Reviews (page 13 of 14)
Like fortsatt ikkje Massive Attack
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
Solid, I liked the style a lot. It was consistent and I am a fan.
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.
Not my type of music. Might need more listens.
Todo bien. Puede llegar a ser monótono.
Thought I would like it more but was not what I was expecting
This was all over the place and hard to really get into and vibe with.
i didn’t find this album terribly creative or innovative. sure, it was the first of its kind in the trip hop genre, but it relied all too much on electronic music. it just didn’t grab me at all. i did get some slight prince vibes, but it was in the sense it was second rate. there was a certain male voice that was rather whiny, and not in a good way. i enjoyed the female voice (shara nelson, unless if i’m mistaken); she had quite a voice, one i must describe as alluring.
This made for some good background music, but I honestly just wasn't that into it. What I liked was the dichotomy between the ambient and surreal vocals when put against the very dark trip-hoppy music. Sometimes more ambient albums like this can kind of blur into one big mass for me, and that kind of happened here.
Very enjoyable, and holds up well even today, despite being the origin for a whole new genre. Almost like a Tribe Called Quest's British cousins. A lot of tracks are better suited for background listening, ambient music, but that's fine with me. Starting to realise I have a lot of nostalgia for British albums from the 90s, despite only living a week in the decade. 18/10/22
L'ideale per me per accompagnarmi durante il lavoro o per rilassarmi mentre faccio altre cose.
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
pretty cooooool
A funky and original album that was very enjoyable to listen to. 4/5
Moody, influential. Think it's slightly overrated by those who were influenced by it but it's so different for them time it's a worthy part of this list.
I much prefer their darker, moodier stuff (like Mezzanine) but this is still a really good album. Lots of good tracks and generally very solid throughout.
Overrated
2.75
nah, not my type of music
Kinds meh
Nah
This album has a lot of great, chill vibes. At first it sounded pretty unremarkable, but after a few listens, it sounds like some good beats to relax to. However, it still sounds kind of run of the mill
Whoof. Where's the house theme song?
I expected to enjoy this since I've always liked 'Teardrop' (the theme to the show House). I get mad leftfield vibes which is probably fitting since they developed in parallel in the UK electronic scene. I dug this. It's not transcendental but super listenable. It's better than just 'okay' as well. 4/5
Almost had to choose did not listen because I nearly fell asleep. Boring.
8/10. Oi, wot if we 'ad an 'ip 'op owlbum wot we could lis'un to wif affanoon tea then?
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
For this genre, it's one of the best examples. For music, it's one of the best examples
agradável, mas não muito empolgante
Didn’t enjoy it much. A couple of good tracks though.
One of the best - I listen to it all of the time.
pubblicato nel mio anno di nascita A metà tra reagge e rock, originale, interessante mix
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.
It’s fine, just not a fan of electronica
Not my favorite
M’a absolument donné le goût d’en découvrir plus sur ce groupe
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.
First listen. Feels very dated but considering what it spawned, it gets an extra star.
I understand why it was an important album but I didn't like it 2/5
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.
Took me awhile to get in to this one. Kind of reggae, kind of funky, a lot of different styles packed into the album with a lot going on. Overall, fun listen and a couple great singles
Not sure about it. Didn't do much for me really. A few highlights here and there, but nothing special/groundbreaking. Don't even have a few songs that stood out for me.
Favourite track(s): Save From Harm; Blue Lines; Five Man Army The style is certainly distinctive. Base lines, cool instrumentals, some spoken vocals and that groove. On this album it does fall flat sometimes, especially if some lf these components do not take center stage. Like in One Love, the lyrics of which just fall flat. Overall the style has the right energy though. If I wanted a more chill approach, I'd know to look at Mezzanine instead.
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
I remember originally buying this one like a couple of months ago by complete accident as I ordered another cd and it was mis packaged so I got this instead; I listened to it, didn’t think much of it and put it away… Now well it’s good the beats are great the rapping is solid, great background stuff to be fair. My only tiny criticism is that they talk so much about the “massive attack” over and over I think doing this is especially an annoying problem in rap albums but eh. The album’s strongest moment is definitely the album’s hit single unfinished sympathy but the other tracks are all still solid. 4/5
Was impressed by the depth and interest contained in this record.
