Blue Lines

Me esperaba más.

it’s fine, i would probably play it in the background of me playing video games or something

Overall great 7/10. Tracks liked: Blue Lines, Unfinished Sympathy, Hymn Of The Big Wheel

Enjoyable but felt a lot longer than it was.

Really enjoyed this album. I had not listened to this album top to bottom and it has some great songs. Love the opening track with the hand cramping bassline is fantastic. Love the different vocalists. 3.5*s

喜欢鼓点伴奏，节奏和音量适合做工作bgm？

Not bad. Ahead of its time.

Liked this

Good! What PM Dawn could have been had they not found drugs. Beats are solid, singers are solid, MCs are solid-a solid album!

Pretty good but I much prefer Mezzanine.

Approached this with a weary sigh, but was pleasantly surprised. Much more interesting than I rememeber, I guess it lost some impact through being overplayed in every dark bar and/or teenage afterparty in the mid-'90s. Not bad at all but hardly thrilling

Unfinished sympathy Hymn of the big wheel

My initial impressions of Massive Attack suggested that this would be an album I was going to love. The only song I’d heard before (‘Unfinished Sympathy’) is a complete banger and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the tracks on ‘Mezzanine’ that I’ve heard. I love Portishead’s ‘Dummy’, which I consider one of my 25 favourite albums of all time. I knew Massive Attack had a different sound to Portishead but both fall under the ‘trip-hop’ label. Finally; Robert del Naja is very attractive ;) However, while I can recognise the influence and impact this album has had on electronica, I found it rather bland and repetitive. While ‘Dummy’ appears to focus more on the ‘soul’ aspect of trip-hop due to the sheer power of Beth Gibbons’ voice, ‘Blue Lines’ seems to lean more towards the juxtaposed ‘hip-hop’ aspect, with a focus on beats over the singer, and extended tracks. Hip-hop is one of my least favourite genres, primarily as a result of what I see as unimaginative music. The lack of a unifying singer also increases focus on the arrangements and instrumentation. Overall, though, the album was not a regrettable listen. 5/10.

Very nice as background music, but I can't decide if it's something I'd want to work to, relax to, or sleep to.

Safe from Harm I like but it is 2 minutes too long :(. Unfinished business is "good" but it sounds like a song that would play in the end credits of a cheesy 90s action movie that took itself too seriously. Blue Lines is a straight BOP Five Man Army

Album was OK

Nice but not very intriguing, also ok for learning

interesting, I liked one love a good bit, not bad overall

Interesting, not their best though. On the verge of a 4 star.

Good beats. British rap. Would like to listen again sometime and maybe with the lyrics available? Didn't love every song, but some were interesting musically.

decent, some good tracks, not all

This is such a subjective thing I suppose, but I just didn't really enjoy this album. The whole concept of their sound just isn't my thing.

Eh

Understandably important but parts haven’t aged well

Cool album, but not something I'd revisit.

Meandering mellow dance music. Meh.

Pretty good - quite different from Portishead

Sounds incredible, well mastered A bit sleepy and repetitive for me. But I can definitely see myself listening to it or similar again Similar feel to some synthwave, good for driving in a city at night through the rain.

Not their best, but still solid. Vibes are kinda like a British version of the Sopranos theme. +1 for the pronunciation of vit-a-mins

There’s some alright songs here, but nothing like the timeless tracks of Mezzanine.

A pretty mid Massive Attack album in my opinion. If you wanted to have a definition for what trip-hop sounds like, this would work though, it comes across as pretty straight in that genre, but none of the individual tracks really jumped out at me.

Some head bops, will have to listen again with lyrics but certain songs fell flat for me.

Good vibes but not loving all elements

Early 90s alt-dance-hip-hop-reggae hybrid. That’s a lot of hyphens. I feel like this must have been on in a bar or three that I spent time in back then. It’s background-y, but well-executed.

Is it actually good though or was it just popular?

If Portishead made background music for 90's gym equipment commercials.

2.5

3.5 Ahch. Rating these things is usually so difficult given that you can't give half stars. This one is close to a 4 for me, the sustained vibe is immaculate. Just chill as fuck. The loops the synths, everything layering nicely, gently. Laid back. I'm sure this is a lovely album on X. What knocks it down for me is the very 90s england lyrics around rasta-lite one love-ism. I think had the album closed a little stronger it would have been a four for me. But I can't quite bring myself to add this one to my library.

mid

Some really good music here. I like their style.

Mezzanine brings everything together just a little bit better in my opinion, but this is a very solid album.

Heard before. I knew Unfinished Sympathy from some talkshow that used this as its intro, so I always think of that when I hear it. Some chill vibes, nice trip-hop. + Blue Lines + Be Thankful For What You've Got + Lately + Unfinished Sympathy

It’s was alright,nice beats and ok rapping.I didn’t particularly see what’s so good About it.Maybe I’m missing something

The first time I encountered Massive Attack was in the early '00s when I downloaded a file named "Heat Miser" on a dial-up connection free song sharing site. It was not only not the song I was hoping for, I've never wanted to listen to it again, and yet it still lurks in my Apple Music library. I wouldn't be adverse to listening to this album again, but it would probably be so low on my ever-growing list, that I shall bid this a fair adieu and maybe we'll meet again on the Sirius XM Chill channel one of these days.

