Massive Attack Album: “100th Window”

Owning all the previous Massive Attack albums I was awaiting this most recent instalment with great anticipation. In my opinion Massive Attack have, over the past decade, been honing and finely tuning their talents, extracting the finest moments of previous albums to make the next even more breathtaking. 100th Window appears to have benefited from exactly this, taking the most chilling and dark aspects of Mezzanine to produce their scariest album yet. This album has the 'inertia creeps' feel throughout with a hint of the east thrown in for good measure.

There is no 'teardrop' equivalent on this album which some may find disappointing yet Sinead O'Conor's vocals adequately compensate for the loss of Liz Fraser's presence. The album also features what may be some of Horace Andy's best performances to date, with a welcome softer approach.

In all, this deeply layered and lush addition to Massive Attacks collection of LPs is well worth a listen, whether you're a fan or not.

As I sit writing this review of Valentine's Day, I am brokenhearted for various reasons. One reason is the brand new Massive Attack album, which I bought three days ago mere minutes after it was officially released. I've been waiting excitedly for this album for five years, but sadly, nothing lasts forever. I won't argue with those fans who claim Blue Lines as the best Massive Attack album, but I am a ridiculous fanatic for Mezzanine which is certainly one of my favorite albums of all time, in any genre. But the group tension that made that album so mindboggling and gutwrenching are gone. The true musical mastermind of the group, Mushroom, quit due to creative differences, and Daddy G announced a "vacation." So now Massive Attack is made up of the last original man standing, Robert Del Naja (3D), plus new songwriting collaborator Neil Davidge. Del Naja is certainly a good songwriter and is qualified to keep Massive alive, but this album is probably the beginning of the end.

The big guest vocal star this time is Sinead O'Connor who sings three songs, reminding us that once upon a time she was known as the incredible singer that she really is. Sinead also gets to unload some of her politicized lyrics in "A Prayer for England." Reliable Massive friend Horace Andy lends his always breathtaking and crystal-clear voice to two songs this time, but not even he can save the bland material he's working with. And "bland" is the key word here. Four songs are dragged down by the atrociously poor singing (a better word is vocalizing) by Del Naja. You already knew he has a flat voice, though on previous albums he actually functioned well as a counterpoint to Tricky or Daddy G. But here he just can't carry a song on his own. Musically, the super-advanced Massive trip-hop is still in effect, though without the punishing grooves and creeping dread of Mezzanine. Especially missing are the dope basslines, which are only present in the album's two best songs - "Special Cases" and "Butterfly Caught." Otherwise the music is still innovative, but heartbreakingly bland and featureless. Also, the album closes annoyingly with a basic synthesizer loop that repeats ad nauseam for eleven minutes (after "Antistar"). This can be ignored. The Massive magic still peaks out occasionally on this album, but we're seriously headed for light ambient territory here. Oh well, they've had a good run.

Well, unfortunately maybe, I am. So when I have to review one of my favourite artists, it will always be more positive.. or more negative, it depends.

Two years ago, I bought this album. I wasn't very familiar with Massive Attack at that time, I had heard "Risingson" a few months before, and after a few tries I was stunned and I immediately ordered "Mezzanine" and "Blue Lines". Though, a week before the order would arrive, I came across the colorless cover of this album in a record store. Nine Euro's. I already heard 'Special Cases' before and I saw the video of 'Butterfly Caught', and I loved both, so it wasn't really a risk to buy this. So it turned out this would be the first album of Massive Attack I would buy.

I came home and put it in the record-player. I thought it was good, I didn't fall off my chair, but it was good; good enough to buy their other albums as well. Only 'Special Cases' & 'Butterfly Caught' really stood out for me, and I already had an interest in the last track 'Antistar'. I think I liked it because it was the first time I came in contact with this type of music, long before I even knew who or what Triphop was.

So I listened to it, for one week, before "Mezzanine" and "Blue Lines" arrived, both of which stunned me after just a few spins. "100th Window" slowly landed in a dark corner. I didn't listen much to it, occasionally I put it on, but it never amazed me, excluding a few tracks. It was a good album, no more no less. Last month I decided to put it on again, I think I was in the right mood, because I couldn't believe my ears. Where did all those beautiful subtle layers come from? The soft whistle-rap of Robert Del Naja kindly went through my skin, Sinead's vocals were powerfully cold, as if she was chanting from the top of a mountain, or in an ice cave for that matter. Horace Andy sounded hopelessly lost, his voice shattered all over the place,and his voice bloated together with the floating sound-scapes. Clinical, but not one-dementional. If anything, this album goes deeper than any other of their albums.

It's a mind trip through an ice-y soundscape, all bounded together by the 2 center-peices 'Butterfly Caught' & 'Antistar', both of which grandiose rises to the level of masterpieces of this very talented band, from times long gone. Other favorites include the soft storm of paranoia 'Future Proof', the beautifully crafted 'Small Time Shot Away', the spine-chilling echo's of 'Special Cases', and especially 'What Your Soul Sings', which I rate even higher than the track that it's often compared with: 'Teardrop'.

Maybe my head is poisened by the love I feel for this band, maybe this review is a bit too biased to help people that consider buying this, but maybe, just maybe you'll adore it as much as I do.

My introduction to Massive Attack happened when I heard a KMFDM song reference the band, and then year later I went looking for anything classified as "trip hop" because I was bored with "lounge". I stumbled across Massive Attack and remembered the reference. Having outgrown KMFDM, I decided to see what it was that they had objected to years ago.

Mezzanine is a piece of art. I don't like all of it; Tracks 4 and 7 just don't appeal to me, but it's still a five-star album. So I looked for more.

After reading several reviews of 100th Window, most saying it was crap and others being apologetic, I decided to write off the album. But, I found it sitting on a shelf in the middle of a well-known music store's store-closing sale. So I bought it.

It's good. It's not awesome like Mezzanine, and after sampling Blue Lines I can see why fans of MA's first album don't like this one. 100th Window takes the parts of Mezzanine that were different from Blue Lines, and expands on them. In a way, you could think of Mezzanine as being a fusion of the best aspects of Blue Lines and 100th Window.

Again, I don't like the whole album. The first two tracks are crap, and I almost tossed the CD, but when I skipped them and went straight to Track 3 I was quite pleased. It's good stuff. If you like Mezzanine and you're not crazy about Blue Lines, then you'll probably like 100th Window.

Massive Attack is what I considered one of the best electronic acts to ever come out of the UK. I also think Massive Attack is the forefathers of what people refer to as "trip hop" music. Massive Attack's music is dark, intense yet mellow but never boring. I have been anxiously awaiting for "100th Window" for a long time now. I thought it would never see the light of day. Was I disappointed? No. Although there isn't a "Teardrop" or "Protection" on "100th Window", the music picks off where MA left off back in '98. The music remains entrenched in dark, hypnotic, dub-influenced trip hop beats. In fact, the entire cd has that "Inertia Creeps/Angel" feel to the group's sound. The first track "Future Proof" opens up the cd with its foreboding beats. "What Your Soul Sings" is one of the three tracks that Irish singer Sinead O'Connor sings on. The sparse melodies and Sinead's haunting vocals meld well together. Just like her collaborations with Moby and Conjure One, Sinead O'Connor's vocals really mixes well with techno music. My favorite song with Sinead O'Connor singing is on the sixth track "A Prayer For England". I really was captivated by Sinead's vocals. Her vocals and lyrics sends chills down my spine every time I listen to that particular song. I was completely fascinated by the arrangement for "Everywhen". I just loved what I was hearing. I personally wasn't disappointed by "100th Window". It was definitely well worth the wait.