Released 18 March 1996 Recorded Essex, United Kingdom Label XL
Maverick
Mute | Format 12"
CD Genre Breakbeat | |
Length 3:45 (edit)
4:42 (album version) | ||
"Firestarter" is a song by the British band The Prodigy, released on 18 March 1996. It was the first single from their third album The Fat of the Land, and their tenth single. It was also the group's first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, staying on top for three weeks, and their first big international hit, also reaching number one in Finland and Norway. It featured Flint's punky vocals which showcased him as the group's frontman. The title and lyrics were subject of controversy in the United Kingdom because of their violent nature. The music video further boosted these controversies. In 2012, the song was covered by De Staat.
Contents
Composition
The songwriting credits—among Liam Howlett and Keith Flint—include Kim Deal of alt-rock group The Breeders. 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. Because of the use of a sample from a 1984 single "Close (to the Edit)" songwriting credits also list Art of Noise's then-members: Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, J. J. Jeczalik, Gary Langan and Paul Morley. The "Empirion Mix," which does not include these samples, is credited solely to Howlett and Flint.
Critical reception
In October 2011, NME placed it at number 52 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". Writing for pitchfork.com 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."
Music video
The music video was directed by Walter Stern and was filmed in an abandoned London Underground tunnel at Aldwych. Keith Flint's appearance and the video's stark black and white also instigated controversies about being too scary for children watching it. Some television channels even refused to show the video until after the watershed.