Not listened to it all the way through in years. Unfinished Sympathy is still the best track on the album. 3.

Vet album die het begin inluidt van de zgn triphop. Waar o.a. Gorillaz uit voortvloeit. Soms wel echt moker saai. Nummer reviews: 1. nice nummer, ben wel fan van de rap. Beetje faithless achtig. 7,5 2. Beetje trippy en meer ska achtig nummer, wel nice 7 3. Rustig 7 4. Deze is wel lekker 7,3 5. Hele lekkere vibe, vooral zo rond 1:30 7,5 6. Natuurlijk hun #1 banger. Iconisch nummer. 8,5 7. Lekker beetje funky 7 8. Lekkere change in beats, maar wel saai 6,8 9. Iets leuker 7,0

This felt really 'experimental' and I didn't lack the lack of pattern. Glimpses of meaningful lyrics, and I liked the way they sampled different styles and people. It was at least very varied. Be Thankful for What You've Got and Daydreaming were highlights.

Interesting surprise here. I could see mixing in a few songs to a shuffle, but I wouldn't want to listen to an entire album.

A couple of the songs were pretty cool. I really like the breakbeat/Dub kinda stuff but other songs dragged on.

A few songs, like the first in the album with the fun bass line, I enjoyed. Others faded more so into the background for me. I enjoyed it mostly, but there were a few songs that weren't quite for me.

it was alright. different than anything else I've listened to.

After listening David Holmes’ Let’s Get Killed, I did not have high hopes for this album. I guess this trip hop too but it’s much more listenable. It’s still not my thing but I appreciate the production value and the fact that they have various vocalists, and less repetitive sounding tunes. I enjoyed “Safe From Harm” and “Unfinished Sympathy” with Shara Nelson on vocals. I enjoyed the tracks that only rapped the least.

Slow start but gets good, good background music

I expected to like this album more than I did. It feels like an album ahead of its time but also dated. I did listen through this a few times though and found a few good songs I liked on it. But unfortunately, I don't think I'll come back to this album. Favorite Songs: Safe From Harm, Unfinished Sympathy Least Favorite Songs: One Love, Five Man Army, Daydreaming, Lately

This album was my introduction to trip hop back in the day and, for that reason, I have a soft spot for it. But it hasn't aged all that well. The synths aren't the best, the mix is just so-so, and these lyrics are pretty lame. But the point of trip hop isn't the lyrics. The point of trip hop is the vibe. And Massive Attack nails the vibe 90% of the time. It really is a great example of the genre. The problem is that 45 minutes of it in a sitting is exhausting. In a mix, these tracks slap. In an album, they're a slog.

Big fan of the trip hop vibe. Catchy bass lines, beats and vocals, but a lot of the tracks end up being forgettable for me Decent to strong 3 in my book!

Meditative

I wanna give this a 4 but this album has some of their weaker songs I do sometimes go around saying the "I was looking back at you to see you looking back at me to see me looking back at you" line to myself though, it rolls of the tongue

Highlights: "Safe From Harm," "Blue Lines," "Five Man Army," "Unfinished Sympathy" Feel unfit to judge this when the history of dub influence is unclear. This predates other dub-influenced pop entries in the list like Portishead's Dummy and Sabres of Paradise's Haunted Dancehall. It's uneven but mostly comfortable except for some drags like "Be Thankful" and pretty diverse in styles. This would have to be a very early entry in the new baseline for heavy chill jazz '90s grooves, five months before ATCQ's Low End Theory. That has to count for something.

3.5

Toteuttamatta jäänyt sympatia on albumin kaunein ja vetoavin soitto. Se on popin rakastaman teeman, rakkauden, alistama teos joka kurkottaa liian korkealla tälläisestä paska r&b chilling mf ass musta (ihonväri) musiikki, bändin nimen toisto, kakkailu r&b soimaan ja mustat kadulle mellakka,…. kikkailu, pinnallinen soitatus albumista……. joku huora varmaan tulee sanoo hyvä basso,,, JOO JOOO ON ON VITUN HYVÄ ON… VITTU…

Before today, the only song I ever knew of Massive Attack's was the House MD theme song (song title: Teardrop). That song is quite good, but I was unfamiliar with the songs on this album. Massive Attack are credited with starting the trip hop genre of music (electronica music with hip hop/rap lyric delivery). This music sounds similar to Gorillaz or that Nightmares on Wax record I reviewed a while ago. Overall, not anything special going on on this record. I listened to it this morning, and I already forget most of the songs. It was kind of hard to pick a favourite song because it all just kind of ran together. This would make good background music, but it was kind of bland and difficult to focus on and listen to. It wasn't terrible music, it just wasn't that exciting either. Favourite songs: Daydreaming, Hymn of the Big Wheel Least favourite songs: One Love 3/5

I didn’t know what I though Massive Attaxk was but it wasn’t this Listening to this I distinctly feel that yes, this is the sound of 91. How do I know this? Was I a six year old who was big on the scene at the time and just forgot? I think what I mean by this is if I’d discovered this album when I was still musically formative, I’d easily made this my entire personality but alas, not this lifetime. One Love kept threatening to be a track of add to my eternal playlist but just couldn’t commit to those dirty brass beats. Blue Lines - sleepy spoken word rap was an interesting choice but again was just kidding that kick Unfinished Sympathy - justifiably seen as a classic Lately - I always enjoy a baseline that means I have to turn my volume down for self preservation Hymn of the Big Wheel - excellent closing track for the priors 3.5

Safe, Unfinished och att Horace Andy är med är stora plus. Annars inte så himla kul.