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.
Really fun album, funk meets hip hop, all the kind of music I like and one of their songs was sampled in a song I listen to now…note to self, find out what song it’s in so you don’t go insane
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
This album changed my life. I don’t think I can actually say more than that.
C'est exactement comme ça qu'on imagine la vie
vendu
9/10. Excellent, was obviously a huge influence to Moby, Groove Armada, etc. Highlight was Unfinished Symphony.
Not bad, but not their most memorable album.
Hmmm. I guess they were still finding their tune in this one. Not my piece of cake.
...boring
Yes all around.
It's true - Drew's just not cool enough for it
Not bad as background music, but not really my thing.
I just think I’m not cool enough for it
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.
I haven't listened to this for ages. It was everywhere for a while - too much then. But it's actually a great album and I was happy for it to pop up here.
bevat leuke songs maar niet helemaal mijn ding. Wel leuk voor werkachtergrond
Wawow mag net een vijf krijgen van mij (omdat ik het zo makkelijker ga vinden haha). Heel mooie liedjes vooral: blue lines, unfinished sympathy en hymn of the big wheel . Ik duik nog wat in hun discografie
Goib vibes
The most mediocre an album can get, but what else did you expect when the British attempt hip hop????
Better than expected - good mix between funk and electronica - could have been a bit more funk though!
Not really my thing. Tried to get through it but didn't enjoy.
Oscurito urbano. Se groovea
I love 90s hip hop. Honestly though Massive Attack was a rock band before this. One Love started okay but ended strong.
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.
This is SOOO my type of music
Wasn't familiar with this group or album before. I enjoyed some of the beats and can appreciate the smooth, almost whisper like vocal delivery. Regardless it's not my type of music.
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.
Undoubtedly cool and vibe-y and obviously influential though one's not qualified to say whether it's the greatest downtempo album ever. One certaintly doesn't agree with the notion that "Unfinished Sympahty" is the song of the decade. The vocals are pretty shaky at times and sound dated, but would have been ahead of their time, viewed slightly differently. The follow-up records are better – Protection for the chiller, fatter grooves and less-is-more vocals and Mezzanine for its sheer massiveness and fond memories of the day (the exclusion of the latter from this list makes no sense).
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
2 Kinda boring. It sounds like menu music from an old Xbox Live Arcade game. Might’ve been cool without the vocals but I’m afraid that would just make it house music. It’s like it was made with the expressed purpose for a DJ to remix it. It’s right on the edge of interesting for me. Also British rapping makes me feel weird. Favorites include: Blue Lines, Be Thankful for What You’ve Got
4 I knew nothing about Massive Attack going into this, but holy shit I enjoyed this record. It really felt like all the best parts of 90s hip hip, electronica, and big beat wrapped up in one cohesive package. I really feel like the cycling of vocalists also helps the album feel fresh throughout. Safe From Harm and Hymn of the Big Wheel are a great opener and closer, respectively as well. Really curious to check out more of their work! Unrelated to my rating - the text on text action going on in the album cover lowkey drives me nuts. Favorite songs: Safe From Harm, Unfinished Sympathy, Daydreaming
Neat.
It’s a vibe. Unfinished Symphony is a highlight, but overall a solid album
Solid foundational electronica. Some of the vocals are atrocious. Early Tricky.
adjacent to something i would really like
Very good! Loved it!
Just started listening to trip hop recently. This one is pretty good.
Amazing. I love massive attack. I like their later work best but this is great
I only listened to parts of the first two songs. Kind of boring single chord jams with drum machine, mediocre lyrics.
Hadn't heard of them....loved it...good grove
Not for me.
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.
Didn't enjoy this one at all. Vocals really killed it for me.
Dig it
Not for me but I could see its appeal to some
I didn't mind it but also never really understand what the massive fuzz is about. It's o.k.
Some parts of this were definitely interesting, but overall this just doesn't do it for me. Was leaning towards a 3, but tbh it's worse than that.
trip hop. Dope start, 4
Llamado trip-hop, canciones sensuales, con ritmo y estilo. Algo faltito de intensidad. Bueno como música de acompañamiento
This feels like nothing.
