NME

Rage And Prodigy Spawn "Serial Thrilla"

• 19th June 1999

Their schedules wouldn't mesh, but that didn't stop a collaboration between Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and The Prodigy. The musical marriage is for a soundtrack contribution to the movie "Spawn. "

Morello told Britain's New Musical Express magazine that he first got a call from Prodigy's Liam Howlett out of the blue with a request to add guitar to "Serial Thrilla," a song from The Prodigy's new album, "The Fat Of The Land. " However, with opening for U2, Rage's inclusion on a new Snoop Doggy Dogg EP and the planning of a summer tour with Wu-Tang Clan, they had no time.

Morello told NME that Howlett then asked for "a DAT of "some f***ed-up guitar. " The Rage guitarist says he went into a studio "in a sleepy Illinois town" and complied, recording 15 minutes of a "freeform bunch of squirrelly guitar playing. " Morello says he gave the Prodigy an array of "new hoots and howls and squonks and stuff" as well as some more traditional Sabbath heavy grooves.

Howlett described the Morello offering as quite "Prodigy-ish," and a Prodigy spokesman said Howlett would be Raging it up a bit. The spokesperson told NME that "It's gonna be called Prodigy Versus RATM, it's kind of a sound clash-type vibe. The music that Liam's doing is all totally new. "

A Prodigy spokesman later confirmed that Howlett spent two days last week working on the track at his Earthbound studio.

In other news, NME also reports that Sony is trying to stop Manifesto Records from using a reference to Rage Against the Machine in the selling of a product by Lock Up, a band Morello recorded with in 1990. Sony threatened legal action after Lock-Up re-issued their LP, "Something Bitchin' This Way Comes," with stickers that read, "featuring Tom Morello currently of Rage Against The Machine. " Manifesto has beat Sony to the legal punch by seeking a resolution of the issue through the Los Angeles court system. 

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• Tom Morello
• Rage Against the Machine