Cool stylings and production - wasn't totally sold on it first listen but grew on me quite a bit the second time round. Three and a half. Fave track: Hymn Of The Big Wheel

I thought I'd like this more than I did. I understand it's importance as the first trip hop album, but it's pretty meh for me personally.

Pretty cool trip-hop with a laidback lounge-y style. Probably not something I’ll seek out again though. I imagine this was very fresh and influential in 1991 when electronic music and hip-hop were still kind of in their early stages.

90s techno erotic thriller music

Muy lento para mi estilo

Eh. Nothing special, but not bad.

a. realizing once again that I really like trip-hop b. especially with this album, I generally do NOT like vocals in conjunction with said trip-hop. I'm paraphrasing what one of the members of the band said about this album, and by extension the genre since this album is considered one of the first trip-hop albums: "this is dance music not for the feet but for the mind" - that's probably what I like most about it. What brings it down is how dated it still sounds in parts - I get that there was only so much you could do in 1991 but... some of those 80s sounding drum beats/synths just don't age well. Like where they're going here but future work is more enjoyable for me. 6/10 3 stars

meh

mezzanine is better 😬

I like it. Living in Chicago in the early 90s I never heard Massive Attack on the radio. Now I hear them on KEXP. Enjoyed hearing a full album.

Cool vibe and starts strong. But gets a bit repetitive in the middle.

Some absolute bangers on this. A few fillers though.

Nice!

I still don't love this style of music but there was some nice singing on this so will round up

I like younger albums of Massive Attack. I also think that Blue Lines and Lately are funky songs. The beginning of Hymn of the Big Wheel is my favorite on this album. I understand how this changed Electronica music and the genre, and more specifically later on as they experimented more. I think the singing is dated because it sounds so 90s but the beats are strong. And that's what makes them unique -- and probably affecting other bands that came out of the early 00s (The Postal Service).

Not bad, liked Unfinished Symphony. But overall not my vibe, too ‘artsy’.

Just fine.

Not what I was expecting massive attack to sound like but I enjoyed it!

I Ain’t the One into Tuesday’s Gone is shift! But seven and a half minutes is too long for the second track. Gimme Three Steps is fine. Free Bird is not my thing.

Melodic and mellow. 3.5

Tired and tepid and even tame-sounding today. "Be Thankful" is best song.

Good album!

Not bad, musically, just not my type of music

Mixed bag here, Unfinished Sympony, is an all time classic, definitely up there as one of the best tracks of the 90s. And then we have, Hymn of the Big Wheel, which is pure shite. So I'd say, some of the album I would defo listen to over and over again, but about 60% of the album wouldn't get another airing for me.

the beginning was weird but it got better by the end

Blue Lines is way ahead of Protection in terms of quality. But while I adore trip hop there’s just something about Massive Attack that I never quite get. The reggae feel of “One Love” and “Five Man Army” does nothing for me. It’s really only on “Safe From Harm”, “Unfinished Sympathy” and “Hymn Of the Big Wheel” that Massive Attack proves their true potential. But boy oh boy, what a potential!

I like this, but it never truly clicked deep with me, even though I really wanted it to. 1 - bad 2 - average 3 - good 4 - great 5 - outstanding

This sounds pretty fresh for a 32 year old album. Not really my bag but I quite liked it.

A fun genre blending album, but not any standout songs really. Beats feel monotonous at times. 3.5/5

I do love Unfinished Sympathy, and there were some good pulsating rhythms in there. But was fairly apathetic about the rest. Was not entranced by this as much as I thought it would be.

I love Mezzanine, but have never been able to get into their earlier albums. This is my second or third try for this one, and there are just no hooks or for me to grab onto. I mean, it's cool for what it is, but I don't ever reach for this one.

Cool sound. Like music from a dream rave

US

Nowhere near their best but not bad.

Great chill vibe, with a really diverse range of influences. Enjoyed it. Fave Songs: Unfinished Sympathy, Be Thankful for What You've Got, Safe from Harm, One Love, Lately

Svakalega mikill tíundi áratugur. Unfinished sympathy er æði, hitt er allt í lagi. Soundið er flottara en raddirnar. Áfram gakk.

Was a cool album i never heard. don’t see myself coming back to it

Jazzy hip-hop fusion... Kinda liked it

Okay but I didn't want to keep listening.

I only had a chance to listen to this casually as I was driving around doing errands. I enjoyed it albeit superficially.