Very solid trip hop album. I can absolutely see myself liking it more if I come back to it.
4.5
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
Another perfect album
An era defining album without being a classic. Portishead defined the Bristol sound more for me.
This album has been on my “to do (listen)” list for a long time and never got round to it until now. And it’s a good ‘un. I love the groovy deep bass and the exotic sounds (or possibly samples) that pop up. There's a nice mixture of singing and rapping and I especially enjoyed Shara Nelson’s soulful vocals. There’s plenty of variety and the diverse nature is one of the strong points. ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ is a classic anthem from the early nineties. It wasn’t quite a 5 star album (based on one listen) but I wonder if I just need a few more listens to fully appreciate it’s magnitude.
A great album
listen without prejudice they say, it's so hard. I grew up in Bristol, I was a teenager when this whole thing was kicking off. So strip away the hometown pride and teenage navel gazing what have you got? Basically a tsunami of an album one of the most distinct and incredible elements of this album is the bass, the bass is omnipresent loud and driving you have to remember that it was all guitars at the time. but they brought that heavy bass sound. Songs like safe from harm and one love, make Bass the king. the other thing that's great about this album is no one owns it, you have Horace Andy singing, 3D and Tricky rapping and Shara Nelson's iconic vocals. each song sounds differnt each song engages you in a differnt way, Yet it's cohesive. To me this album is the definition of collaboration. I could go on and on, folklore and drama surround it, but it's the music right and the music is so sweet. The shipping rhythms, the rolling bass and dream like pads make the music a waking dream something dark and beautiful. I'd give this a 6 if I could it's their best album by far and one of the best albums I've heard on this darn book list.
Unsurpassable greatness
Classic. It's not my favourite of their albums, but it is a timeless wonder.
My mate Jeff had a new sound system in his car, wanting to show it off, he picked me up to drive around town, when the opening the bassline kicks in - whoah - what is this awesomeness?! This was my introduction Massive Attack. Safe From Harm is a killer opener; Unfinished Sympathy - an anthem for a generation. We drove around for the rest of the album, we felt so cool - good times, great tunes. Last I heard, Jeff had his drivers license revoked for careless driving.
Flawless. The singing alone on Hymn of the Big Wheel...
Faire cet album était une aussi bonne idée que de superposer plusieurs polices sur la pochette.
J'avais en lançant cet album pour image de Massive Attack celle d'un groupe pour bobos parisiens. Je ne me suis encore une fois pas trompé, cet album était d'une nullité sans nom, absolument fade comme le train de vie de ledits bobos parisiens.
very cool
Nothing here spoke to me. It was fine being in the background but I could never pull it to the foreground. Like it was afraid of the spotlight.
Okay, I didn't like it as much as I like Teardrops.
It's still neither Massive nor Attacky, but I liked it better than the last one. It's good background music.
I enjoyed this a lot more than Protection. So that's a thing...
Pretty decent at parts, but also seems to fall flat on quite a few tracks. Probably 5/9 of the songs I enjoyed quite a bit but the others didn’t make much impact on me. Might come back to it to see how it grows on me tho. 7/10
Just fabulous. And magical. Adore this album.
Some good drum beats on offer here, but the song styles just aren't that interesting or melodic.
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.
Agora eu sei escutar trip hop.
Fantastic. Thought I would find it middling. Instead I loved it all.
Love Massive Attack and their massive influence on music. This album basically created trip hop. On top of that, it just plain slaps.
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
It is both iconic and the home of some pretty bad poetry
Inspired. Trip hop at its smoothest, freshest and funkiest, full of brooding emotion.
Trip-hop. Me ha gustado. Un 4.
Perfection!
This album is a classic and encapsulates shifts that were taking place in electronic and experimental music at the time. It is art, it is weird, it Massive Attack is effective at conjuring a moody, damp, groovy atmosphere. Little rough around the edges compared to what their sound evolved to be in later albums, but is an important contribution to its genre. I always have to skip One Love because I can`t stand the vocalist; conversely, Unfinished Sympathy is a masterpiece imo.
