"Firestarter" is a song by British band
the Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...
, released on 18 March 1996 as the first
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
from their third album, ''
The Fat of the Land
''The Fat of the Land'' is the third studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy, released on 30 June 1997 through XL Recordings. The album received critical acclaim and topped the UK Albums Chart and the US ''Billboard'' 200. I ...
'' (1997). It was their tenth single overall and is the group's first number-one single on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, staying on top for three weeks, and their first big international hit, topping the charts in the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, and Norway. In 2020, British newspaper ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' ranked the song number eight on their list of ''The 100 Greatest UK No 1 Singles''.
Composition
The songwriting credits include
Kim Deal
Kimberley Ann Deal (born June 10, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She was the bassist and the co-vocalist in the alternative rock band Pixies, before forming the Breeders in 1989.
Deal joined Pixies in January ...
of
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
group
the Breeders
The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherso ...
, as the looped
wah-wah guitar riff in "Firestarter" was sampled from the Breeders' track "S.O.S." from the album ''
Last Splash
''Last Splash'' is the second album by American indie rock band the Breeders, released on August 30, 1993. Originally formed as a side project for Pixies bassist Kim Deal, the Breeders quickly became her primary recording outlet. ''Last Splash' ...
''. The drums are sampled from a remix of the song "Devotion" of the group
Ten City
Ten City (derived from ''intensity'') is an American, Chicago, Illinois-based R&B and house music act, that enjoyed a number of club hits and Urban radio hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was one of the first exponents of deep house.
...
. The "hey" sample is from the 1984 song "
Close (to the Edit)
"Close (to the Edit)" is a single by English avant-garde synth-pop group Art of Noise, released on various formats in October 1984. It was closely related to their earlier single (and hip hop club hit) " Beat Box", though the two tracks were dev ...
" by
Art of Noise
Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and music ...
. Then-members
Anne Dudley
Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genr ...
,
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
,
J. J. Jeczalik
Jonathan Edward Stephen "J. J." Jeczalik () is an English electronic musician/record producer, co-founder of the electronic music group the Art of Noise. He taught Information technology, IT at Oxford High School, Oxford, Oxford High School unt ...
,
Gary Langan
Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician.
Biography
His career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons and M ...
and
Paul Morley
Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...
also receive songwriting credits. The "Empirion Mix", which does not include these samples, is credited solely to
Liam Howlett
Liam Paul Paris Howlett (born 21 August 1971) is an English record producer, musician, songwriter, co-founder and leader of the British electronic band The Prodigy, and an occasional DJ.
Early years
Howlett was born in Braintree, Essex, En ...
and
Keith Flint
Keith Charles Flint (17 September 1969 – 4 March 2019) was an English singer and member as well as one of the vocalists of the electronic dance act The Prodigy. Starting out as a dancer, he became the vocalist of the group and performed on th ...
.
Critical reception
British magazine ''
Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' rated "Firestarter" five out of five, picking it as Single of the Week. The reviewer added, "Powerful return for the kings of live
techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
." Brad Beatnik from the magazine's ''RM'' Dance Update described it as "a typically searing chunk of heavy techno featuring some manie vocale and an awesome synth line". He concluded, "Straight in the Top 10, no question, and destined to be pounded in the clubs." Gerald Martinez from ''
New Sunday Times
The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...
'' noted its "
heavy metal meets techno-dance stylisations". Writing for
pitchfork.com in 2005, Jess Harvell said, "'Firestarter' sounds like
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...
in one of his all-too-rare moments of self-aware humor, like
the Bomb Squad
The Bomb Squad were an American hip hop production team known for its work with hip hop group Public Enemy.
The Bomb Squad is noted for its dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track. T ...
at +5 with a pink-haired British bulldog bellowing about how tuff he is." David Sinclair from ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' 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
Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and music ...
vocal sample."
Music video
The accompanying black-and-white
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for "Firestarter" was directed by English director
Walter Stern and was filmed in an abandoned
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
tunnel at
Aldwych
Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the List of areas of London, area immediately surrounding it in central London, England, within the City of Westminster. The street starts Points of the compass, east-northeast of Charing Cros ...
.
Impact and legacy
In October 2011, ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' placed it at number 52 on its list ''150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years''. 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. 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. In 2020, British newspaper ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' ranked "Firestarter" number eight on their list of ''The 100 Greatest UK No 1 Singles''. In 2022, ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' ranked it number 110 on their list of ''200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time''.
Track listings
* UK and Australian CD single, US maxi-CD single
# "Firestarter" (edit) – 3:45
# "Firestarter" (
Empirion
Empirion are a United Kingdom, British industrial dance band from Essex, England. They were formed in 1993, and the original line-up consisted of Austin Morsely, Bob Glennie and Jamie Smart.
Beginnings
Smart was a resident Disc jockey, DJ at ...
mix) – 7:49
# "Firestarter" (instrumental) – 4:39
# "Molotov Bitch" – 4:51
* UK and US 12-inch single
:A1. "Firestarter" – 4:40
:A2. "Firestarter" (instrumental) – 4:39
:B1. "Firestarter" (Empirion mix) – 7:49
:B2. "Molotov Bitch" – 4:51
* UK cassette single
# "Firestarter" (edit) – 3:45
# "Molotov Bitch" – 4:51
* European CD single
# "Firestarter" (edit) – 3:45
# "Firestarter" (Empirion mix) – 7:49
* US CD single and cassette single
# "Firestarter" (edit)
# "Firestarter" (instrumental)
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Notable cover versions
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
created a loose parody of "Firestarter", titled "Lousy Haircut", for an episode of ''
The Weird Al Show
''The Weird Al Show'' is an American television show hosted by "Weird Al" Yankovic. Produced in association with Dick Clark Productions and taped at NBC Studios, it aired on Saturday mornings on the CBS TV network. The show ran for one season, fr ...
''; he could not do a full parody of the song as the network
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
did not want to pay royalties to the Prodigy. The song has also been covered by
Jimmy Eat World,
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...
of
KISS
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
, Torre Florim of
De Staat
De Staat is a Dutch alternative rock band, formed in Nijmegen in 2006. Their name translates to "The State".
In May 2016, the band supported Muse in their Drones World Tour in Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain.
Biography
De Staat was ...
,
Sepultura
Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. the band was a major force in the groove metal, thra ...
,
Papa Roach, and
Kristina Esfandiari
Kristina Esfandiari (born 4 March 1988) is an American singer-songwriter and producer who writes music and performs under the monikers Dalmatian, Miserable, and NGHTCRWLR, and with the bands King Woman and Sugar High.
Early life
Kristina Esfandia ...
under her project NGHTCRWLR.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firestarter (Song)
1995 songs
1996 singles
Black-and-white music videos
Maverick Records singles
Music videos directed by Walter Stern
Mute Records singles
Number-one singles in the Czech Republic
Number-one singles in Finland
Number-one singles in Hungary
Number-one singles in Norway
The Prodigy songs
Songs written by Anne Dudley
Songs written by Kim Deal
Songs written by Liam Howlett
Songs written by Trevor Horn
Techno songs
UK Singles Chart number-one singles
XL Recordings singles