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'Breathe' was the Prodigy's 11th consecutive Top 15 hit single... It topped the chart in November '96 as the follow-up to the astonishing 'Firestarter' and propelled Liam, Maxim, Keith and Leeroy into the super-league of UK groups.
Coming at dance-rock from rather the opposite direction to U2, (The) Prodigy are of course one of the biggest singles acts of the 1990s (and beyond - their unbroken Top 20 run stretched from 1991 to 2009) but are largely absent from Now! albums. Doubtless this suited their rather annoying self-conscious outsider image to a tee, but I suspect the more prosaic explanation was that XL Recordings were reluctant to licence the tracks (of their other commercial big-hitters, The White Stripes never appeared in the series, Dizzee Rascal didn't until he'd left the label and Adele only shows up sporadically). That said 'Breathe' does push towards the fringes of what might be acceptable to the mass audience these compilations are aimed at, with its confrontational nature and heavy bass.
The aforementioned 'Firestarter' was a major shift in direction for the act, most obviously because it was their first record to feature any musical contribution from a member other than Liam Howlett, with Keith Flint bawling out a lead vocal. As that had also been their first chart-topping single, the follow-up had to up the ante somewhat, and 'Breathe' does so, not least because Maxim joins Flint as a vocalist: Leeroy Thornhill remains silent, which may be why he eventually left the group. It also goes one better compositionally; where 'Firestarter' relies rather on shock value - both to the general public and to fans expecting something more electronic - 'Breathe' is a much more thoroughly structured piece, if no less aggressive. The lyrics make little or no literal sense, but they work to conjure a suitably dark atmosphere, underlined by the multiple outstanding bass parts - and the (evidently synthesised) drums are remarkably intricate as well. The result was a record both disturbing and exciting, and one that even a long-term disliker of the Prodge like myself had to admit was pretty good. It was a creative pinnacle they couldn't sustain, although they sold plenty of albums off the back of this, and my enthusiasm soon juddered to a halt like the ending of this track.
Oddly, my strongest personal recollection of this track - hearing it in the the chart rundown on a summer evening - is entirely incompatible with its release date in November. I also thought, before I started studying these things, that I remembered it being on Now 34, though it obviously isn't and indeed couldn't have been. Memory is a funny thing sometimes.
Also appearing on: Now 28
Available on: Their Law The Singles 1990 - 2005
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