In the early 90s, Massive Attack and Portishead from Bristol kicked off the British trip-hop/downtempo movement and they quickly became ubiquitous in the tiki lounges and bars everywhere. They blended hip-hop with jazz, soul, electronic and reggae and slowed down the beats, waaaay down to create a languorous sophisticated mood. My favourite songs on this album are Be thankful for what you've got (a nice cover of William DeVaughan's hit) and Safe from harm with its thunderous bass. The other songs with the male singers softly rapping with their Bri'ish accents don't work as well for me though. I wish Shara Nelson's vocals were featured on more of these songs. Three stars for their influence in creating this new genre though.

Didn’t expect the hip hop and reggae influences, couple of good songs though

Great, but ain't no Mezzanine.

Interesting. Seems very influential to some post punk/alt rap today.

I appreciate what these guys set out to do, and the originality and influence of this album. Overall though, the execution is slightly off and felt one-note. I found myself checking to see when it would end. Five Man Army was decent.

Cool beats and lyrics but I couldn’t really get into the album. I think it’s that I’m not really a fan of so much speaking in music?

Liked this much more than I expected to. Rhythms and beats are strong and the vocals and rapping work very well.

Lots of people seem to be calling this vibes music. I think that’s fair. It’s kind of background music even when lyrics are happening. Well produced but not memorable.

Fine

Well done but mostly boring.

Has dated poorly. I prefer the more songful ‘Protection’ but forget the group… ‘Maxinquaye’ is the best.

3.6/5

Laatulevy, mutta tän saundit oli ehkä vähän ysärille jääneet. 3/5 kuitenkin.

так я узнала что массив атак британские реперы. конкретная эта итерация меня не захватила

Sort of ambient bass-driven smooth soul. Very pleasant.

stoner vibes un poco

Never listened to this MA album...was disappointed (still decent overall). I love other stuff and Tricky solo. Maybe this one is just too dated. 3/5

Very interesting album! I saw on Apple they called it Trip-Hop which I've never heard before. Listed as electronic, but it's kind of in a category of it's own. I've heard a few albums like this but it's like smooth hip/hop or R&B mixed with electronic. Does Daydreaming have a sample from Rich Girl??He He say's "If I was a rich man, dananannanananan" just like Gwen Stefani. Either way, this was an enjoyable album.

Unfinished Sympathy is so good. The rest is up and down... don't love the later tracks after that one. Overall I get that this had a bigger impact than Mezzanine but I do prefer that album.

It was aight nothing great. Lady singer

Ok. Glasba za ozadje. Vse pesmi se mi zdijo podobne, a poslušala sem le enkrat.

listened to before it's decent

Safe, Unfinished och att Horace Andy är med håller 4/5. Men…

A really solid electronica album, nothing that blew my mind but a great album for listening to while working. Top tracks: One Love, Blue Lines, 5 Man Army

p673. 1991. 3.5 stars. Classy Brit fusion of hip-hop, reggae and trance. Shouldn't work on paper, but somehow does. Unfortunately a lot of the tracks sound the same, and points deducted for tracks outstaying their welcome.

Incredibly, beautifully, and sometimes painfully 1991.

Not really for me. Unfinished sympathy is a highlight.

Decent definitely some good tracks in there. Fav song: One love Least fav: safe from harm

I’m usually not a big fan of rap, but there were some fantastic tracks on this. Makes for good study music.

73/100: This was one of those albums that was very hard to pin down from a genre standpoint. I settled on electronica solely because that's what the album generator website said, but this album has so many elements of reggae and rock too, it feels wrong to just say electronica. I enjoyed this album, mostly because of how unique it is. With that being said, I don't think it's objectively that great of an album, but it's unlike anything else which is pretty cool.

i prefer mezzanine

I really liked the last Massive Attack album the generator gave me, so I was excited to give this one a listen. I didn't like it nearly as much. It's fine, I guess, but nothing super interesting to catch my attention and none of the songs particularly blew me away. Fave: Unfinished Sympathy Least Fave: Daydreaming

I know a little bit of Massive Attack, but looking at album covers, I think my exposure is kind of limited to Mezzanine. Out the gate, Safe From Harm is pretty good. I kind of get a more coherent incarnation of The Crystal Method or The Prodigy. Honestly, this is kinda what I want Daft Punk to be. People say such good stuff about them, but eh... Take that as you will. I'm noticing a theme in the driving bass and strong stereo mixing. Five Man Army is about two minutes too long. The synthesized strings in Unfinished Sympathy really add a lot. Oooh, then the fade into Daydreaming, that was slick. One of the vocalists reminds me of the little guy from The Lonely Island lol. This album is such an interesting blend of sounds, I dig it.

Todo bien. Puede llegar a ser monótono.

favourite song: five man army least favourite song: hymn of the big wheel honourable mention to blue lines for favourite song. This album was alright but not really my sort of thing

Overrated

Kinds meh

Pretty similar to the other Massive Attack album on the list. Great production with long and repetitive songs that seem to me to be missing some essential part of what I like about hip hop. 6/10

agradável, mas não muito empolgante

This sound is pre-genre-crystallization, important but lacking in important. Blue Lines is a vibe record, the literal "one love"-level lyricism promoted too far in the mix. In the closer's terms, there is a tension between simple life and the reality of the sounds sampled. The twenty-first century didn't provide a new simplicity, in the end. But the music here stood and stands and begat.

