Blue Lines

The original trip hop album. Still sounds just as good now as it did 30 years ago.

An album somehow both distilled essence of its time yet also timeless. With nods to 70s soul deep cuts and a melange of styles and genres, Massive Attack made this masterpiece for the ages. Absorbing, flowing, emotional - electronic music was rarely this introspective. And Unfinished Sympathy isn’t one of the greatest musical achievements of the century as the soaring orchestra builds and swells and Shara Nelson’s beautiful vocals ring clear and sweet creating a transformative, epic, maxi and mini track. Exciting and frightening.

One of the best albums ever. Hands down.

Maybe revolutionary in its day, but it does not hold up for me. It could be a victim of its own success, creating an oft copied formula, once a bright shining star, but now it just blends in with the streetlamps.

From the opening burbling bass of Safe From Harm, I was hooked. What a song. What an album. Genre defining. I love Mezzanine which is a more consistent album but the high points of Blue Lines are enough to carry the album to a 5 🌟rating

Makes me want to go out and buy rubbers.

listen without prejudice they say, it's so hard. I grew up in Bristol, I was a teenager when this whole thing was kicking off. So strip away the hometown pride and teenage navel gazing what have you got? Basically a tsunami of an album one of the most distinct and incredible elements of this album is the bass, the bass is omnipresent loud and driving you have to remember that it was all guitars at the time. but they brought that heavy bass sound. Songs like safe from harm and one love, make Bass the king. the other thing that's great about this album is no one owns it, you have Horace Andy singing, 3D and Tricky rapping and Shara Nelson's iconic vocals. each song sounds differnt each song engages you in a differnt way, Yet it's cohesive. To me this album is the definition of collaboration. I could go on and on, folklore and drama surround it, but it's the music right and the music is so sweet. The shipping rhythms, the rolling bass and dream like pads make the music a waking dream something dark and beautiful. I'd give this a 6 if I could it's their best album by far and one of the best albums I've heard on this darn book list.

Vocals are dynamic but very much reminiscent of the time period. Instrumentation holds up incredibly well and is solely unique to Massive Attack, that is a sexy, futuristic fusion of multiple genres such as a hip-hop, soft rock, jazz, etc. in a near psychedelic manner.

🌋😭🌋🌋 really good album bro. A lot of the drums are crazy good. One Love is fire . 1. Five Man Army 2. Unfinished Sympathy 3. Blue Lines The album incorporates hip hop, funk soul and electronic music together . I gotta stop reading the Apple Music description before hand.

Yay some trip hop!! And not only that, but maybe the ultimate trip hop! I love the hip-hop, reggae, soul and electronic influences but they're all beautifully curated into something very pleasing and calming to my mind. The bouncy beat on Hymn of the Big Wheel makes me feel delicious things. It's perfect to me, no flaws. Unfinished Sympathy, another tuuuune.

Day 44 of AlbuMs You Must Hear. Before the genre trip-hop existed in 1991, English electronic music Massive Attack released their debut album, Blue Lines. This is a really chill record with lots of sampling, breakbeats and scratching. There is some singing and some rapping on Blue Lines but the true star of this show is the production. Check out the cool William DeVaughn sample of A Cadillac Don’t Come Easy on Be Thankful For What You Got. I really enjoyed Blue Lines by Massive Attack. Please share your thoughts, opinions and memories!!

November 28, 2023 Masterpiece. Innovative, executed perfectly. Every track holds. "Because my ak rig goes boom boom My ak rig goes boom"

Before it was called trip hop it was called acid jazz which frankly is a huge turn off. I always liked Mezzanine more than this but this really kind of started off a whole genre. Shit is fire. Really inventive stuff, kind of mashed up a bunch of things that was swirling around the UK club scene at the time. Although they did it better later with the aforementioned Mezzanine, and Portishead is really the gold standard of the genre- you can look at this album as the most influential in trip hop.

