Reviews (page 2 of 8)
Classique triphop que j’écoute pour la première fois, peux-tu croire. Ça me fait surtout penser que dans ma jeune vingtaine j’avais acheté son album Knowle West Boy (de souvenir excellent) sur la recommandation de mon disquaire de famille au hmv. Et ca m’a rendu nostalgique de la belle époque où j’allais au magasin de disque me faire conseiller. Bref si un albim évoque de la nostalgie, c’est toujours un 5. (Mais la musique est excellente aussi. Très atmosphérique et quelle magnifique fois féminine!)
Can't believe I missed this 1st time around, fantastic album.
Oh man, this is by far one of my all-time favourite albums! I remember seeing them at the first or second edition of the Lowlands festival in 1994, and I was absolutely stunned. I'd never seen or heard anything like this before. It was dark, gloomy, accompanied by the sensual and fragile voice of Martina Topley-Bird, hidden in a cloud of smoke. After they played "Black Steel" (notably a Public Enemy cover), I was sold. I bought their CD afterwards, and have listened to it ever since. This is still a great listen - even after thirty years and thousands of plays, I can't get bored of it. 5/5
Dark and brooding, amazing album!
Blew my mind
Deep trip-hop with hidden complexity and wonderful vocals.
Classic
Man I'm eating so good today what the fuck? Four 5/5 albums in a row. I love literally everything about this album - the genre blending, the genderbending in the promotional photos, how dark and slick and vulnerable it is, it's just perfect.
Fun surprise of a triphop album I wasn't expecting
One of the defining albums of the 90’s.
weed deep
Possibly my favorite hip hop album. Smooth singing, soft grooves. Yeah, they finally did a modern soul album for me. 4.5/5
This album is a 4.5 for me, but I'm rounding up. It is a groundbreaking "trip-hop" album, but it is also just so original in so many ways and feels fresh even to this day, if you take it as one of Tricky's prime albums. It has danger but is also alluring and while it is maybe slightly too long, it is consistently great.
Wholly unexpected gem.
Really unique trip-hop album
i can see myself coming back to this one for sure. its so vibey and overall a great listen the instrumentals - amazing, the vocals and various music styles blend together beautifully :-)
Def will come back, fianlly something in my taste
HOLY SHIT i loved this one. Dark asf. I love to imagine early death grips listening to it. Jv shit. FIVE!
God damn
Perfect album 10/10 no notes
Mood music max.
what a newfound gem! it runs silky smooth down my throat and i eagerly gulped it all up!
10/10
Fav: Hell Is Round The Corner Least Fav: You Don’t We all know it’s a fantastic album, but my hot take is that the sample in Glory Box by Portishead is better used in this album
Da bini sehr happy han ich a dem gmüetliche chill sunntig mit dem Album ahgfange! Maxinquayale Ohreschmauss! Tricky, oder wohl eher die chli schwöster vo Portishead und zuefällig grad no verwandt mit massive attack? Gar kei Tricky question für mich, ganz klar 5 brüederlichi küss ufd Stirn
9/10 - love me some industrial electronica
realmente me flipo un rock indie muy bueno
Dope
Wow. I loved this. After a year of my brother priming me on trip hop, Maxinquaye caught me in the ideal moment to lean in and enjoy every song. This is an ALBUM, complete in its vision and construction. The lyrics complement the music perfectly. From the trance-like tones of Overcome, to the barebones bass of Hell is Round the Corner, to the vibey goodness of Aftermath, I savored it all – and I’ll be coming back on the reg.
Brilliant
Absolutely top-tier.
Trip hop perfection with rock touches, taking you on a musical journey
Dark. Brooding. Sinewy. Haunting. Claustrophobic. Edgy. Erotic. Utterly brilliant! This is simply fantastic and a staple in my rotation.
