Massive Attack

MASSIVE ATTACK – Masterpiece Debut ‘BLUE LINES’ Came Out 30 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time…

8 April 2021

Band: MASSIVE ATTACK (Bristol, UK)
Active since 1988 / 5 albums so far

Album: BLUE LINES – debut LP
Released: 8 April 1991 – 30 years ago today
Score: #13 in the UK

Pitchfork wrote: “Blue Lines brought producers around to its unique vision.
By the time Massive released Protection three years later, the group’s renegade
approach had been copied enough times to become a full-on movement…
Blue Lines is still Blue Lines, and most of the world is still trying to catch up to it.”
Full review here. Score: 9/10.

Turn Up The Volume: A ground and sound-breaking
masterpiece. Trip-soul-hop-pop at its inventive best.

Singles/clips: Daydreaming / Unfinished Sympathy / Safe From Harm

– DAYDREAMING –

– UNFINISHED SYMPATHY –

– SAFE FORM HARM –

Full album…

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MASSIVE ATTACK: Facebook

‘UNFINISHED SYMPATHY’ Single By MASSIVE (ATTACK) Released 30 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

11 February 2021

Band: MASSIVE – the band’s temporary
name before switching to Massive Attack

Single: UNFINISHED SYMPATHY
Written by: group members Robert “3D” Del Naja,
Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles (Tricky) and Grant “Daddy G”
Marshall, vocalist Sarah Nelson, and co-producer Jonathan
“Jonny Dollar” Sharp

Released: 11 February 1991 – 30 years ago today
Score: #13 in the UK

Album: BLUE LINES – debut LP

Robert Del Naja: “Nostalgia is a strange and powerful emotion.
As much we try and fight it and fight ourselves, it’s very hard not to.”

A soul classic…

MASSIVE ATTACK: Facebook

25 Years Ago MASSIVE ATTACK Released Their Second Longplayer ‘PROTECTION’…

Posted on by JL

26 September 2019

Trip-hop legends MASSIVE ATTACK released their second longplayer PROTECTION on
26 September 1994, 25 years ago. Although it seemed nearly impossible to match their groundbreaking debut classic Blue Lines this follow-up contained a series of significant tracks, enough to make it a critical and commercial success. The album peaked at #4 in the UK and #19 in the US.

AllMusic wrote: “Massive Attack’s sophomore effort could never be as stunning as Blue Lines, and a slight drop in production and songwriting quality made the comparisons easy. Still, from the first two songs Protection sounds worthy of their debut. The opening title track is pure excellence, with melancholy keyboards, throbbing acid lines, and fragmented beats perfectly complementing the transcendent vocals of Tracey Thorn… Tricky, another soon-to-be-solo performer, makes his breakout on this record, with blunted performances on “Karmacoma,” another highlight, as well as “Eurochild.” But even though the production is just as intriguing as on Blue Lines, there’s a bit lacking here. Massive Attack doesn’t summon quite the emotional power they did previously…” Full review here. Score: 4/5

Key tracks…

– KARMACOMA –
(My all-time fav MA track with vocals by Tricky)

– PROTECTION –
(Vocals by Tracey Thorn)

– SPYING GLASS –

Album in full…

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MASSIVE ATTACK: Facebook – All Albums

MASSIVE ATTACK Released Their Obscure Masterwork ‘MEZZANINE’ 20 Years Ago…

Posted on by JL

Going back in sonic history looking for memorable albums…

19 April 2018

Band: MASSIVE ATTACK

Album: MEZZANINE

Released: 20 April 1998 – 20 years ago

Pitchfork wrote: “The album corroded their tendencies to make big-wheel hymnals of interconnected lives where hope and despair trade precedent—on Mezzanine, it’s alienation all the way down. There’s no safety from harm here, nothing you’ve got to be thankful for, nobody to take the force of the blow: what ‘Mezzanine’ provides instead is a succession of parties and relationships and panopticons where the walls won’t stop closing in. ‘Mezzanine’ stands as an album built around echoes of the ’70s, wrestled through the immediacy of its creators’ tumultuous late ’90s, and fearless enough that it still sounds like it belongs in whatever timeframe you’re playing it.” Score: 9.3/10 – Full review here

Turn Up The Volume says: This longplayer always sounded to me like a perfect soundtrack for sci-fi movie ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind‘. Otherworldly, transcendental, but most of all astonishingly fascinating in sound and vision. Groundbreaking performance…

Three Top Tracks: Teardrop / Risingson / Man Next Door

* TEARDROP

* RISINGSON

* MAN NEXT DOOR

Album in full…

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MASSIVE ATTACK: Twitter – Discography


“In light of Facebook’s continued disregard for your privacy, their lack of transparency and disregard for accountability, ‘Massive Attack’ will be temporarily withdrawing from FB”
(March 2018)

Stunning Singles Turning 20 In 2018 – Here Are TURN UP THE VOLUME’S 10 Picks…

Posted on by JL

Going back in sonic history…

1998 – Twenty Years Ago
10 Big Singles to Remember…

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1/ ‘Celebrity Skin’ by HOLE
Courtney Love‘s best shot…
Album: ‘Celebrity Skin’

2/ ‘Pure Morning’ by PLACEBO
“A friend in need’s a friend indeed / A friend with weed is better…”
Album: ‘Without You I’m Nothing’

3/ ‘A Film For The Future’ by IDLEWILD
Steamy Scottish eruption…
Album: ‘Hope Is Important’

4/ ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’ by GARBAGE
Who is this band?…
Album: Version 2.0

5/ ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’
by MANIC STREET PREACHERS
Anthemic splendour…
Album: ‘This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours’

6/ ‘Goddess On A Hiway’ by MERCURY REV
Epic magnificence…
Album: ‘Deserter’s Songs’

7/ ‘Teardrop’ by MASSIVE ATTACK
Elizabeth Fraser in another galaxy…
Album: ‘Mezzanine’

8/ ‘Battle Flag’ by LO-FIDELITY ALLSTARS
Big beats and a smoking swagger…
Album: ‘How To Operate With A Blown Mind’

9/ ‘Intergalactic’ by BEASTIE BOYS
Robotic hip hop craziness…
Album: ‘Hello Nasty’

10/ ‘The Rockafeller Skank’ by FATBOY SLIM
Dance floor classic…
Album: ‘You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby’