Blue Lines

I had the joy of living in Bristol when it all came together and the Wild Bunch settled down to make some fine music. Trip hop came from a time in England and, frankly, in Bristol. The dreadful mess of the 70s and 80s was beginning to get better, cities like Bristol were calming down and bursting with creativity. Massive Attack produced the absolute seminal Trip Hop album here. A genre that was brilliant but very much of a moment but an album that is absolutely timeless.

Doesn't overdo the electronica aspect of it, great vocals to accompany the dub/electronica. 4.5

Very 90s vibe from this first album - sounds good, but definitely not something that I feel like listening to again.

El primer álbum de Trip-Hop de la historia sigue sonando igual de fresco que hace ya 30 años. La espectacular mezcla de Hip-Hop, electrónica y sonidos indie, hace del debut de Massive Attack uno de los discos más interesantes de esta lista.

"Blue Lines" is the debut album by English electronic band Massive Attack. The genres listed are trip hop and British hip hop and it is actually considered the first trip hop album incorporating and blending elements of of hip hop with dub, soul, reggae and electronic music. At this point, the band members are Grantley "Daddy G" Marshall, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles. Singing contributions were also made by Shara Nelson and Horace Andy. The album had widespread critical acclaim and commercially reached #13 in the UK. Wind and a downbeat temo open "Safe from Harm." Soulful vocals from Shara Nelson. A guitar break and rapping comes in. Nice sampling of Billy Cobham's "Stratus." "Be Thankful for What You've Got" gets a groove going. More soul and scratching. Based on a1974 song by William DeVaughan of the same name. "Unfinished Symphany" is downbeat. There's bells and this is more dance. A synth beat. "Daydreaming" has soft synth melodies and us dreamy. I got to think this is about drugs. The album ends with "Hymn of the Big Wheel"." There's wind sounds just like the album started. Dual vocals. Strings in the background. This is very optimistic sounding but it appears to be about being inevitably stuck in the wheel of fate. (This reminds me, I need to watch the latest episode of "Wheel of Time.") This album is nice and chill. It's not a busy album which sometimes hip hop can be. I defintely see its influences in the 1990's trip hop albums. It's a really nice album to listen to and would be perfect in the background while reading, working or doing just about anything.

I've never listened much to Massive Attack - wasn't what I was expecting (better than expected)

Absolute banger.

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.

So much potential, but ultimately disappointing

Is it actually good though or was it just popular?

cool

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

Perfect

I think this album probably really benefits from a chronological listening, because as is, separated from its contemporaries, it just kind of falls flat for me. But the review says this is the first "trip hop", so congrats for that. By fall flat, I don't mean that it's bad, just, for the most part, uninteresting. There are flashes of brilliance, though, like the guitar riff in Be Thankful For What You Got. Hymn of the Big Wheel was probably my favorite song.

I loved this album! I was surprised to hear a lot of familiar sounds. I can see that this music has paved the way for a lot of future genres of music. Very nostalgic 90’s vibes as well. Trail blazers

Some really good music here. I like their style.

Chilling, gute Beats, Hip Hop

Is Massive Attack actually good compared to other 90s acts?

Massive Attack really has become this group that I wasn't familiar with before starting with 1001 albums, but now love. Had their 'Protection' album here before, which was really good. I think this is stronger though. I am probably a bit biased in my honeymoon phase with this band, but they are just really good at creating extremely cool grooves with nice mellow chord progressions that works very well for me. It definitely feels 90s to me, but also manages to stand out and be very unique compared to much other music. The singers on the album have very different vocal ranges, which it makes it very interesting. It sounds quite similar to Moby, of which I am a big fan. He also manages to capture a similar feeling, especially in the 'Play' and '18' and albums. Some of my favourite tracks from the album are 'Blue Lines', 'Daydreaming', and 'Lately'. But like I said, all tracks keeps a very high bar.