Great album for it’s time. Not one I revisit often.
Prior to this, Teardrop was the only song of theirs I knew. I enjoyed the whole album!
Every time it ended I hit play again, and I just kept turning up the volume. (:
Went in wanting to like it, but got bored quick. Good background music.
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.
Safe from Harm and Unfinished Sympathy are absolutely perfect. Several more are great. But there’s a lot of throwaway too. All the things this is good at— Mezzanine and Dummy are much better overall. {prior rated}
Big gulf between the hits and the filler. Hits are gold though.
Enjoyable listen. Can sense a lot of hip-hop and dub influence throughout. The electronic production is excellent, as well as the vocal mixing. Album feels unpolished in certain areas, but definitely a groundbreaking release at the time. Incorporation of strings on Unfinished Sympathy, and the use of percussion (digital & analog) on Hymn of The Big Wheel were highlights for me.
This is a jam - feels a little more dated than mezzanine, less dark and more kitchy hip-hop vibes, but overall still great.
I like you but Im not in love with you
So many genres fused on this one, I especially like the dub and electronic mix. Good stuff.
Before it was called trip hop it was called acid jazz which frankly is a huge turn off. I always liked Mezzanine more than this but this really kind of started off a whole genre. Shit is fire. Really inventive stuff, kind of mashed up a bunch of things that was swirling around the UK club scene at the time. Although they did it better later with the aforementioned Mezzanine, and Portishead is really the gold standard of the genre- you can look at this album as the most influential in trip hop.
The album falls short compared to their later work. Safe From Harm and Unfinished Sympathy are beautiful though.
No track feels out of place in this trip hop classic. The album starts strong with a driving bass line in Safe from Harm and doesn't let up. Musically diverse with a mix of different genre influences that all seem to work together perfectly. Stand out tracks are of course, Safe from Harm and Unfinished Sympathy; but each and every track is a killer. Great album!
As putting on a mask activates Jim Carrey, putting this album on takes me to a different place. Very enjoyable
Not a great album. Very jazz heavy. I like their album Mezzanine way more.
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.
Decent lines
Good in ‘91 and still grooves. Excellent cool as ice jazz and soul samples and covers. Rapping and wordplay are clever. Production and music is excellent. Mix of singing, reggae and rap is a good variety. Top notch, but do I prefer this to Protection? Are they both good enough for 5*? Probably!
I'm not an expert on trip-hop but I think it's worth appreciating the album as many do as the origin of the genre. Based on my listen, I should give the genre a try cause this is pretty sick
Very chill. Super iconic. Yup, fits the bill.
what if mike skinner was a boring cringey cunt with no talent?
Truly an innovative direction in music and the start of triphop as a genre.
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.
When you are a pioneer, trying to blaze new trails, you don't always find the ideal route the first time. "Blue Lines" has been credited as the first trip-hop album, and knowing Massive Attack's trip-hop reputation I was excited to listen. However, these are clearly the early experiments of the genre, not its later heights. Some of the beats and structure were what I expected, but the soul vocals were not what I was looking for. And though I remember liking Tricky's solo stuff, the tracks that featured him were not much better. "Blue Lines" is somewhere in the 2-3 range, minus a star for the disappointment, plus a star for pioneering a genre that would later produce some amazing material... (Interestingly, after listening to this I stumbled upon Massive Attack's "Teardrop" on Sirius XMU. Definitely the Massive Attack song I'm most familiar with. So much better than "Blue Lines." Then a few songs later they played The National's "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness." (We also listened to The National last week.) Fantastic song. Probably my favorite I've heard from them. Better than anything on "High Violet." I thought both of those popping up today was pretty serendipitous.)
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.
The “FLAMMABLE GAS” fire hazard sign has the rating spot on. This is pleasantly boring.
Massive Attack, way ahead of its time.
Electronic trip hop! I enjoyed, but without loving. Some tracks I recognised. Ambient, dancy. Good bass, rhythm, often tune over the top with little between for space on the sound. Liked but need to listen more to really decide.