I don't love that early 90s electronica/trip hop but some of it is pretty good. This is ok

Cool mix of Enigma, Chaka Khan, Sade, and SiSe. Easy to listen to from the first play. I enjoyed hearing different singers on different tracks.

I like many of these songs for about half of the song and then they get boring and repetitive and don't go anywhere.

I know it may be sacrilege but I prefer "Protection" to this. Certainly a genre breakthrough, but I don't think they'd quite dialed it in yet here.

Generally a fan of Massive Attack but overall it's no where near as good as their later output.

Trippy, sounds like Crystal Method.

it was definitely something for its time, kinda weird but ahead of its time. lounge typa music

first track great. "one love" really boring and repetitive. I really wanted to love this after the first track but the rest was meh

Wish I could give this a 3.5, because it deserves better than just a 3. I like their style. Just dunno if it quite deserves a grade quite as high as a 4.

Cool. I like trip hop and it paved the wave for alot of trip hop EDM now adays. I feel the potential for liquid stranger to remix one of these

Not bad, but not their most memorable album.

A solid high-fidelity album that paved the way for groups like Morcheeba and Thievery Corporation. A generous mix of genres made for a unique innovative sound for 1991. And guess what? The song "Teardrop" isn't on this album which is wonderful because if I have to listen to Teardrop one more time in my life I may end it.

Like it, don't love it.

I just started listening to these guys about a month ago, but had not checked out this album. Overall pretty decent, however, Mezzanine is much better in my opinion.

bevat leuke songs maar niet helemaal mijn ding. Wel leuk voor werkachtergrond

Oscurito urbano. Se groovea

Another album that I enjoyed and I recognize it's importance, but it just didn't "wow" me. Perhaps its because I'm not big on the genre. Regardless, it was a pleasant listen even if I doubt that I'll be returning any time soon. I wouldn't rule it out though.

Never listened to this band before, and not familiar with "trip hop." That being said, I thought this was another innovative and interesting album on this list. There was quite a mixture of musical styles and rhythms from soul, hip hop and electronic. While this is certainly not in my wheel house, it was worth a listen.

I enjoyed enough I listened to the album twice. It's a "in the mood" kinda music. Favorite songs Safe from Harm and Hymn of the Big Wheel. I will check out some of their other albums

Neat.

Solid foundational electronica. Some of the vocals are atrocious. Early Tricky.

Just started listening to trip hop recently. This one is pretty good.

I only listened to parts of the first two songs. Kind of boring single chord jams with drum machine, mediocre lyrics.

Wasn’t familiar with this band and from the name I assumed it was going to be another bad punk album. One of those albums where I wasn’t too impressed but I really liked all the Spotify suggestions that popped up afterwards. Makes me realize this was probably a pretty influential album so I’ll give it a bonus star for that. 3.5 stars

I think I overdid this album and trip-hop in general in the early ‘90’s. Mezzanine was my preferred album.

I didn't mind it but also never really understand what the massive fuzz is about. It's o.k.

Llamado trip-hop, canciones sensuales, con ritmo y estilo. Algo faltito de intensidad. Bueno como música de acompañamiento

Very solid trip hop album. I can absolutely see myself liking it more if I come back to it.

The soft, dreamlike backgrounds that make these songs a kind of existential meditation made Massive Attack famous, at least as producers. The artistic aspect, on the other hand, was to be deepened a few years later: see Portishead. (5/10) FT: Unfinished Sympathy

An era defining album without being a classic. Portishead defined the Bristol sound more for me.

Faire cet album était une aussi bonne idée que de superposer plusieurs polices sur la pochette.

Okay, I didn't like it as much as I like Teardrops.

I enjoyed this a lot more than Protection. So that's a thing...

It was okay

This is an interesting sound. if dub is your thing then this is your album. Hymn Of The Big Wheel is dope.

This one was better than the other Massive Attach album i listened to on this list.

Best Song: Be Thankful For What You've Got. They really got a brilliant vocal track here, that they gently augmented with the chill backing beats. Worst Song: Daydreaming. Nicely quirky, but ultimately with too much going on, leaving the whole song feeling scattered. Overall: Just good grooves that are suitable both as background and foreground music. Could use a bit more direction at times, but that chaos also helps drive its underground feel.

pretty lovely

Good album, something different

Reggae vibes, really cool listen during trail run

Great album for it’s time. Not one I revisit often.

I knew I would like this. I love anything darkly moody. The last song surprised me a bit, because it was more upbeat. Not sure if I'll listen to it much so that bumps the score down a bit. But overall I really enjoyed this.

Big gulf between the hits and the filler. Hits are gold though.

I like you but Im not in love with you

The album falls short compared to their later work. Safe From Harm and Unfinished Sympathy are beautiful though.

Bit of a mixed bag. some stunning tunes and others that feel unfinished.

I can hear the influences on a lot of similar sounding music that came after it. I'm sure in 1991, this was very cutting edge and influential. There just seems like a lot of music that does something similar a little bit better. Not terrible, but definitely not something I'm dying to listen to again.