Another Massive Attack album, hurray! I know I'm going against the stream a bit by preferring their sophomore album "Protection" more than this one (even though i gave it a 3 for stupid reasons). However, "Unfinished Sympathy" is one of their best tracks and better than any single track on "Protection". I still hope "Heligoland" is on this list but i doubt it. I was listening to this album at my parents place when my dad came in during "Unfinished Sympathy" and declared that this was one of his favourite tracks. That is very high praise from someone who mostly listens to 60s music!

This is a classic album front to back. This whole album is a "shots fired" situation that ignited a new genre and I'm so thankful for it.

Incredible, vocals were amazing

Love this album.

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

Very nice surprise, I’ve heard of Massive Attack for years but didn’t realize this was it. Nice hip hop, reggae influences

I'm just a little bit too old to have really gotten the whole trip-hop thing. I knew about it but never got into it and haven't bothered listening since. So, this was new and I really enjoyed it. A fine mix of laid back rhythms and hip-hop vocal that was easy to listen to. And I'm sure there's a Bristol twang when whoever it is sings "lover" at one point... Obviously important as well, but that doesn't always equate to being enjoyable to listen to. This does both: solid 4.5 stars, so it can have 5 for being different

lowkey really good gym album. there weren’t any big stand out songs but just really solid all the way through

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

Super album

I didn’t know what this was and found it very enjoyable. Eat your heart out, DJ Shadow. I liked the sound, the beats, the vocals. This was great!

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.

Nice! It is cool to hear the birth of trip hop.

Very much enjoyed the various voices and the smooth trippy groove.

I had thought I had an idea of what Massive Attack sounded like but I was wrong. This was a fantastic listen! I love the atmosphere and vibe. It sounded a lot more contemporary than 1991 - seems like this was establishing the path for a lot of later music. Super cool!

What an album and what memories of playing this in the early 90s. Still sounds fresh

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

Heel origineel album. Vette bass in het eerste nummer. Beetje jazzy verder. En dan opeens unfinished sympathy.

Groundbreaking.

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.

1. Safe From Harm - I hadn't noticed it on Massive Attack before, but the composition/mastering here is really good. Very crisp. (This is the 2012 mix/master, caveat emptor) 5/5 2. One Love - Very sparse. 4/5 3. Blue Lines - 5/5 4. Be Thankful For What You've Got - 3/5 5. Five Man Army - 4/5 6. Unfinished Sympathy - 5/5 classic 7. Daydreaming - 2/5 not as much a fan of the vocals on this one 8. Lately - 3/5 9. Hymn Of The Big Wheel - 4/5 Overall, 4/5. I love Massive Attack's sound in general, and the mix and mastering on this is top-tier, the album is pulled a little lower by a couple of the tracks I'm not huge on the vocals on.

Great album. Love trip hop / chillhop.

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.

Pretty groovy and cool. Definitely a big fan, and a good introduction to Massive Attack

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

ehh really not my thing. I liked a couple songs but wouldn't come back to it. I guess never having been exposed to it before I need to take some time to be able to appreciate it

Found it hard to get through any of these songs

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.

I liked most of the beats, but the vocals got too weird for me sometimes. Especially on "One Love"

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.

One of the greats

Sooo good

Slow start but gets good, good background music

Beautiful album. Masterpiece.

Great singing. Great production. Great music. Great songs. Atrocious rapping.

Did not enjoy at all. Moments where I thought it could have a cool section but changed or got worse immediately

Bra skiva, glatt överraskad. Visste inte vad jag skulle vänta mig men en skiva som hade lite allt möjligt och bra längd 8/10

Very 90s. Not in a good way

complete trash compared to their later stuff, talk about growing pains

Unfinished Sympathy is pretty good. But this just isn't my thing

Trip hop 👍

A bold and hypnotic debut that unfortunately doesn’t quite stick the landing

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.