I thought about giving this album a 4, because they have at least 2 better albums, but then ❤️❤️❤️unfinished sympathy❤️❤️❤️ came on.

Good in ‘91 and still grooves. Excellent cool as ice jazz and soul samples and covers. Rapping and wordplay are clever. Production and music is excellent. Mix of singing, reggae and rap is a good variety. Top notch, but do I prefer this to Protection? Are they both good enough for 5*? Probably!

Groooooovy. Loving it. Best enjoyed with headphones.

Awesome album, one of the ones I enjoyed most so far. Equally capable of being background music or being the focus of attention. Safe from harm and the majestic unfinished sympathy dominate, but all tracks work really well as a piece.

Massive Attack is one of my favorite bands of all-time. The advent of trip-hop was amazing and this album illustrated the things to come from this english duo.

Another legendary record that doesn’t move me in the slightest.

mf rhymed 'dangerous' with 'contagerious'

Was ok - not really my jam

Haven't we already listened to an album by this band? I'm just not into this type of music. It bores and annoys me

Is it club music? Is it hip hop? Neither, both, but less than the sum of its parts. Underwhelming rhymes, sounds dated and very 90s but in a not great way. That said, there's a few decent tracks on here: Blue Lines, Unfinished Sympathy and Hymn Of The Big Wheel

I think I'm definitely missing something here and feel bad for giving it a 2 for a half assed listen on my part, but that's just the way it is.

It's fine, but it's boring. Background music. 'Unfinished Sympathy' is a banger though.

It's just kinda there nothing special imo

Not a fan- Sounded like something out of the Matrix. Super 90's with the drum and base and techo kind of vibes.

Dark, moody and claustrophobic….. just a great great album

Excellent going on a couple playlists

Smooth album. Large hip hop influence. Great vocals.

Im Rückblick noch mehr Urknall als Grunge in dem Jahr. Weite, und ich meine weite Teile der 90er unvorstellbar ohne das Teil, Kruder und Dorfmeister waren ja bei denen im Kindergarten. Bass? Yeah! Drums? MEEEGAA. Aber auch die Raps möchte Vati lobend erwähnen: slick, smooth and juicy. "Bums", wie es so schön zärtlich in "daydreaming" haucht.

“Unfinished Sympathy… one of the most moving pieces of dance music ever, able to soften hearts and excite minds just as keenly as Bacharach or McCartney.”

Stone cold classic. Good to read the wiki and understand how pivotal it is. Tbh, can get a little pedestrian at times, but that’s the vibe I guess

Before I’ve even listened to one note I am stoked, I lived this album back in the day and it’s been years since I last have given it any AirPlay. Having re listened to it I wasn’t disappointed, every song is a total banger, each hitting home with strong beats, still loving their best known hit unfinished sympathy and ending with the hymn of the big wheel which I think is such a haunting tune

Seit gestern wieder nur zweiter im ewigen Battle: wer gefällt Guido besser, Blue Lines oder Protection? Aber wie das so ist in ewigen Battles: der Kampf ist noch lange nicht entschieden. Das hier featured Basslines für die Ewigkeit, den perfekten Popsong, und mit Hymn of the Big Wheel einen Grower, der auch nach Jahrzehnten bei mir immer noch Potential hat. Momentan: 4,7 Sterne

Un album que je connais bien, que j'écoute de temps en temps sur ma hifi et que j'ai eu le plaisir de redécouvrir dans mes écouteurs Sorti en 1991, dans un monde ou le hip hop est à peine installé, il est à la base de plein de belles choses, notamment en terme d'electronica et de trip hop Au final en réecoutant cet album je me rends compte qu'il m'a beaucoup inspiré dans mes créations, j'adore la façon dont ils utilisent les samples, j'adore cette fusion entre electro et orchestral, leurs invités et le tyoe de chant qu'ils décident de poser sur leurs productions C'est impecable C'est beau C'est très inspirant Et ça a franchement bien vielli malgré que ce soit marqué par son époque Merci massive attack 4,5/5

I haven’t been this pleasantly surprised going into something I thought I’d dislike since my first viewing of “The Sound of Music” in a movie theater nearly a decade ago - this album combines hip-hop, dub, soul, reggae and electronic music into an incredibly satisfying melange.