This is always ranked high and I don’t know why. It’s good. But it never amazes me.

This one was better than expected. A lot of their songs had a unique style that feels special to this group. The combination of electronic sounds with certain drums and beats make these songs pretty engaging. Plus the lyrics and singing isn’t too bad. 6.5/10

I remember liking this a lot more when it came out. Still a very good listen and still like it a lot and at the time it felt like a new direction for hip hop that combined a lot of elements of other styles I liked.

I don't think this album is poo, but I do think Massive Attack was right to simplify their approach to Mezzanine and remove some of the overreaching vocals that plagued this album. For example, the music beneath the voice on One Love is simple with some unique artifacts to keep it interesting, but it's the operatic voice on top that kills the vibe. Some of the beats are outdated and but for the most part I enjoy them, don't particularly care for most of the singing.

The parts I like, I like better than Tricky's Maxinquaye. Blue Lines is a stand-out but then Thankful for What You've Got doesn't sound at all like it belongs on a trip-hop album. Ultimately, I think both this and Maxinquaye deserve 2.5 so I will split the difference and give this a 3 and Tricky a 2.

Also chill as hell. 7/10

Trip Hop / Chill Hop - great selection from a period where electronic music was starting to fall into its own. 3.5/5

Listening through the whole album, there was something digging about the music and I couldn't tell what it was. Suddenly, I started thinking about Billy Joel (of all people) and it hit me: There's no bridge in any songs on this album. Every song is just verse verse verse chorus, but there's no bridge. It's all A-A-A-A. As a dance song, that's great, but it gets very repetitive after a while. Maybe that's why dance music doesn't hit me as much. The lack of variation in the song, it doesn't shake things up as much as I want them to. So for me, the songs all wear out the welcome about a minute too long. And I think that lack of bridge is what does it.

This sounded like a weird 90's dance album - like De La Soul or Snap with just a bit more electronica. That's not a compliment. It felt like they hadn't figured out what they were yet and were pulling in different directions. Pick one, in my opinion. Maybe this was the first ever trip hop album but the sound hadn't been perfected yet so I don't think it deserves to be on this list. Sometimes the first of something isn't all that good. I mean, it's not garbage. It's just unremarkable.

3.6 - What I imagine the British Airways first class lounge might sound like. Sleek with just a little “urban” edge. Typical 90s house sonics - R&B-style backing vocals, “educated-sounding” rap, vinyl record scratches and pops.

I guess this is one of the first trip-hop albums. And I liked some of it, but overall was pretty meh about it. It's fine, but I won't be playing it often.

Very good and obviously an important record for trip hop, if not the first one. There are a few weaker spots here and there, but it's mostly solid. I'm glad I listened to something else than Mezzanine for once.

I'm not the biggest trip hop fan, but I have to admit that I really liked this album. It's groovy and put the listener in a nice mood. "Unfinished Sympathy" as a track is a true masterpiece, but I don't think I will come back to this album someday.

Not my favorite Massive Attack album. I prefer Mezzanine

Just another 90s album with no exceptional selling point. Only the last song is above average.

Good, but I've never really been able to get too enthused by this one. They definitely picked the best songs for single releases.

It is good accompany music, but by itself not that incredible

That record cover must be iconic because I've seen the flame logo many times before. I thought this was a power pop/punk band solely based on the band name. I was wrong. I think to correctly assess this record it's really important to know that it was released in 1991 and not 2001. Haha. It sounds good and has great grooves. But woof, it's dated now. Still, though, there are some great direct-to-board clean guitar tones sprinkled in here and there. I noticed that "Unfinished Symphony" has a lot more plays on Spotify. I didn't recognize it but its a really cool song. In spite of how dated this record is (in a not-so-good way), I'm giving it a sold 3/5.

This is actually a pretty cool album for the early 90s. The beats and samples seem "sophisticated" for a hip-hop album in 1991. It's certainly more complex than the beats used by Beastie Boys, Fat Boys, and all the other "boys" of the 80s hip-hop scene. The lyrics rely pretty heavily on cliche - not sure what I expected from British rappers. Still - it vibed pretty good all the way through. It actually reminded me of the Gorillaz, which makes a lot of sense.

1. Safe from Harm - plus - a band where I can hear the lyrics. Like this style Whatever it's called. 2 3. Blue Lines - very chilled low key more rappy in spoken word 4. Be Thankful for What You've Got - 6. Unfinished Sympathy - the familiar well known track. 7. Daydreaming - do like this one, the lyrics and the beat. Overall, nice and chill, mostly flows into the background

Objectively fine but not quite my sort of thing.

I came to know Massive Attack when they released Mezzanine, which I really love. Having heard the prior albums afterwards, I could never get into those. Nevertheless I managed to appreciate this one, but still. There are also a couple of songs (Unfinished Sympathy, Lately) that sound as if they were straight out of the 80s, which makes the overall feel of the record a little dated when compared to Mezzanine, which really sounds, undeniably, like an album of its time.

Meh.

This is alright. I like the music more than I like the vocals on most songs. 2.5 stars, rounding up to 3.