Love the grooves, perfect for night driving. Some of the lyrics are a bit cheesy and occasionally songs drag a bit. Safe from harm and unfinished sympathy are standouts

enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would but also I guess I was raised on this kinda music, unfinished sympathy bumped it up a star then the song after immediately brought it back down lol

This album was an odd one. An unusual mix of samples, hip hop beats and off beat lyricism, I could get why this album was well received in the early 90s. Compared to a lot of the other hip hop coming out at this time in America, it’s clear that this is America’s genre. Some lyrics played off of like nursery rhymes and generic one liners like “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” and it just came across at corny. Overall worth the listen but according to their Wikipedia, the next few albums get better so maybe I’ll give them another listen. Also, I know the bands name is “Massive Attack” and one of the dude’s names is Daddy G, but there is a song where the words say “oh daddy” and then say “massive” really loud a couple of times. It just caught me off guard is all and is probably not supposed to be funny, but I laughed. Stand out track: Safe From Harm (female singer needs a raise, she was my favorite part)

This album was really cool. I had never heard of this group before, but I dig their style. I use bass, drums, and keys in a very tasteful way. This album is groovy and chill and was perfect for listening while sitting at my desk at work. The rap style kinda sounds like Flight of the Conchords which makes it kinda funny to me. Favorite Track: Safe From Harm/Blue Lines Least favorite: Hymn of the Big Wheel

Really fun and interesting

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!

60’s, 70’s,80’s guy here, gotta say I really enjoyed this album.Always open to new music and this fit the bill, listened twice and was intrigued..so listened to more ,quite good

Meditative

Heard before: yes Silky, dubby proto-trip-hop. It doesn’t sound as radical as it did back in the day, but the reggae/dub influences still hold up, even if the 90s neo-soul breaks were subsequently copied and pasted everywhere. My top tracks were probably all different in 1991, but it’s still as cool as the other side of the pillow. Top tracks: Five Man Army, Hymn of the Big Wheel, Daydreaming

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

Possibly one of the greatest starting points of a genre, that genre being Trip-hop. As a result of combining electronic, soul, maybe even some psychedelia & reggae, this provided an all around great experience. For my favorite tracks, the opener, "Safe from Harm" (aka. My favorite), "Five Man Army", and "Unfinished Symphony" all round up for a solid top 3 from this album. This album is absolutely essential, and something you should look into if you want to get into trip-hop.

I really love trip hop and Portishead's live album from Roseland NYC has been among my all time favorites since I discovered it in high school. This album has two songs that stand out significantly to me: the first track, Safe From Harm starts with a bass line which is just nasty. Absolutely loving it. And then the second outstanding track is the obvious hit - Unfinished Sympathy with that memorable video. These two tracks are so great that I feel like the rest of the album kind of melts into the background unnoticed. It's still great - you can both put it in the background and not pay too much attention to it - or the opposite - focus on each track and find something new and exciting every time. Still, I feel like it is a bit uneven, especially compared to their follow-up album - Mezzanine. 4/5

I think I would prefer this without vocals, it's got cool beats though. The reggae parts made me remember Skindred and find out they released an album not long ago (and it's a solid one, give it a shot if you're in a nu-metal wave again)

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

Still magnificent

I'm starting to think Massive Attack isn't for me.

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.

One of the great chill dance albums

2/5 Best: Unfinished Sympathy Worst: One Love

3.5

🥌

The first trip hop album features beats that are slower than typical dance music influenced by funk, jazz, soul, hip hop etc. This album is so influential that it consistently ranks highly on decade and all time lists. I am familiar with later trip hop artists to the point where this album doesn't sound groundbreaking to me. However, when listened to in historical context, it is clear just how important this album is. It's easy to listen to, atmospheric, and wears its influences on its sleeves making it accessible to any listener.

pretty good, enjoyed the beat

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…

Fiddler interpolation on Daydreaming is undefeated Favorite Track: Daydreaming 4.5/5

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

Interesting collection of sounds 🤔

Already listened many times. A classic. Only avoiding top score because the next two MA lps are even better

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.

Can’t believe this album has more than 30 years now. Just as good as the day it came out.

