Description
Massive Attack's darkest foray, one of the greatest albums in trip-hop history!
Massive Attack's third album, released in 1998. Moving even further away from their conventional soul/funk roots, it delivers a heavy, dark sound that blends post-punk, industrial, dub, and hip-hop. Featuring Horace Andy's "Angel," Elizabeth Fraser's "Teardrop," "Black Milk," and "Group Four," and Sara Jay's "Dissolved Girl," a variety of vocalists give the work many different expressions. "Teardrop" in particular was originally considered for Madonna's vocals, but ultimately featured Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins.
During production, sampling was thoroughly employed not merely as a citation, but as a method of processing sounds themselves to transform them into new textures. For "Inertia Creeps," they reportedly took a single note from a sitar performance into the sampler and applied filters, detuning, and intense sound processing by Mark “Spike” Stent to create a unique bassline. Incorporating John Holt's reggae classic on "Man Next Door," the album reconstructs a wide range of music from dub/reggae to rock.
Starting with "Angel," "Risingson," "Teardrop," and "Inertia Creeps," the entire album forms a continuous, massive sonic space. It is particularly rich in shadow compared to other Massive Attack works and stands as a masterpiece representing 1990s British electronic music.
A1. Angel
A2. Risingson
A3. Teardrop
B1. Inertia Creeps
B2. Exchange
B3. Dissolved Girl
C1. Man Next Door
C2. Black Milk
C3. Mezzanine
D1. Group Four
D2. (Exchange)
