Liam Howlett argues The Prodigy should be 'as important as Oasis or Blur'

Electronic icon defends band's influence on British music

10:07 18th January 2015

The Prodigy's Liam Howlett has claimed his band are as important as Blur and Oasis to British music.

Speaking to The Guardian about the group's forthcoming record, Howlett seemed to question why The Prodigy weren't seen as a more influential group: "It's a bit of a bold statement, but the Prodigy should be seen as an important cultural band" said the frontman.

He continued: "as important as Oasis or Blur or any of that shit. Britpop was not a culture, as such. I dunno what I'm after … it's not like I'm after more respect, and I don't wanna pop up on a few more TV programmes, saying 'The Prodigy did this!' I'm just telling people now that, yeah, I think we are important. When you trace the lines back to the Sex Pistols, the Clash, we are in that line."

Co-frontman Keith Flint also offered some suitably controversial comments in the interview, hitting out at the current state of dance music. "If you're on an independent record label now, not once do any of those pricks come up with an exciting idea. When we were on XL, they wanted to be dangerous and they wanted to be exciting because we were dangerous and exciting! But now no one's there who wants to be dangerous. And that's why people are getting force-fed commercial, generic records that are just safe."

Listen to The Prodigy's new single 'Nasty' below:

The Prodigy will release their new album The Day Is My Enemy on 30 March, it was also recently announced the band would play a huge UK tour in support of the release.

Full tour dates are below, tickets are on sale now. For tickets and information, visit here.

Mon May 04 2015 - NEWCASTLE O2 Academy Newcastle
Tue May 05 2015 - BRIDLINGTON Spa
Thu May 07 2015 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy Birmingham
Fri May 08 2015 - CARDIFF Motorpoint Arena
Sat May 09 2015 - BLACKPOOL Empress Ballroom
Sun May 11 2015 - READING Rivermead
Sat May 12 2015 - BRIGHTON Centre
Mon May 14 2015 - BOURNEMOUTH International Centre
Tue May 15 2015 - LONDON Alexandra Palace
Tue May 16 2015 - LONDON Alexandra Palace

1991 - What Evil Lurks EP: The first release from unknown band The Prodigy, a three man electronic music act from Essex. Only 7000 copies were made of the four song EP. History was made.
1991 - 'Charly': The first real hit single for the band, it got to number 3 in the UK Singles Chart and has gone down in legend as a rave anthem.
1994 - Music for the Jilted Generation: The Prodigy's second album and their first to reach No.1 in the UK chart.
1995 - Glastonbury Festival: "Glastonbury - are you ready to rock," screamed Keith. Described as one of the greatest Glasto performances ever, their set on the NME Stage was a special one for all involved.
1996 - Firestarter: Liam said of the record it was "a major turning point...I knew then it was original, that I had achieved something." The video also revealed the infamous transformation of Keith Flint and angered Christians and parents the world over.
1997 - 'Smack My Bitch Up' Video Controversy: The unedited version included heroin use, a hit and run incident, fights with men, abuse of women, and a full sex scene. It was banned by the BBC and was voted as the "Most Controversial Video" in MTV's history in 2002.
2002 - 2004 - An unsuccessful return: After three years away from playing live or releasing any new material, The Prodigy released the single 'Baby's Got Temper' in 2002 and 'Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned' in 2004. Despite the album charting at No.1, the comeback was not nearly as successful as many thought it would be.
2009 - Invaders Must Die - the successful return: To comeback again was quite a task, luckily with the album again reaching Number 1 in the UK the album produced hits like 'Omen' and 'Take Me to the Hospital.' The reviews were good and The Prodigy were back. Anyone who saw their subsequent sets at Reading and Leeds festivals also witnessed an out-of-body experience of awesomeness.
2010 - Warriors Dance Festival: The Prodigy have played their biggest ever headline gig in front of 65,000 fans at the Milton Keynes National Bowl. It was EPIC.
2012 - 'Brixton Warriors: End of the World Extravaganza.': The Prodigy put on a real treat for fans with two special shows at Brixton Academy in 2012. With the band celebrating the 15th anniversary of 'Fat of the Land' and a headline performance at Download, it was an incredible and exciting year for the band.
2013 - The Future: The rave-rock heroes debuted new track 'The Day' at Warrior's Brixton last year and 'Rockweiler' at Rock am Ring 2013. Both sounded pretty mean and beefy. With an incredible line-up that includes Jaguar Skills, Shy FX and Caspa at their upcoming December dates and Warehouse Project shows, it's clear that they're back and mean business. Expect awesome new material just around the corner.