Not my favorite Massive Attack, honestly, but still a solid start for the group and the Trip Hop genre. 3.5

Genre: Trip Hop 3/5 Rather fresh off the heels of listening to Massive Attack member Tricky's album, Maxinquaye, I was excited to 1. listen to where he was before that project, and 2. sort of see how the trip hop genre came to be. Tricky left the group on supposed grounds that he felt like his ideas weren't as openly accepted in the group. Maybe they should've accepted more of his ideas, as I found his solo venture a bit more enjoyable. There are certain tracks here that are big time standouts, especially Unfinished Sympathy, which is a real triumph and begs to be listened to over and over. But Daydreaming, the song directly following it, feels weaker than something you'd find on Tricky's solo album. I know it's not very fair to compareone album to the album that paved the way for it to be made in the first place, but one can acknowledge its historical relevance, while also saying I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped.

Was something new to me

Another pleasant surprise. Never heard of these guys, but it was a chill little album! 3.5 stars.

An entire album that sounds exactly the same? Decent sound, and enjoyable, but hard to distinguish one song from the next. They definitely have their "signature sound".

It’s allright

It's no Mezzanine (which is embarrassingly absent from the list), but it's still pretty good. A tad dated, but pretty good.

Massive Attack sounds like a familiar band name, but everything on this album felt new to me. The album was okay. "Five Man Army" was the track that almost got 4 stars, and "Safe from Harm" and "Daydreaming" were slightly above 3. "Be Thankful for What You've Got" was 2 stars.

This was a lot chiller than I was expecting. Not all that interesting though but cool to have on in the background for a bit.

Liked more than I thought I would!

3.5/5

A lot of people clearly think this is The Business and I guess I’m just not getting it. A lot of the lyrics seem to me almost laughably stuffed with pompous cliches, the music doesn’t really impress me that much and clashes strangely with the vocals. Didn’t hate it but certainly wouldn’t seek it out.

It was different but I didn't hate it. Daydreaming made me think of Lonely Island. Wonder if they took any influence from Massive Attack.

There were some cool percussive elements here otherwise it was a pretty basic sounding early 90s album.

Nice album, no doubt about it, but Massive Attack has done way better since.

Pretty chill Brit boy sample hop

I remember enjoying "Protection" a bit more. Think the music and beats are fine, think the weakness lies in the guest vocalists. Favorite track: "Lately"

Nice cover

kinda uneven. cool electronica/ambient/soul then lame 90s rapping

3.5/5 I was confused about this, I'll need to relisten to it.

It was just okay. Not terrible but nothing stood out.

1991 release, this album is as old/older than I am. Didnt like this album as much as Mezzanine. Daydreaming, Hymm Of The Big Wheel, standout tracks

Bressol del so de Brighton i un dels trets de sortida del trip hop, em passa amb ell el mateix que amb l'estrena de Tricky, coprotagonista aquí també: mai ha aconseguit arribar-me de la mateixa manera que altres discos, ja no tan sols del génere (Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, etc) sinó de la mateixa banda; 'Mezzanine' em sembla molt més recomanable per exemple. Malgrat tot, la qualitat hi és i no posaria en dubte les raons per incloure'l a la llista de referència

I wasn't very familiar with Massive Attack, but I like the downtempo hip hop vibe. I think Daddy G put it well when he said "what we were trying to do was create dance music for the head, rather than the feet". It seems I also agree with the masses here with my top pick 'Unfinished Sympathy'.

a lot of familiar stuff

its alright, r&b/soul mixed with electronic beats but its doesnt really excite me

Good relaxing lounge like album very 80s

Really nice album, cool smooth sound

There is a groove but with little variation. Samey. Heard it all before. Never really gets going.

Not my favourite Massive Attack Album. nb though

Not sure about this. Wanted it to be better.. Its got one of the best ongs of all time on it (Unfinished Sympathy) but everything in the run up to that track has been very average. It's good, clever, it's got little nods/references to classic tracks in there. But just a bit flat overall. 3/5

Ehh, didn't enjoy this as much as other triphop i've heard. Still some good parts, but a lot of the beats felt meh and i despise the song Unfinished Sympathy due to my mom playing it way too much.

not for me

Musically solid. The vibe, the beat... enjoyable and a good listen. I actually think the vocal style really detracts from it, however... in too many instances (male voice) it is too plain and uninteresting. I'd rather just have the groove.

me encantó, es un discazo!

intersting

Chill. Funky. Some of the sings are kinda similar to Gorillaz. Lotta different voices. Title track is cool.

better than the last albums i've gotten on here.

I must have heard these tunes in a hair salon once, or a fashion show on television...they have that clean, upbeat feel. I can listen to this again, but I'm not sure if it moves me.

Was okay, just not my type of music

Feels like an old school movie score (atleast the opener did) Not a vibe I'm feeling but can understand the appeal, good work music if nothing else.

Blue Lines is the first song to win me over, the transition into the next song from Blue lines is also very clean and admirable. Expected nothing until Five Man Army until I realised this is the same Massive Attack that's made Teardrop, either way. Five Man Army's drum placement at the end is phenomenal. Every song after that is very vibe-able to, and the album picks up pace but it's very easy to forget the difference in the songs here. Still, daydreaming is perhaps my favourite of the last 4. 3+/5

6.5/10

Listened to about half, instrumentals were very good(great bass and drums) wasn't a fan of the vocalists so much

Went in hoping for more like Tear-drop. Didn't get it. An ok album.