I liked the first song but not the rest. Reggae/funk/rap
Pretty Dull
In the early 90s, when hiphop was exploding in seemingly all sorts of directions, Massive Attack was at the forefront of a new subgenre that incorporated hiphop beats with downtempo atmosphere. This would come to be known as Trip Hop, and Blue Line was one of the first to embody this sound. Massive Attack grounds the music in Soul vibes, pulling from different vocalists to sing and/or rap over their unique beats. A lot of Blue Line feels very smokey, mellow, and cool. This sort of hazy sound lends itself well to the R&B vocal styles, which really rounds out the songs to make them sound more complete. Massive Attack has created a really unique album here and I appreciate the successful blend of genres.
The big wheel keeps on turning…
Great album!
really bland
Nice chill album
Also chill as hell. 7/10
Downtempo melodic chillax mixtape. First time listened
Oh cool a band named Massive Attack with a fire warning symbol from the early 90s, this will be a fun pop-punk or alt rock album! NOPE, this is very slow lo-fi electronic R&B/Reggae/Hip-hop with some weak drum machine beats, Bri'ish rapping, or very high falsetto singing like they're trying to sound like Prince but doing a terrible job. This would probably be a 2 if the branding of the album gave me a heads up of what to expect, but it's a 1 because I was excited for some 90s rock and then had to listen to whatever the hell this was.
Awesome album, one of the ones I enjoyed most so far. Equally capable of being background music or being the focus of attention. Safe from harm and the majestic unfinished sympathy dominate, but all tracks work really well as a piece.
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.
In my earlier review of Protection, I noted I prefer their later work, like Mezzanine and 100th Window...but I hadn't heard Blue Lines (their debut), so I think the real issue was Protection suffered from the sophomore slump. I liked all the tracks on this album, although it took a little while for me to appreciate it as more than just background music. It's missing a little something that would make me give it a 5, but it's definitely enjoyable and worth hearing again so I'll call it a 4. Favorite tracks: Safe from Harm (cool opening track), Be Thankful for What You've Got (I thought this sounded like a modernized version of a 70s soul song - turns out it is...the original by William DeVaughan is really good, but I also like Massive Attack's take on it), Unfinished Sympathy (love the strings), Hymn of the Big Wheel (this was the track that kept catching my attention the first few times when I was mostly listening to the album as background music).
A new find! Enjoyed it!
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.
Better then i had expected. Scratched a 90's nostalgia itch. It sounds like what the cool kids were listening to.
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.
Why do I like trip hop!?
It's remind me the old menu on 2000's video game that try to be young and cool. It was boring...
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.
Massive 🔥
Not my favorite Massive Attack album. I prefer Mezzanine
Trip-Hop at it's finest and it still holds up despite the passage of time.
Just another 90s album with no exceptional selling point. Only the last song is above average.
While this electronic album thankfully does have lyrics, their mediocrity does little to save this album
Znowu ten zmasowany atak, tym razem uderza z debiutanckim blue lines, ktory zapisal sie jako szlagierowy krazek gatunku trip hopowego, a mnie jeszcze bardziej utwierdzil w tym, ze nie dla mnie taki miks czarnej muzyki na elektronicznych beatach, dodatkowo bola wokale, ktorych jest wiecej niz na protecu oraz sa rownie roznorodne, a zlistowanego kto gdzie spiewa nie ma, bo przeciez kolektyw tworczy, wiec wszyscy wszystko robia wspolnie i tak tez sa w creditsach, na tych 45 minutach hajlajtem byl dla mnie five man army, ktory najblizej z calej plyty zbliza sie gatunkowo do rapu z jamajskimi influencjami, dobre rymy, rowne cztery zwrotki, trzech roznych raperow i outro pana, ktorego w ciagu calego traku mozna uslyszec na backujacym wokalu, wiec tez ciekawy pomysl kompozycyjny, ale poza tym kawalkiem ciezko lowic cos dobrego, bo zawsze cos przekszadza, tutaj wokale dokuczaja, tam znowu beat brzmi jak cos wyciete z play od mobiego i tak z dziewieciu utworow na plycie robi sie trzy ktore siadaja i pewnie dziwne nie bedzie, ze dwa z nich to kawalki rapowe, wiec muzyka taneczna dla glowy a nie nog, jak sam kolektyw okreslal to co stworzyl, nadal pozostaje na tej samej pozycji gwiazdkowej
An inspired combination of spoken word and electronic music.