Solid, but sometimes a bit repetitive. Great for dancing by yourself in your room, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Favourites included Daydreaming and Blue Lines (the title track).

I love me some trip-hop. I think Mezzanine is a better album overall, but there's something really raw and significant about this album all the same. It really feels like it was at the crest of the wave for the genre - really enjoyed it

I started out listening to this thinking I liked the darker tone of Mezzanine better, and after finishing it I still think that stands. But other aspects of this album - Tricky’s rapping in particular - are better. Solid 4 stars.

Massive Attack invented Trip Hop with this album and even though it was the start of the genre, this album is still really solid and stays as one of the best Trip Hop records of all time. The blend of the trippy and dreamy Hip Hop inspired beats with the light vocals that switch from gentle rapping to soulful performances as well as the additions of instrumental and electronic Raggae in the form of Dub is just a one of a kind spectacle. And although their album 'Mezzanine' is much, much stronger, this record had crazier and more forward thinking ideas that pushed Trip Hop into the path we know today. 'Safe From Harm' kicks things off with the mix of the trippy sounds of Trip Hop and the energetic breakbeats of Street Soul while incorporating a lot of Turntablism into the mix. The song uses the repetetive nature of sampling with a turntable perfectly as an advantage to create tension while still having a lot of soundscapes build around the main beat. And on top of that, the vocals are absolutely amazing and work so perfectly. I think the entire song works perfectly and not just as an opening track but as a song itself. The Dub appears fittingly on 'One Love' which is a perfect mix of the Raggae influence with the Trip Hop style. The vocals are a little bit silly at points but to be honest, it doesn't annoy much. I think the main "problem" is that the song is feels not fully fleshed out and at multiple points like they didn't check over it. I think it's still a good song but it also stays at good and not much more. The title track 'Blue Lines' now adds much more Hip Hop with some very low-key and gentle rapping that has a pretty warm and atmospheric feeling too it. I really love the production with the Jazz Bass, the sample flip as well as the actual verses that sometimes even go into Abstract Hip Hop territory. I think if there was a little more to it like a chorus or a hook (vocally or instrumental), it might've been a perfect song but the way it's done here is still really incredible. The very prominet Soul vocals of 'Be Thankful for What You've Got' with the R&B sound of the track do make this a really enjoyable track even with less Trip Hop in the actual production although it still has the typical drums, it's just that the entirety of the song is much more a Soul song than it is Trip Hop. I think the song is great and I love the chorus as well as the vocal deliveries but I just don't connect with it as much as with other songs on here. 'Five Man Army' returns to the strong Hip Hop influence and combines it with some Dub which is a lovely combo. I really love the production with the few trumpets in the mix that really add the enjoyment of the beat. The verses from the rappers are really well written and performed and are pretty much some of the best UK Hip Hop moments that have been made up until this point and are still from todays view, really solid. They obviously aren't close to anything from Little Simz or idk GZA but they are solid. As is the full track by the way. Even with the length of it it does have a lot of incredible moments and comes out to a pretty great song. The albums second half is started by 'Unfinished Sympathy' which combines strong Dance elements with Cinematic Classical strings that create a sound that feels both epic and energetic while still having the dreamy soundscapes of Trip Hop above it. Although I think that these elements don't perfectly work together, the vocal performance is really holding this together as a track but I believe it would've been better without the strings. It's still a great song and I get why so many see it as the best track on the album. 'Daydreaming' returns with more Rap influences and I think that they work pretty well especially the flow seems to fit neatlessly on the beat which I think is really the star of this track. The production is so great especially the details in there. I really like the song but I think that it doesn't have enough to it overall to reach a great level although I'd really wish that because I really like the production choices, it's just the thing finished that don't feel enough. There is again more Soul on 'Lately' but I feel like it doesn't go as hard as it did before. This track doesn't feel fully finished and also pretty lame in comparison. It's not bad but it doesn't go above an okay track that is fine to listen to but I don't really care for it at all. The album closes with a sonically very pure Trip Hop track 'Hymn of the Big Wheel' that only adds a couple of Dub, R&B and even New Age elements beneath the surface and with it being the albums longest track, it does feature some of the most interesting moments. The production feels grand but still very atmospheric and even a little bit cold. Although the vocals are again a little bit silly, they still work and I do think that the song ends up being pretty great. I really like the song on its own and also how it closes the album. favourites: Safe From Harm, Blue Lines, Unfinished Sympathy, Five Man Army least favourites: Lately, One Love, Daydreaming Rating: decent 8 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