Cool

After a few weeks AWOL in Canada this is an epic album to get back into the swing of things. Hadn't given the whole thing a proper listen before, loved every track bar the last one. Light 4.5 Fav track: Daydreaming

Bops, books, bangers. Biggest issue with this one is that the vocal performances are often pretty over-dramatic for me - the instrumentals are so grooved and laid back and the vocals try to match it but it's like an affectation. Maybe by design but it doesn't quite go all the way enough to get to camp and be enjoyable in that way for me. Those grooves are so easy to sink into though, I'd always be happy having this on. Three and a half. Fave track: Safe From Harm

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

Good. Listened twice.

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.

Not a fan of this one. Their Mezzanine album is better tho.

Production was dope. Didn’t like the features.

First real suggestion

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.

I would have really loved to be a member of Massive Attack. Man. I don't think I'm cool enough though, they just ooze cool. Maybe there's still hope for me? I could listen to Massive Attack every day and not get sick of them. Whenever I hear them I picture a bunch of cool looking people sitting around in a dark hazy room just jamming and doing their thing. "Unfinished Sympathy" is probably my standout track here. The spoons/metallic percussion is a real highlight and the way it contrasts with the super long held out piano notes is wonderful. Massive Attack have such a gift for melding unique sounds into these fantastic noir and orchestral moments. When the strings come in around the 3 quarter mark of the song I'm really blown away by the beauty. It's almost like they have no egos and they only make music for exactly what the music needs. They will use real drums, drum machines, strings, fake strings, synth basses, real basses, etc. Whatever the song needs in an objective manner is what gets used. It's wonderful and I think a crazy hard concept for musicians/songwriters to tackle. "Daydreaming" is a great contrast following "Unfinished Sympathy". I love the hip-hop inspired approach. I liked all of this album.

90s techno erotic thriller music

chill

No me moló

Superb!

I like seeing this album like a bridge from 70s to 90s, from Carribean to Britain, etc. Significant one! Though, I prefer their latest albums.

Garbage

Muy lento para mi estilo

Eh. Nothing special, but not bad.

A classic!!

Great, but Mezzanine is better.

The first few songs I immediately hated everything. But to be honest they got slightly better and more tolerable. Not anywhere close to something I’d listen to often, but to the point where one of the songs got a little stuck on my head. They definitely progressed as the album went on.

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 😬

An amazing album, one of the best in trip hop genre, the sound of it is completely unique and the atmosphere it creates on the album is special. 'Unfinished Sympathy' is one of my favourite songs from the 1990s. Some songs are a tad bit repetitive though. Overall it's a strong 4+.

By all accounts this album should scream '5 stars' for its undeniable influence and what it would inspire. Portishead's Dummy and DJ Shadow's Endtroducing don't exist without this record and its ongoing legacy is heard throughout modern British music even today. There's no doubting this is a pioneering piece of work and many would consider it as one of the greatest UK records ever released. Every fibre of my being wants to hit that 5th star and move on. However... I just can't convince myself that, when you detach yourself from what has come after and focus purely on the music at hand, all of this album stands up to scrutiny. Tracks like 'One Love' come and go without making much of an impression, and several songs suffer from what feels like a lack of focus at times. The second half of the album is noticeably stronger, and 'Hymn of the Big Wheel' is a euphoric and fitting crescendo to the album managing to extract great emotional depth from some really quite silly lyrics. The album is centred around the lead single 'Unfinished Sympathy' - scrap everything I said before, this track is a masterpiece in every sense of the word and rightly stakes its place as one of the greatest songs of the 90s and of all time. It goes to show how brilliant Massive Attack can be at their finest, I just wish that midas touch stretched across the whole album, and not just half of it.

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!

Really excited for this one. I don't know why I never really got into Massive Attack even though I was always obsessed with Faithless and they are often referred to as similar groups/music. The first track is pretty dope so far. Vocals sound a bit like Maxi Jazz RIP. I really liked that album! There was a song that had the same bass line as one of the Faithless songs. Five Man Army was the MA song, and Dirty ol Man was the faithless song.