Good, but I've never really been able to get too enthused by this one. They definitely picked the best songs for single releases.
não esperava gostar mas pelo menos da primeira música gostei???
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.
fan vad trist detta var eller?
Before I’ve even listened to one note I am stoked, I lived this album back in the day and it’s been years since I last have given it any AirPlay. Having re listened to it I wasn’t disappointed, every song is a total banger, each hitting home with strong beats, still loving their best known hit unfinished sympathy and ending with the hymn of the big wheel which I think is such a haunting tune
All a bit meh for me. Grabbed by maybe two tracks outside of unfinished.
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.
The Massive Attack one is my favourite so far. 4/5, will be listening to it again. Very chilled, electronic plus gentle hip hop. Opening track is super, quality stays high until you hit Unfinished Sympathy (the one track I knew before today), then drops a little but the last track is great again.
"Pa san se zavalija, totalno pasivan, Slušan Marley-a i Attack koji je masivan" <3. Čuješ prve note glazbe i glasa na albumu da je ovo noćna muzika. VAŽNO! = ako ovaj album slušaš po danu, radiš to krivo i album neće imati taj štih ko što ima po noći, trust me. TBH, nije kvalitete kao Mezzanine, ali je definitivno odličan početak karijere, pogotovo drugi dio albuma kad su se zaredale odlične stvari poput: Five Man Army > Unfinished Sympathy > Daydreaming. Vrijedi ga poslušati - definitivno ako ti paše trip-hop, ne možeš fulati sa ovim albumom.
Očekivao sam puno više, da nisam vjv bi bilo 3, ovak ne mog jednostavno.
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.
Caught between the pull of early dancehall and soulful R&B, this LP lands smack dab in the disappointingly tepid middle. There are occasional flashes of the innovative production and sound design that would later characterize 'Mezzanine,' but here the highs aren't nearly frequent enough to keep the album from feeling like a chore.
Not my favorite Massive Attack, honestly, but still a solid start for the group and the Trip Hop genre. 3.5
Not for me.
Unfinished sympathy and hymn of the big wheel
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.
nice
Mi aspettavo qualcosa di diverso, in negativo. Va bene come sottofondo, niente di eccezionale. Tra il 2 e il 3 credo. 'Daydreaming' bella.
Was something new to me
Another pleasant surprise. Never heard of these guys, but it was a chill little album! 3.5 stars.
I liked this a lot. Pretty great stuff!
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".
Safe from Harm and Unfinished Sympathy are absolutely perfect. Several more are great. But there’s a lot of throwaway too. All the things this is good at— Mezzanine and Dummy are much better overall.
Amazing
It’s allright
Nice atmosphere, especially Unfinished Sympathy and the songs after that are great. I see why this is a very influential album. I just don't like the sound op triphop drums, so it's not my thing
It's no Mezzanine (which is embarrassingly absent from the list), but it's still pretty good. A tad dated, but pretty good.
Strong opening with safe from harm
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!
Love leve. Love
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.
Interesting
Damn man. This was great, so wavy. Lyrics and beats really did their work. And the closing song, Hymn of the Big Wheel!!!! Always love an album with an excellent start and finish.
An absolutely gargantuan album of early trip hop. A definitive album of the genre. And you get Unfinished Sympathy to boot. 5 stars all the way.
I feel like this album suffers from not aging well and the songs feel like parodies of this style of music. I was underwhelmed.
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.
1st track had a great groove, but rest of the album didn't measure up
Nice album, no doubt about it, but Massive Attack has done way better since.
Meh
While this album isn't nearly so polished and forward thinking as what Massive Attack would accomplish with Mezzanine, Blue Lines works as its own thing. The soul/R&B influence shines through in a really cool way; very different from what I've heard in previous electronica movements. Not their best work, but still really worth the listen 4/5
THINGS MASSIVE ATTACK'S "BLUE LINES" ACHIEVED: • Making such a solid blend of hip hop, soul, reggae, and electronic music (I love how these elements mix well and get baked into one delicious bread). • Making the first "trip-hop" album, probably igniting the trend for the mentioned small genre (it's amusing how it went from this to something like "Roads" and "Teardrop"). • Making an album that is interestingly both chill and upbeat. • Showing how can terrible vocals and terrible raps be saved with great production. • Making one of the worst and the most low effort album covers.
