I first heard Massive Attack back in 1991 when they were known simply as 'Massive', having been pressured to drop the 'Attack' part because of the Gulf war. This was only a brief name change, however, before they returned to being Massive Attack. The band sparked the trendy 'trip hop' sound in 1991 and originally started out with three members, DJs Grantley "Grant" Marshall , Andrew Vowles and painter-turned-MC Robert Del Naja. They have collaborated with Madonna, David Bowie and many others over the years and have had many guest vocalists which has became their trademark. Roots reggae veteran Horace Andy has featured on all of their regular studio ...  Read the complete review

Massive Attack are said to be the UK's biggest trip-hop (downtempo electronic music) artist of the 20th century. Debuting in 1991 with 'Blue Lines', featuring songs like 'Unfinished Sympathy', the early Massive attack focused themselves heavily on combining electronic bass, drums and strings with regular appearances from powerful male and female guest singers. One unmentioned attribute which really brought this sound together though, was the soft, lazy, relaxed rapping which sounded over the top of the majority of songs they produced. --- What I love most about this group is the way in which their unique sound has stood the test of time - through ...  Read the complete review

Following on from the classic Protection, Mezzanine is a moody album full of achingly beautiful, melancholic songs. For me the stand out songs on this album are, Angel with the ubiquitous collaborator Horace Andy, which is beautiful and odd at the same time, Teardrop with Cocteau Twin, Liz Fraser is a stand out, the lyrics and music are beautiful but her voice absolutely blows me away, as she sings about love, it's a beautiful song, much played on television and radio and deservedly so. Dissolved Girl is a moody piece which really sounds mysterious and strange whilst Inertia Creeps builds slowly and is a wonderfully composed piece of music, it is ...  Read the complete review

I cannot believe that this album is over ten years old, but it is having been released in 1998. Arguably the high point for Massive Attack, it enjoyed both critical success and excellent sales going Platinum in the UK. It regularly features in the lists of best albums, coming in at number 15 in Q Magazine's top 100 Greatest British Albums Ever, and no 412 in Rolling Stone magazines 500 greatest albums of all time. It has been described as based in the Trip Hop genre. I have no idea what that means, but if I were to give a description of the tone of the album it would be dark. Full of deep, rhythmic bass lines and samples of 60s and 70s classics, you could ...  Read the complete review

A lot of people who I know will probably think that I’m wondering way out of character by liking this so much. All my friends know that they don’t even bother suggesting to me that I go out clubbing with them, such is my hatred of dance music. So what am I doing listening and indeed, loving a dance album? Well, one very simple answer… No ******* way are Massive Attack dance! Now, as my regular reader will know (Hi! Thanks for living) I’m in a band and as that same reader will also know I’m mad about Mr Bungle. So naturally, shortly after I entered discussions with the other half of the band, Craig (Yes yes, I know that technically ...  Read the complete review