Much like how in my mind there's a canon of 90s shoegaze, there's a canon of 90s trip hop, and for better or worse Maxinquaye is in it. To be totally honest, Maxinquaye is the album that makes me wish there was a better descriptor than 'trip hop' for these albums: the rap connection, even if present, is pretty vague. It's always felt more about a breakbeat, samples, and noir vibes than anything else. And the vibe on this one is unlike any of its peers: to me, Tricky's breakthrough has a more uptempo energy that Portishead and Massive Attack's albums from this time simply didn't, even when they coincidentally used the same samples. Much of that owes to Martina Topley-Bird's vocals, which manages to convey deep emotions while easily riding a different groove than her contemporaries did. I don't even think I'd say Maxinquaye is my favorite album from this era, but whenever I listen to it, I'm always a little floored.
this is so 90s in the best way. smooth as butter. love the way their voices work together
Excellent, excellent album.
The past is present.
Really into this, but I had never heard of this band until today. Great lyrics, great beats, no complaints. Ponderosa made me want to pick up a bad habit, but in a good way. I can only describe Black Steel by highlighting the opening lyrics: "I got a letter from the government the other day Opened it and read it, it said they were suckers They wanted me for their army or whatever Picture me givin' a damn, I said, never" Hell Is Round the Corner and Strugglin' were instantly added to my Halloween Playlist, Aftermath is a banger, Abbot Fat Tracks was juicy, and You Don't was funky yet delicious. Brand New You're Retro fucked my neighbor and made me listen. Suffocated Love doubled down on that. You ask why this is? Mind your business. I had fun.
Masterpiece!!
Still holds up really well, unlike many of my 90s favs at the.time. Love Topley-Bird's vocals throughout, the the beats and production are great. Good to get a Cheltenham/Bristol double header the last two days...
Another CD from the collection! Big up the Bristol. Awesome album with not a weak song - standout for me is "Suffocated Love".
sorry, I like trip hop. this slaps. 4.5. no notes.
This is the 20th album I’m rating. Like Teenager of the Year I know absolutely nothing going into this. However, I’m guessing punk rock. Overcome - Adding to my Playlist. I think I was wrong about this being punk rock. I also wasn’t expecting a woman. The production is really good. Ponderosa - Adding to my Playlist. This could be better than To Pimp a Butterfly. Black Steel - Adding to my Playlist. When is Tricky going to say something? Hell is Round the Corner - Adding to my Playlist. Pretty cool song. Pumpkin - Adding to my Playlist. Kinda boring but good. Aftermath - Adding to my Playlist. Great production on all the songs so far. Abbaon Fat Tracks - Adding to my Playlist. Same as the other songs. Brand New You’re Retro - Adding to my Playlist. Not really a fan of Tricky’s voice. Suffocated Love - Adding to my Playlist. Very cool, very nice. You Don’t - Adding to my Playlist. So Tricky was part of Massive Attack. Strugglin’ - Adding to my Playlist. Fantastic intro. Feed Me - Adding to my Playlist. This is fantastic it might be the best song on the album. All in all I liked 12/12 songs. This was fantastic and not like a lot of the stuff that I hear. It reminded me of Björk in a weird way. Although I’m unsure of whether to put this below or above To Pimp a Butterfly.
I loved this album. It is just so interesting to listen to. It is good for studying.
Gran grunge
I love Massive Attack so maybe it's no surprise I ended up loving Tricky's work outside of the group too.
I kind of half-heartedly tried to get into this album a few times in the past, but it never stuck beyond a few choice tracks. I was looking forward to the opportunity to re-appraise it through this project, and give it a proper run-out and fair go... and the results are good! One of the issues before might have been that it starts off quite slow and isn't immediately accessible. It feels murky, dark, off-beat and dangerous. But then it opens up a bit and you find yourself tuned into the energy of the album a bit more. What I really like about this album is that it doesn't really feel like anything else. It's its own beast. You're not quite sure what you're going to get from one track to the next, but at the least you know it's going to be interesting. There's good use of keys, synths, guitars, percussion, and it varies between slow and deliberate, and more upbeat. Overall I really like the production. I found that the longer it went on, the more I got into it. The samples are really interesting. You can tell that he's taken inspiration from lots of different areas across quite a broad spectrum. Big shout out to him sampling the Pumpkins and their track 'Suffer'. Some real standout tracks here. Black Steel, Hell is Round The Corner, Suffocated Love.. I like this, and I think I'll be revisiting it a reasonable amount. The whole thing is just such a mood. 4.5 rounded up.