Pretty good 90s trip hop from Britain
I enjoyed it
algumas musicas são repetitivas demais e com uma duração maior que o necessário
Pretty chill Brit boy sample hop
Not *quite* as good as Protection. Don't care for the lofty high pitched female vocals on a few tracks. Still really enjoyable though! Second half is better than the first.
Loved this 4*
A bit like the previous album. One famous song. I didn't think there was anything else here of note...
Whilst I prefer Portishead, this album is still fresh today. Still sounds as dark and oppressive as it did back in the day
There's not a lot on this album to grab the attention. It sounds quite dated and wears thin quite quickly, so doesn't even function well as background music. 1.5/5.
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"
Yay some trip hop!! And not only that, but maybe the ultimate trip hop! I love the hip-hop, reggae, soul and electronic influences but they're all beautifully curated into something very pleasing and calming to my mind. The bouncy beat on Hymn of the Big Wheel makes me feel delicious things. It's perfect to me, no flaws. Unfinished Sympathy, another tuuuune.
Really didn't like this. Found it quite irritating and was just ready for it to be done tbh! I feel like it wasn't so awful for a 1* though. An interesting mix of genres I guess, but it just didn't appeal
I remember thinking I was the koolest bees knees when I found this album at home when I was like 13/14 and was super cool for liking it. I guess I was.
Nice cover
Très nice, premier album de trip-hop que j'essaye et aucunement déçu. Très relax, s'écoute tout seul, bonne atmosphère
kinda uneven. cool electronica/ambient/soul then lame 90s rapping
Awesome, I would have never found this on my own.
3.5/5 I was confused about this, I'll need to relisten to it.
4.5/5. Can definitely hear the influence on Radiohead and NIN, and how it expanded use of samples. British rap tho 😬
It seems that The Lonely Island bumped this album right before they laid down ‘Jizzed in my Pants.’ Not bad for 30 years old. 3.25 stars.
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
That was nice.
Goes big and then goes home. Saving a star for the next one
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
Very bassy and chill Awesome for 'high' setting
Skeptical at first, but came around by the end of the album.
Just lately I've realized that I really like trip-hop and I've been listening to a couple of trip-hop playlists. On those playlists I regularly find myself skipping Massive Attack tracks though, so I wasn't really looking forward to this one. I love the trip-hop sound they've pioneered with this album, but I simply don't really enjoy the abundant hip-hop and reggae parts they threw into the mix. As it turns out, that bothered me a bit less on this album than on some of their later work and I even enjoyed the rap on Daydreaming (a rare thing for me).
“Unfinished Sympathy… one of the most moving pieces of dance music ever, able to soften hearts and excite minds just as keenly as Bacharach or McCartney.”
need tha instrumental only pack
Nice beats and all but not really my thing. Almost like 90s experimental techno hip hop. 4/10.
Makes me want to go out and buy rubbers.
From the opening burbling bass of Safe From Harm, I was hooked. What a song. What an album. Genre defining. I love Mezzanine which is a more consistent album but the high points of Blue Lines are enough to carry the album to a 5 🌟rating
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'.
It's alright ^^ Titles like "One Love" and "Lately" I found enjoyable.
A veritable banger, already with many plays by me. I think I'll always prefer Mezzanine and Heligoland, but this is so impressive for a debut. Fav new track: N/A, but fav old track is prob still Safe From Harm. Memories of drilling the iwaslookingbackatyou section back in the day...
a lot of familiar stuff
Nice!
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
It took a couple of listens to really appreciate this fully, even though I've always liked trip hop. Definitely better after a second go round but some of the rapping prevents this getting 5 stars. This was a great album in that it created the template for trip hop and the Bristol Sound but their letter albums like Mezzanine are stronger.
Loved the first massive attack album I seen on here. This one, not yet. 2/5
Really cool. I really enjoyed this