So many different voices and sounds. Some reggae, some parts were more rap heavy. Really interesting.

When you are a pioneer, trying to blaze new trails, you don't always find the ideal route the first time. "Blue Lines" has been credited as the first trip-hop album, and knowing Massive Attack's trip-hop reputation I was excited to listen. However, these are clearly the early experiments of the genre, not its later heights. Some of the beats and structure were what I expected, but the soul vocals were not what I was looking for. And though I remember liking Tricky's solo stuff, the tracks that featured him were not much better. "Blue Lines" is somewhere in the 2-3 range, minus a star for the disappointment, plus a star for pioneering a genre that would later produce some amazing material... (Interestingly, after listening to this I stumbled upon Massive Attack's "Teardrop" on Sirius XMU. Definitely the Massive Attack song I'm most familiar with. So much better than "Blue Lines." Then a few songs later they played The National's "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness." (We also listened to The National last week.) Fantastic song. Probably my favorite I've heard from them. Better than anything on "High Violet." I thought both of those popping up today was pretty serendipitous.)

Well, they certainly remind us who they are at every opportunity. They produced some great stuff later on, but this doesn't do anything for me.

The first song (and a couple of other songs in the album) are quite similar to a parody talk that Reggie Watts had at POP TECH where he was saying a bunch of nonsense and was making that kind of music on-stage but it was very nonsensical. I don't think that the album was absolutely amazing, but I am sure it has an audience. There was nice little music in the background and then someone would appear and say things relatively quietly, and sometimes the things would rhyme.

I've never been a huge Massive Attack fan. I'm sure they're great, and they are probably the originators, but I feel like there have been so many parodies and stuff on this "type" of music, I couldn't get past the parody to hear it as a real serious album.

Snooze fest

great beats. werido lyrics and kinda off putting.

1991. Key Songs: Be Thankful For What You've Got

I am no fan of trip-hop, and I wouldn't shed too many tears if the entire city of Bristol was to fall into the sea. This sounds...atrocious. Boring, dated - and how many times are they going to say the phrase 'massive attack'? I'm trying to imagine a scenario where I'd put this on out of choice, and am failing. Perhaps interrogating someone at Abu Ghraib?

Synthy, cheesy white rapping over monotonous instrumental instruments. Confused reggae early 90s alt rock. Frankly, very bad.

lukewarm beats and irritating vocals. Plodding and soporific. We've progressed a lot since this album. Was pretty happy when this album ended.

Meh

This was a massive attack on my ears. I will gladly stay away from this group in the future.

Brilliant album!

For this genre, it's one of the best examples. For music, it's one of the best examples

A true classic. And if 3D Del Naja is Banksy, then even better.

One of the best - I listen to it all of the time.

This album changed my life. I don’t think I can actually say more than that.

vendu

Solid, I liked the style a lot. It was consistent and I am a fan.

