Massive Attack Album: “Blue Lines”

The members (and producers) of Massive Attack will always be known as THE pioneers of the trip-hop genre. Blue Lines swirls with snare drum beats, soft bass guitar, and other instrumentation that flows through and through like a dream of peace and proserity. As one reviewer described the "positive" aspect of this album, Blue Lines is the kind of album that gives inner calm. I relaxed and meditated with this album for months. Massive Attack's debut produces a sedative effect on the listener, like soul food, and even brings back the spirit of the 1960's that everything within should promote your consciousness to being a peacemaker and peacegiver. Songs like "Hymn of the Big Wheel" describe the plight of man's short time on earth and how destiny shapes us all. "Be Thankful For What You've Got" is a motown remake set to a reggae sounding beat and soft record LP scratchin' (used in R&B and rap music), sounding much the same yet with modern vibe. "Unfinished Sympathy", a U.K. hit single from this album is painfully beautiful and lyrically stunning about the lover that hurt you, but yet you still want them back (which fades out with a piano solo) "Like a soul without a mind/ in a body without a heart/ I'm missin' every part" Every song on Blue Lines is a testament to the human existence (sex, love, for richer, for poorer, ecstasy, joy, remorse, jealousy, life...)

...I might like it a little better.

There is a good chance you will recognize some of the songs on this disc and not realize it was Massive Attack. I have heard some of the songs on movie soundtracks to commercials. Blue Lines is what I would call "Trip Hop". Trip Hop was more of a result of the 12 inch single boom of the late 80s through the early 90s. Remixers would extend traditional singles and the Trip Hop genre basically came out of that. Massive Attack were one of the first to take this as their style.

Here's the problem, I purchased Mezzanine based on some outside reviews I read. I liked Mezzanine so much I had to get other Massive Attack discs. I was mildly let down, Blue Lines included. Its not because Blue Lines is bad, its because Mezzanine is that good.

If Mezzanine is your first Massive Attack disc and are debating whether to purchase others, my suggestion is to listen to the other Massive Attack discs and purchase the songs you like through download. Blue Lines is a solid effort in Trip Hop.

Massive Attack's debut introduced the rhythms of trip-hop to the music world, and even if we ignore its historical importance, it is still a masterpiece of its genre. While "Mezzanine" boasts several stronger tracks ("Angel", "Risingson", "Teardrop"), they have never matched the consistent brilliance of their debut.

The album begins with "Safe From Harm", immediately setting the trip-hop blueprint: soulful vocals, stoned rapping and hazy beats. From that point on, the pace never slows down. The group takes us on an amazingly varied trip, ranging from the dub-influenced "Five Man Army" (featuring none other than reggae legend Horace Andy's exquisite falsetto) to the dance classic "Unfinished Sympathy". The title track is equally worthy of praise, making the connection to hip-hop even more explicit courtesy of Tricky, himself a member of Massive Attack at the time.

While the production may sound slightly dated to modern ears, the songwriting and vocals are simply timeless. There is no doubt this album will receive even more recognition in the future and once you hear it yourself, you will easily realize why. Simply essential.

I've been an MA fan since '94. I own all three albums, as well as No Protection and the Singles Collection. Massive Attack, aside from being insanely talented, switch formulas from album to album, which is why it's pointless to compare the albums to each other. Moreover, many of the latecomers who think Mezzanine is MA's best are oblivious to the beauty and texture of "Protection" and "Blue Lines". (You can't get to C by ignoring A and B.)

Now as far as "Blue Lines" goes, what can be said that hasn't been said already? Eight years after it's release, this album still stands as a masterpiece of "trip-hop" (I loathe that term.) The groove is melodic, built from fragments of hip-hop, soul, and reggae. One of the best things about the album is the harmonizing of Shara Nelson. She brings depth to everything she touches, whether it's the opener "Safe From Harm" ('but if you take what's mine/I'll sure as hell retaliate...'), "Unfinished Sympathy" (a Radio 1 favorite, with a hip-hop bassline and orchestral strings), or "Daydreaming", the 1990 single that _really_ started it all. The verbal exchanges between 3D, Daddy G, and a young Tricky are also witty (listen to the way 3D pronounces 'vitamin' on "Daydreaming".) And how can I leave out Horace Andy. From his work here, it's easy to see why he's been a mainstay ever since. (IMHO, however, "Spying Glass" is Horace at his best.)

All in all, this is a gem. It singlehandedly gave birth to a sound that matured with each passing album.

This is the first CD from Massive Attack and though their subsequent efforts are just as fine, it is Blue Lines that still outshines and sets the musical standard for the '90s and beyond. Never have I heard an album mix rap, reggae, dub, pop, dance, club and R&B so homogeneously, that it practically reinvents a new sonic vocabulary. Every song is surprisingly brilliant and authentic with one misstep (I'm not very fond of "Five Man Army"). () While various vocalists are featured on all the tracks, the album maintains its sense of uniformity through the experimental and modern sheen of its sound; keyboard blips, thick vibrating bass lines, piano, violin, etc. are all funneled through a Cuisinart and the results are still truly astonishing today. Keep an open ear for Shara Nelson's haunting vocals on "Safe from Harm", "Lately" and "Unfinished Sympathy", or Horace Andy's reggae warble on "One Love". Blue Lines is highly recommendable; you'll be a Massive Attack fan before the close of the last track.