Massive Attack - Mezzanine [1998]

Genre: Trip Hop, Electronica

MySpace: massiveattack

My opinion & thought: The greatest electronica album from the 90s. God's work!

Stands out track(s): Angel, Teardrop

Massive Attack are a British trip hop group, founded in 1988 by Robert Del Naja, Grantley Marshall, and Andrew Vowles in Bristol, England. The trio were together prior to the formation of this band, as part of The Wild Bunch. With the release of their debut album Blue Lines in 1991, Massive Attack were critically acclaimed for their fusion of jazz, hip hop, rock, and soul elements into a style that journalists in the mid-nineties dubbed trip hop. With the release of later albums such as Protection in 1994, Mezzanine in 1998, and 100th Window in 2003 the group integrated a greater degree of electronica into their sound. Over the years, Massive Attack have teamed up with the likes of Madonna, Mos Def and  Sinéad O'Connor among many others.

Mezzanine is the third studio album by English trip hop group Massive Attack, released on April 27, 1998. It was produced by Neil Davidge along with the group. The album was produced on Virgin Records. Musically, Mezzanine is a major departure from the jazzy and laidback sound of the first two albums (Blue Lines and Protection), for it invokes the dark undercurrents which had always been present in the collective's music. It was released to near-universal acclaim worldwide, was a huge success in the UK and other parts of Europe, although it failed to share the same success in the United States, peaking at number 60 on the Billboard 200.

Mezzanine marked the departure of band member Andrew Vowles, due to creative conflicts. Similar to their previous albums, the majority of the songs consists of one or more samples, ranging from Isaac Hayes to Led Zeppelin. The album has sold over 300,000 copies in the UK alone since its release.

Critics lauded the album's textured and deep sound, although it was a heavy departure from the sound of their previous releases. The album relies heavily on abstract and ambient sounds, as demonstrated in the song Mezzanine among others. Horace Andy, a well-known reggae artist also performed several spots on the album.

The entire album was provided on their website for legal download many months before the physical release was announced. It was one of the first major uses of the MP3 format by a commercial organization.

In 1998 Manfred Mann sued Massive Attack for unauthorized use of a sample of the song "Tribute" from Manfred Mann's Earth Band's eponymous 1972 album, used in "Black Milk". The song has subsequently appeared as "Black Melt" on later releases and at live performances, with the notable absence of the sample.

The track "Man Next Door" also sampled "10.15 Saturday Night", B-Side of British band The Cure's first single release in 1979.

Mezzanine was well received by critics, who praised the collective's new sound. Rolling Stone's Barney Hoskyns however, although praising the album, pointed its flaws; "[Sometimes] rhythm and texture are explored at the expense of memorable tunes, and the absence of the bizarre Tricky (who appeared on Blue Lines and Protection) only highlights the flat, monotonous rapping of the group's 3-D.". John Bush of Allmusic also had positive light for the album's song "Inertia Creeps"; it "could well be the highlight, another feature for just the core threesome. With eerie atmospherics, fuzz-tone guitars, and a wealth of effects, the song could well be the best production from the best team of producers the electronic world had ever seen."

Years after the album was released, it was placed on many "Best Of" lists in England, and even in the United States. In 2000, Q magazine placed Mezzanine at number 15 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 412 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The song "Angel" has been covered by Brazilian metal band Sepultura on their Revolusongs EP, released in 2003; by Charlotte Martin on her 2007 album, Reproductions; and by American mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan on their EP Plagiarism, released in the summer of 2006.

Another song, "Teardrop" has been covered by Newton Faulkner, Mika, José González, Incubus, and Elbow, although their versions differ significantly in format and instrumentation from the original.

Tracklisting:

1. "Angel" - 6:18 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Hinds)
2. "Risingson" - 4:58 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Reed/Seeger)
3. "Teardrop" - 5:29 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Fraser)
4. "Inertia Creeps" - 5:56 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles)
5. "Exchange" - 4:11 (Hilliard/Garson)
6. "Dissolved Girl" - 6:07 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Sara Jay/Matt Schwartz)
7. "Man Next Door" - 5:55 (Holt/Smith/Tolhurst/Dempsey)
8. "Black Milk" - 6:20 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Fraser)
9. "Mezzanine" - 5:54 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles)
10. "Group Four" - 8:13 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Fraser)
11. "(Exchange)" 4:08 (Hilliard/Garson)
12. "Superpredators" (Japanese bonus track) - 5:16 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles)