When I was in middle school, I had a friend, James, who was a few years older than me and had just moved over from England. He already hated America because, well, everyone hates America, and moving here had relocated him away from all his friends -- but on top of that, there aren't a lot of raves in the white Catholic suburbs of Boston. We used to hang in his basement for hours, playing video games while he subjected me to The Prodigy's Music for the Jilted Generation. At first, I hated it -- I was like "Where's the dude with the crazy hair and nosering? This is not cool." But eventually it took hold and grew on me, and to this day I keep it on my mp3 player. This collection is gonna be a trip down memory lane for a lot of y'all, and just a plain trip for some. Every single that the group released from the moment they signed to XL in 1990 is here, from the Jilted Generation cuts ("Their Law," "Poison") to the Fat of the Land hits ("Smack My Bitch Up," "Firestarter") to the totally overlooked current shit. 15 tracks in all, un-chronologically spread over two LPs.

• black double vinyl pressing
• originally released in 2005
• printed inner sleeves
• digital download included
• original release year: 2005
• music label: XL Recordings 2022

reviewed by Chris Lemon-Red 02/2006