20 albums celebrating 20 years in 2017
A toast to 1997
The Orb 'Orblivion'
Hype around The Orb was still very strong in '97 as they released their fourth album, 'Orblivion'. It's doubtful anything sounding as trippy as this would sit high in the charts these days, but the album stepped inside the top 20 and single 'Toxygene', powered by bubbly keys and glowing pads, reached number four. Quotes from Mike Leigh's '93 film Naked appear throughout the mesmeric 'S.A.L.T' and '72' samples hippie-inspired musical Hair. The most psychedelic of them all, though, is the tip-toeing 'Bedouin', a no-brainer if you want to put your anxious mind to rest. DT
The Prodigy 'The Fat Of The Land'
If you're ever feeling pissed off, then this is the album to turn to. From the savage opening of 'Smack My Bitch Up' to the grinding 'Breathe' and chainsaw-like riffs of 'Fuel My Fire', it's packed full of aggression and merges trippy elements of rave with the brute force of arena-sized rock and metal. That winning combo led to over 10 million sales worldwide, an absolute win for not just the Essex group, but XL Recordings, too. Many see this as their best LP, but it wasn't without controversy. 'Smack My Bitch Up' understandably attracted misogyny complaints from the National Organization For Women , and BBC Radio 1 resorted to only playing the instrumental. Start typing the track title into Google, and the suggested search result is 'Smack My Bits Up'. The X-rated video is still online, obviously.
Dave Turner is Mixmag's Digital News Editor, follow him on Twitter
Louis Anderson-Rich is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter