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

It wasn't bad, but every song was so different I couldn't even tell what genre it was supposed to be.

Incheresting mix of genres

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).

Diamonds in the back, ludacris song was the best one on album. The rest were forgettable.

It took a couple of tracks for me to settle in, but this was a really good listen. It has aged very well.

Very cool

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

Pretty chill music, not quite as captivating as I would have liked, but I liked all of the component sounds... if that makes any sense.

trippy hip hop reggae stuff

Enjoyed it. Good electronic album

Just fine.

Album so good it spawned a genre overnight. Love every single track on this. Fantastic. Masterpiece.

This is not really what I expected, but I dig it. The rapping parts remind me a bit of the verses in West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys, although sometimes it does start to feel a bit more like Inner City Preasure by Flight of the Conchords at points instead. Otherwise, though pretty good. I like the beats very consistently and the use of older songs never feels like a cop out. Just a very solid album, I can see the appeal.

this was pretty solid. I liked a lot of the songs especially the title track. one of the best so far.

It was good, but their next album is the classic.

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

Hearing massive attack from time to time, finally a chance to listen to the album in a different way.

Elevator music for sure

Not a fan

Great

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

Really loved this album. I’d heard of Massive Attack before but honestly couldn’t have told you anything about them, couldn’t have even guessed their genre. I’m perhaps a decade too young for them, but I thought this was really fun. Great tunes. Sooo torn between a 4 and 5 for this one, I think it’s a solid 4.4/4.5…. Fav tracks: Safe From Harm, Daydreaming Least fav track: Hymn Of The Big Wheel

A top of the tree all-time favourite list album. Contains some of my favourite songs, and in my humble opinion, the best album opening track ever.

Although some of the rapping reminded me of the epic HipHopapotamus and Rhyme-nocerus from Flight of the Conchords, this has generally aged pretty well. The production reminded me of Blue Nile at times and Unfinished Symphony is an absolute classic. Lovely stuff.

7/9/25 loved this album so much!!! listened to it and then listened to it again two more times. so many cool sounds, no skips, still sounds so fresh - "the first trip hop album" - wish i could have heard it when it dropped favorite songs were one love, blue lines, hymn of the big wheel

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

Trip hop at it’s finest! Absolutely loved this and is defo on the purchase list now! Chilled out, melodic, sparse and atmospheric tunes to have on! Can’t get enough of it!

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.

Dated vocals but I like the dank, reggae dub instrumentals. Probably wouldn't listen to again but wouldn't switch it off either.

Oh so moody. 'Unfinished Sympathy' is the real head turner, but there's good samples throughout. The rapping is the weak part imho but it's fairly understated, so I'm ok with that.

Safe From Harm, One Love, Be Thankful for What You’ve Got, Unfinished Sympathy and Hymn of the Big Wheel. I love the trip-hop genre. Love the British rap voices and the beats are cool as shit.

Interesting genre and mix of different styles

the beginning was weird but it got better by the end

Tremendous

The cradle of trip hop, the impact of Blue Lines and Massive Attack on music in the 90s and early 00s can hardly be overestimated. The reggae-heavy sounds of 'One Love' and 'Five Man Army' don't quite hold up, but the holy trifecta of 'Safe From Harm', 'Unfinished Sympathy' and the great closer 'Hymn of the Big Wheel' are perfect. Always a great listen.

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

massive attack of boredom. I gave it a chance but was pretty underwhelmed. The album took me back to my younger days when I first heard it as some music does, but unfortunately I relived that mood of being kind of unimpressed for the most part...

I liked it. Similar to Faithless and The xx.

I listened to this one with the family. My wife grooved away and said she really enjoyed it, even though she thought she was only familiar with Mezzanine. A solid round of thumbs up from our household.

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

One of the greatest trip-hop albums. ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ is simply stunning, and, while the rest of the album isn’t quite as good, it still sets a mood with smooth songs that are a joy to hear.

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

Never heard of this band!

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.

Really good, but the slick production removes any rawness, which takes something away from my enjoyment of it.

I'm just not hearing what elevates this.

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.

I just played this and listened without doing my normal reading about the artist and without taking note of the song titles. I tend to confuse Massive Attack with Mazzy Star and it's likely I'll continue to do this. But this listen was the perfect sound for me to catch up on work and escape into a calming sonic vibe. I loved it.

Cool sound. Like music from a dream rave

kinda enjoyed this more than i thought i would not gonna lie

Definitely new millennium vibes. It's okay but boring

I feel like I should’ve liked that more than I did. Maybe if I was a twenty something in London when it dropped it would have blown my mind, but I don’t know. I’m learning I’m not a massive trip hop head.

US

Nowhere near their best but not bad.

Not a big fan of triphop needed to be on some sort of drug to enjoy this

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.

Other than hearing the opening theme song for "House" for 3 seasons, I've never listened to Massive Attack before today, but I enjoyed this album. It's hard to believe that this was released in 1991, because it sounds like it could have easily come out in the 2010's. I loved the instrumentation, and I was surprised by how much I liked the vocals too. I would definitely listen to more Massive Attack in the future.

Pretty good stuff

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

4/5 I’d listen again.

Jazzy hip-hop fusion... Kinda liked it

Smooth

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.

My co-judge and I saw Massive Attack live in some underground club around the time of this album was released. The lights went down, the familiar baseline of Safe from Harm kicked in, the 2 DJs swayed and grooved to the beat with the crowd in frenzied anticipation of the sultry vocals (of Shara Nelson). They came, but Shara was no where to be seen. We were listening to the record. The guys did rap live though. That wasn’t the first DJ show that I’d seen but the first where I was expecting more. Ten years later, when my co-judge and I saw Thievery Corporation, I was wary when it started with 2 DJs, but over the next hour they brought out all 8 vocalists they used in their prior tow albums! We were thrilled but they couldn’t have made any money on that tour. Anyway, this is a seminal LP that launched a movement that I listened to a lot over the prior decades. A genre that the long-in-the-tooth club goers could listen to and feel cool. The LP isn’t quite as good as I remember it.

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

I hadn't heard of this album or Massive Attack before this, so going in fresh. Unfortunately, this is the first 1/5 I've had to give here. The whole thing is just very dull to my ears, an electronic beat with some English blokes occasionally attempting to rap on top of. I listened to every second of it, but couldn't wait for it to be over a couple of tracks in.

Great, but ain't no Mezzanine.

Listened Before? N Initially I thought this was a pretty great modern ambient/hip-hop album... and then I realized it was from 1991!? wow. It's extremely innovative and ahead of it's time. Extra credit to them. This is great sex music. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Safe From Harm

Massive... massive... When the Wild Bunch of Bristol began to infiltrate the music world, little did anyone know what would come from the abundant talents of Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Grantly "Daddy G" Marshall and Adrian "Mushroom" Vowles. In the creation of what would be known as the dreaded moniker "trip-hop", Blue Lines is not just one of the pillars of the chilled out hip-hop subgenre; it is one of the greatest albums of the 1990s. Across nine tracks, Blue Lines indulges in some dub-infused lovers rock, reworked stylings of obscure 70s soul and atmospheric swaggering rap in ways only these innovative Bristolians could wrap their minds around. A hell of a start to one of, amongst many, the best three album runs across any genres. Boom... boom chick-a chick, boom chick-a chick...

Nice downbeat tracks. I didn't even mind the hip-hop vocals all that much, surprisingly. 3.5/5

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

Auch wenn hier und da coole Momente drin sind, ist es einfach nix für mich

Such a classy smooth vibe

Awesome album. Not my favourite from them (I mean: Mezzanine, enough said), but amazing nevertheless.

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?

Hard to believe this is 32 years old. The impact that this made is muted by the fact that a tremendous amount of music copied portions of what is contained here. The number of genres they incorporate in the sonic palette is both refreshing and astounding (in that they were able to make it work). And, they arguably created trip-hop.

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.

Influential perhaps, but not for me. And I should be subtracting 1 star every time groups mention their own name.

Great album, Massive Attack opened me up to much other music when I got into them as a teenager. I much prefer Mezzanine, but this is nearly perfect. It looses a couple of points for the somewhat cheesy closing track and a couple of other duds, but the title track, Safe From Harm, and Unfinished Sympathy are all classics.

I need to stop reading the wiki and reviews before/while listening because it always clouds my views. It’s definitely not one of MY best albums of all time, but I can see why it’s got that reputation critically. I really liked Unfinished Symphony- the female vocals slayed.

Not sure if TripHop made it across the pond but this had a big influence in the UK. I like Mezzanine better (darker) but loved Tricky's influence here. Simply infection, moody, and dark. Every track holds it's own- great variety in styles and sounds.

3.6/5

Groundbreaking, and pretty dang good to boot. It's nice to see some trip hop origins here.

A really solid work again from Massive Attack, but while it is the first Trip Hop (a genre I love) first does not always mean best.

Taas tätä pussailumusiikkia. Tää levy on niin rento, että tuntuu jo vittuilulta. En itse osaa edes villeimmissä (vai tšilleimmissä, hehheh) unelmissaan olla näin rento.

Erinomainen levy! Suosikkini koko bändiltä. Pyörinyt lautasella ihan megapaljon. 5/5

Bändin paras levy ja toimii loistavasti edelleen. Vaikka olihan tääkin varmasti ysärillä vielä coolimpi. Be Thankful For... pyörii usein omilla soittolistoilla.

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

what is that supposed to be

I don‘t know a lot of Massive Attack songs, but some of these tracks were really not was I expected a Massive Attack album to sound like. Really fascinating mash-up of styles and genres. Especially liked the last track „Hymn of the Big Wheel“.

Good grooves, great basslines, a sound I always enjoy

College me would have loved this. Present me really likes it

Like it

9/10 really fun album, I loved the diversity

LP

I'm aware that I probably wouldn't have given this album 5 stars if I wasn't already familiar with it. I can remember things like the original vocals taking me a while to get into, but it is an album that has a lot of depth you uncover as you listen to more and more.

Een lastige keuze tussen een 4 en een 5. M'n grootste kritiek op dit album is namelijk vooral dat 'Mezzanine' beter is. Voor zover ik tot nu toe heb kunnen nagaan is dat dé grote afwezige op deze lijst. Het openingsnummer is lekker, Unfinished Sympathy is iconisch, de afsluiter is goed gekozen en eigenlijk is al het andere ook wel goed. Maar waar Mezzanine je in trance dreunt om je mee op reis te nemen in een droomwereld geschapen door Massive Attack is Blue Lines meer een kleine wandeling door een grauwe Engelse stad begin jaren '90. Een 4 dus, omdat ik anders de band zou raten en niet dit album an sich.

- was expecting metal based on the name? Not what I got haha - not the biggest fan of his voice. A lot of odd noises? Not for me

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

I don't feel attacked, it was rather underwhelming

It was ”huh” I guess

Showed everything misled about the early 90s scene in Britain. All style no substance, godawful rapping and cringeworthy lyrics. Unfinished Sympathy was a killer single at least. A dissapointing record.

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

stoner vibes un poco

Nearly 5 stars. Unfinshed symphony is a classic

Apart from.unfinished sympathy, not a lot to shout about

Reading the Wiki one might think that you would be on the yellow brick road to audio nirvana not plodding into some sparse English flat in 91 the only yellow here is a brummy git named Steve who has pissed himself on the couch after shooting too much golden brown between his toes. Just like Steve I won't be back.

hell yeah. the way this effortlessly crosses genres and uses so many different elements without losing cohesion is brilliant. best tracks: be thankful for what you've got, unfinished sympathy, safe from harm

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.

