Album: Mezzanine
Artist: Massive Attack
Born: St Pauls, Bristol
Released: April 1998
Genre: Trip Hop
Before trip hop became diluted into the muzak of Zero 7, the last great expression of the Bristol Sound was Massive Attack's Mezzanine. Tensions between band members were high and this is reflected in the music's dark mood. Shara Nelson had long departed (before the group's 1994 release Protection), so female vocalists were drafted in to soften the brooding instrumentals, with Tracey Thorn starring on Protection and the Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser the voice of Teardrop. Tricky had also left the group to release his solo album, Maxinquaye (1995), while Andrew Vowles (Mushroom) would depart soon after after Mezzanine's release. Though the loss of Tricky's unique flow is definitely felt, the addition of reggae singer Horace Andy, as well as Fraser, still gives Mezzanine real variety. This left just Grant Marshall and Robert Del Naja as core members in the album's immediate aftermath, both of whom decided to conduct interviews with the press separately – a sign of growing discord. The producer Neil Davidge described the recording set-up as "a pretty messy way to work", with Del Naja delaying Mezzanine's release by four months owing to excessive tinkering. Mezzanine was momentous for another reason, marking the start of the mp3 era, with the album made available for legal download on the group's website before its physical release.
The first four tracks on Mezzanine are nothing short of breathtaking. Angel is full of menace and operates as a fantastic tester track for how well your speaker system can deal with distortion. In my car, this song makes my tinny speakers sounds like they're going to fizzle and crack, so heavy is the bass. On my Squeezebox Boom, it's sublime. Horace Andy's measured, ghostly vocals contrast with the wall of guitars, which makes Angel one of the heaviest tracks Massive Attack ever produced. The apocalyptic video seems to suggest this song is about finding the courage to confront our fears. Risingson, with its Velvet Underground sample, has an industrial feel and was released as a single almost a year before Mezzanine. There's a jaded quality to the music and the lyrics ("Where have all those flowers gone / long time passing"), as though Massive Attack were tired of the music industry, and it was no surprise when Marshall left the group soon after the album's release to raise a family. Teardrop is a masterpiece (it's no coincidence that another of my other favourite Massive Attack songs, Unfinished Sympathy, also contains a stunning female vocal performance). Fraser co-wrote three of the album's 11 songs, Teardrop plus Black Milk and Group Four, and was chosen over Madonna to perform Teardrop's vocal lead. Fraser dedicated the song to Jeff Buckley, who had recently died. Inertia Creeps is one of my favourite tracks on the album, its gradual build of Eastern instruments and drums reflected in the song lyrics ("Inertia creeps, moving up slowly"). Other highlights are Man Next Door and Group Four, the first featuring samples of Led Zeppelin and The Cure. As well as being highly innovative, Mezzanine also had a huge influence on popular culture, with many songs like Teardrop (House) and Angel (Darren Aronofsky's π and Guy Ritchie's Snatch) often used in film & TV.
Before trip hop became diluted into the muzak of Zero 7, the last great expression of the Bristol Sound was Massive Attack's Mezzanine. Tensions between band members were high and this is reflected in the music's dark mood. Shara Nelson had long departed (before the group's 1994 release Protection), so female vocalists were drafted in to soften the brooding instrumentals, with Tracey Thorn starring on Protection and the Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser the voice of Teardrop. Tricky had also left the group to release his solo album, Maxinquaye (1995), while Andrew Vowles (Mushroom) would depart soon after after Mezzanine's release. Though the loss of Tricky's unique flow is definitely felt, the addition of reggae singer Horace Andy, as well as Fraser, still gives Mezzanine real variety. This left just Grant Marshall and Robert Del Naja as core members in the album's immediate aftermath, both of whom decided to conduct interviews with the press separately – a sign of growing discord. The producer Neil Davidge described the recording set-up as "a pretty messy way to work", with Del Naja delaying Mezzanine's release by four months owing to excessive tinkering. Mezzanine was momentous for another reason, marking the start of the mp3 era, with the album made available for legal download on the group's website before its physical release.
The first four tracks on Mezzanine are nothing short of breathtaking. Angel is full of menace and operates as a fantastic tester track for how well your speaker system can deal with distortion. In my car, this song makes my tinny speakers sounds like they're going to fizzle and crack, so heavy is the bass. On my Squeezebox Boom, it's sublime. Horace Andy's measured, ghostly vocals contrast with the wall of guitars, which makes Angel one of the heaviest tracks Massive Attack ever produced. The apocalyptic video seems to suggest this song is about finding the courage to confront our fears. Risingson, with its Velvet Underground sample, has an industrial feel and was released as a single almost a year before Mezzanine. There's a jaded quality to the music and the lyrics ("Where have all those flowers gone / long time passing"), as though Massive Attack were tired of the music industry, and it was no surprise when Marshall left the group soon after the album's release to raise a family. Teardrop is a masterpiece (it's no coincidence that another of my other favourite Massive Attack songs, Unfinished Sympathy, also contains a stunning female vocal performance). Fraser co-wrote three of the album's 11 songs, Teardrop plus Black Milk and Group Four, and was chosen over Madonna to perform Teardrop's vocal lead. Fraser dedicated the song to Jeff Buckley, who had recently died. Inertia Creeps is one of my favourite tracks on the album, its gradual build of Eastern instruments and drums reflected in the song lyrics ("Inertia creeps, moving up slowly"). Other highlights are Man Next Door and Group Four, the first featuring samples of Led Zeppelin and The Cure. As well as being highly innovative, Mezzanine also had a huge influence on popular culture, with many songs like Teardrop (House) and Angel (Darren Aronofsky's π and Guy Ritchie's Snatch) often used in film & TV.
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