott (6 March 2019). "Prodigy fans launch 'Firestarter for Number 1' campaign in memory of Keith Flint". Planet Radio. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  15. ^ "The Prodigy Return to Billboard's Charts After Keith Flint's Death" Archived 15 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine from Billboard (13 March 2019)
  16. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben; Petridis, Alexis; Snapes, Laura (5 June 2020). "The 100 Greatest UK No 1s: 100–1". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  17. ^ Dolan, Jon; Lopez, Julyssa; Matos, Michaelangelo; Shaffer, Claire (22 July 2022). "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
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  19. ^ Firestarter (Australian CD single liner notes). The Prodigy. XL Recordings, Dance Pool, Columbia Records. 1996. 663078 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ Firestarter (Japanese CD single liner notes). The Prodigy. Avex Trax. 1996. AVCD-30033.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ^ Firestarter (US maxi-CD single liner notes). The Prodigy. Maverick Records, Mute Records. 1997. 9 43843-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. ^ Firestarter (UK 12-inch single sleeve). The Prodigy. XL Recordings. 1996. XLS 70 CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ^ Firestarter (US 12-inch single sleeve). The Prodigy. Maverick Records, Mute Records. 1996. 8001-0.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. ^ Firestarter (UK cassette single sleeve). The Prodigy. XL Recordings. 1996. XLC 70.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  25. ^ Firestarter (European CD single liner notes). The Prodigy. XL Recordings. 1996. XLSCDX 70.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  26. ^ Firestarter (US CD single liner notes). The Prodigy. Maverick Records, Mute Records. 1996. 9 17387-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  27. ^ Firestarter (US cassette single sleeve). The Prodigy. Maverick Records, Mute Records. 1996. 9 17387-4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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  76. ^ Torre Florim (DE STAAT) - Firestarter (Official Music Video) on YouTube
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