Is that you banksy? Shitting in your hands and clapping is not as good as this album. I tried both to be certain.

Interesting album! Trip-hop, some reggae vocal influence. Enjoyable to listen to but probably wouldn’t seek it out again.

ok album, but Unfinished Sympathy is on another level 3.49/5

A weird hodgepodge, with some beautiful and some pretty bad taste stuff.

Hatte ich krasser in Erinnerung ist aber ganz ok

Um álbum que começa muito bem com a sua melhor música, a Safe From Harm. O restante álbum já não brilha tanto mas é um álbum bastante competente de música mais eletronica que se mistura com alguns géneros. É um álbum que esta aqui mais pela sonoridade do que qualquer outra coisa nesse critério ele destaca-se. Não guardo nenhuma música, esta muito fora do espetro de coisas que gosto, mas deixo aqui uma nota mais positiva por ter me surpreendido. Nota: 6/10 23/05/2024

Verwechsel ich immer mit Air

Mellow

Aight men kunne vært bedre musikk, maid Jo bedre, litt bedre. Lydene var gode, men litt svake på en sterkt måte.

Ooh I'd heard their self titled but hadn't heard this, I really like the heavy dub feel here. Been liking that electronic/ambient/dub crossover zone recently

good mellow rap/rock

Liked the last song the best

I have a hard time rating this. I kind of feel like the songs are tense, but not really exciting. Like it’s good, but also fades into the background easily and it doesn’t really pump me up

OMg this is great! Why haven’t I listened before? Precursor to The Heavy - very cool. It’s really good. Good. Ok, I guess. Kind of repetitive. I’m bored with this.

3/5

Not one I would’ve listened to otherwise but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Good background beats for a lot of the tracks but also some bangers.

I really don't like electronic music, but to my surprise, this is a nice album. According to Wikipedia, it starts the style of trip-hop with the mix of electronic and hip-hop and I think that this mix made my opinion change a little. It's not the type of music that I choose to listen to during my day, but at some electronic party, these songs would be a very good choice.

ok - probably won't listen to again

Enjoyed some tracks but can't be doing with rap

I enjoyed this more than Protection. Cool album!

Started off so strong and I was ready for a great album...fizzled out into mediocrity disappointingly fast.

I think there are elements and styles within this album that make it worth listening too but overall I found it a bit boring. Perhaps I just am not into this band and their style, or that I don't have much experience listening to their niche, but I wasn't blown away by this.

Et bra og interessant album. Just short of 4 stars. Albumet har flere veldig gode tracks, spesielt "five man army". Trommeloopsa er funky, med en karibisk twist. Dette er album jeg forstår blir satt høyt oppe i et musikkhistorisk perspektiv. Ikke bare er det tidlig underground-ish hiphop, men britisk attpåtil. Du kan høre inspirasjonen, men også hva dette albumet ville selv inspirere further down the road. Hva som holder albumet vekk fra en 4-stjerners, til tross for sin nyskapning innen hiphop, kreative produksjon og mørke, stemningsfulle tekster og tematikk er kontinuiteten. Ikke alle sangene er like gode, det varierer, og til tider kan man høre hvor gammelt dette albumet var. Personlig var jeg ikke en superfan, men setter veldig pris på hva albumet representerer. blir en svak/grei 7 av 10, 3 stjerner

Fun, darkish experimental album. I'm sure it was even more out there when it first came out. Good vocals and the instrumental breaks felt a bit long at times but were still enjoyable.

Ni tan tan ni muy muy

Got that glitch hop origins vibe. Reminds me of the matrix for some reason. Like OG matrix guarantee would use Massive Attack for their soundtrack.

It was alright very early 90s hip hop but it was trying too hard to be trippy

Great instrumentals. Didn’t live the voices/lyrics

Chill

so this is how trip hop started. good album. really enjoyed the atmosphere and the samples. great beats and vocals. fav tracks: Safe from harm, Daydreaming

I get the historical significance, but this did not age very well at all. And the horrendous rapping... OMG.

On in the background

El estilo musical de este disco me recordó a algún disco de Moby. Música electrónica mezclada con Rap / Hip Hop. Me quedé con la canción de "Unfinished Sympathy", pero el resto del álbum no me agradó tanto. Creo que no es mi género.

Ensikosketus varhaisempaan Massive Attackiin. Ehkä tämä oli pieni pettymys odotuksiin nähden. Melko tasapaksu biisimateriaali jossa yksikään biisi ei nouse muiden yläpuolelle.

Passe kult

way older than expected too much hip hop too few hooks

Not bad

Low tempo hip hop. Nogle gode numre men også en del hvor det stikker lidt ud og bliver meget dated. Et hit og 3 andre gode numre. 3.5 stjerne

Enjoyed this blast from the past and may bear it in mind when wanting to listen to something other than my normal rotation. I enjoy many tracks but anything with rapping in it turns me off. 3.7/5 so 3 stars.

Interesting