Ugh. Our second from Massive Attack, and it's also not Mezzanine. I just looked and apparently we don't get Mezzanine on here at all, which is their most memorable album. What's with that? I sort of liked the other album, this one was a snoozefest. "One Love" was laughable. I almost made it through the album without saving a singe track, that's how forgettable this was. I can't say it was terrible, but it's just too dated for me. Meanwhile Mezzanine isn't even on this list. If it were up to me, this one (and possibly the other as well) would be cut from the list, to be replaced by Mezzanine and some more meaningful album from another artist. Boring. Favorite tracks: Lately. Album art: Their name on a hazard label. Looks like the kind of "photoshop" I do on Paint that's purposely bad. 2/5

decepción absoluta

Cool sounds. Cool British vibes. Quite lovely. 4 stars

Absolutely great Album

Not for me

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.

Amazing!

This album was good enough to the point where I went back and listened to protection, which I gave a 1 because I was in a really bad mood and it was the worst music for that mood. Turns out it also deserved at least a solid 3 because both of these are really good trippy electronica albums. Five man army on this one and karmacoma on protection are both excellent, too bad the latter will forever be on my worst albums list.

Not as bad as I thought it would be, but not exactly good either. Just not for me.

It was aight nothing great. Lady singer

notes - debut album by massive attack - attributed as the first trip hop album/bristol sound - blending elements of the british electronic music scene with a slower spookier aesthetic - the music definitely has a consistent mood - the vocals…. not so much - a lot of the vocals and lyrics i felt distracted from the songs with a couple exceptions - would have preferred this album instrumental which is not something i often think fav - be thankful for what youve got - vocals actually felt like they fit here least fav - one love - the keyboard throughout this song is quite annoying & i feel like the vocals dont fit the vibe 2.5/5 - not that mind-blowing but a taste of what’s to come

A totally unique, genre-defining album. The obvious inspirations for trip-hop may well land squarely in the hip-hop/soul-jazz camp, but the influence of the punk ethos from groups like Gang of Four (a professed favourite of Massive Attack) also reinforces the totally groundbreaking nature of this album. That being said, it isn’t necessarily a cohesive record, and “Mezzanine” will always be the defining statement of this band. I’m lead to believe this isn’t on the list, so in lieu of a five star for their sophomore effort, I’ll drop a perfect score on this record.

Een favoriet hier in huis, staat dan ook geregeld op.

Het hoofd meebewegend op de langzame beats. Goed album

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

Great early trip hop album. Clearly influential to what was to follow in the genre. But I prefer Mezzanine.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I really enjoyed this. Wasn’t familiar with their early works.

I’ve always been a trip hop fan and this album as a delight to listen to. Makes me want to take a deeper dive into Massive Attack

listened to before it's decent

This album holds up years on, and bits and pieces still show up as influences in modern music and pop culture. The stunning production, stream-of-consciousness yet poetic lyrics, and consistent end-to-end identity of this album make it something I come back to year after year.

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

Good but not great, thoroughly enjoyable but missing something to push ot further. 4/5

A trip hop classic, still not my favorite Massive Attack

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

Old school UK hip hop vibes with stylish melodies

It's always wild to me when I hear an "influential" album for the first time. I'll hear sounds and genre inflections that you assumed didn't exist until much later. Listening to this album I kept double checking that it came out in 1991, you could have fooled me and said it came out in the later half of the decade. Some truly stunning and innovative stuff, although I think it gets a little weird and meandering at some points on its genre journey, still a wonderful time.

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.

Tried listening in highschool but couldn't get into them. 2stars

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.

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

Interesting - Jamaican Reggae (maybe?) with some hip-hop/light rap.

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

Classic, loved this.

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

The best album of one of my favorite bands. Massive Attack created an album full of ideas, great sounds and innovation.

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

The only Massive Attack I’d heard before was “Teardrop” (yeah, yeah, because it was the House MD theme, yes), so I was very surprised to put this album on and get british hip hop (or I guess “trip hop”, apparently? not familiar with that one). Way more fun than I expected!

Did not age well. Flaky and outdated. Kitch in some aspects. It is a no in 2022. I guess it was good then…

Stone cold classic