Stone cold classic

Wawow mag net een vijf krijgen van mij (omdat ik het zo makkelijker ga vinden haha). Heel mooie liedjes vooral: blue lines, unfinished sympathy en hymn of the big wheel . Ik duik nog wat in hun discografie

This is SOOO my type of music

C'est exactement comme ça qu'on imagine la vie

Classic, loved this.

Yes all around.

Another perfect album

What an album! Super chilled, really enjoyed from start to end, strong beat in the background keeping it going the whole way and just zoned out into it, defo listening again

9/10. Excellent, was obviously a huge influence to Moby, Groove Armada, etc. Highlight was Unfinished Symphony.

Very good! Loved it!

Mummy! Mummy! The cat pissed all over my hair again. Please help.

4.5

Flawless. The singing alone on Hymn of the Big Wheel...

very cool

Just fabulous. And magical. Adore this album.

Perfection!

Inspired. Trip hop at its smoothest, freshest and funkiest, full of brooding emotion.

Fantastic. Thought I would find it middling. Instead I loved it all.

Prior to this, Teardrop was the only song of theirs I knew. I enjoyed the whole album!

Every time it ended I hit play again, and I just kept turning up the volume. (:

Classic. It's not my favourite of their albums, but it is a timeless wonder.

Truly an innovative direction in music and the start of triphop as a genre.

The big wheel keeps on turning…

great album

Amazing

Massive 🔥

Love leve. Love

An absolutely gargantuan album of early trip hop. A definitive album of the genre. And you get Unfinished Sympathy to boot. 5 stars all the way.

As one of the pioneers of trip-hop, it deserves its recognition with over half the album constituting of masterpieces to show what the genre could do, with their most accessible songs in the first half. Emerging from rave culture, electronic music fills the room with open ambiance and a tight groove. The synths are subtle and ensure there's a lot to focus on. The reggae-infused "Five Man Army" is one of the best examples: with two distinct rapping styles back and forth, but the background is full of creative jazz samples, weird synth effects, and hidden scats to ensure there's always something new to pick up on. The use of hip-hop may sound normal today, but it was completely innovative at the time when you consider their more forward and punchy contemporaries. It meshes well with the R&B and reggae styles singing of Shara Nelson, Horace Andy, and other singers. Despite having several vocalists, they all sound great and add to the diverse styles of these tracks, as if to show the genius is within the production itself, with the vocalists rather serving an instrumental role. I was once assigned Tricky's solo album a year ago, and I found it repetitive, but I much prefer his vocal contributions here, but maybe that's because it's more spread out and not the center of attention, even in his own songs like "Blue Lines." Still, the lyrics in songs like "Be Thankful" and "Unfinished Sympathy" are infectious, with inviting hooks to pull in all sorts of audiences. Even the tracks I didn't care for much became favorites given enough time. Nothing felt like filler, and the last few tracks gave a satisfying ending.

👌🏻💕

4.5/5. Can definitely hear the influence on Radiohead and NIN, and how it expanded use of samples. British rap tho 😬

That was nice.

Superb.

Awesome, I would have never found this on my own.

Very bassy and chill Awesome for 'high' setting

great album, mezzanine my fave though

A veritable banger, already with many plays by me. I think I'll always prefer Mezzanine and Heligoland, but this is so impressive for a debut. Fav new track: N/A, but fav old track is prob still Safe From Harm. Memories of drilling the iwaslookingbackatyou section back in the day...

From the opening burbling bass of Safe From Harm, I was hooked. What a song. What an album. Genre defining. I love Mezzanine which is a more consistent album but the high points of Blue Lines are enough to carry the album to a 5 🌟rating

Sin ser el que más me gusta sí es el que más me sorprende, lo tiene todo para ser una obra maestra: mezcla de géneros para hacer uno nuevo, flow y rollo a rabiar, magnetismo a tope. Musicalmente es una locura y, en su momento, rompedor y totalmente novedoso.