I don’t understand why Apple is restricting songs, but what I can hear is really good so far. I really like this record. I love the sounds and the production.
One of my favorites
own
It's great!!
A long-time favorite. Very interesting sound, one of the standout albums of the 90s Bristol "trip-hop" era. Very creative but fits well together, with great vocals by Martina Topley-Bird. And the Public Enemy cover is a banger.
This is four and a half because I think one track is a miss, but I cannot bring it down to four.
The opposite of William Orbit. It's dark and anarchic and frequently beautiful - he never achieved it again... But once is enough when it's this damn good.
First time listening to Tricky. I enjoy trip hop as a genre in general. The woman singing is the highlight for me. Pretty mellow with a good beat.
very trippy but its super chill definitely gonna be in my rotation
Trip hop,experimental,electronic,R&B,post-rock,British hip hop. Tiene una colaboración con Portishead.
Such a creative take on hip hop when it arrived, it’s lost little of its originality. A true gem
Posluša sam ovaj album stotine puta
Okay this kind of blew my mind. Loved everything about this.
One of my favourite albums (although Nearly God is better). Played it a million times and it's never dull. Deeply raw and personal- the sounds and rhythms are so unique. I love cracking open a beer, dimming the lights and playing this from track one.
This record has been with me all my life - mysterious, sexy, smooth, profane, punchy, dark, funny, beautiful. Another perfect one.
Really amazingly produced sparse and spacious trip hop c
What an album this is, one of the founding trilogy of trip-hop debuts alongside Portishead and Blue Lines. The first six tracks are as brilliant as anything on the other two, and like Blue Lines the contribution of a brilliant singer (here Martina Topley-Bird, there Shara Nelson) is perhaps underplayed. Still sounds fresh.
Slinking and shuffling through with its smoke filled haze and demeanor, one of the most important and essential trip-hop albums makes its presence felt. The songs simmer, bolt, boils and becomes ingrained in the head and hardly ever leaves. Although Maxinquaye may have been Tricky's plant the flag moment, it is just as much of Martina Topley-Bird's breakthrough as his. Without her, it is doubtful that Maxinquaye would hit as hard and as well as it did when it was released. It's the kind of album that many try to imitate but never adequately duplicate. A timeless classic, it may never be bettered.
Trippy hoppy tippi toppy!!
I really like the dreamy low tempo electronic music
Incredible stuff. Like Portishead but slightly happier
This is one of the all time great albums. It actually makes it hard to listen to most other trip hop. It still sounds like the future three decades later. It’s a world of its own and mind blowing.
It's a new sound for me and it's fucking amazing
It is an abstract painting of sound
Iconic
A hugely important album - both on a personal and a wider macro level. Maxinquaye shouldn't work. Fucked up Bristol beats from an outsider who somehow caught the attention of the inkie indie kids. I bloody love it. Even the Public Enemy cover works. The beats seems to exist in a different dimension, such is the doped up delivery. Tricky has a twisted mind. You need this to record, and appreciate Maxinquaye. Essential listening.
Another artist I'd not given much of a chance to in the past but now regret - this is fantastic. Much rockier than I expected. I'm now finding that I think I misunderstood what "Trip hop" was, cos if this is it then I need to reevaluate a lot of stuff.
Trabalho seminal, que me indicou o impacto do trip hop e da música eletrônica experimental. A sensibilidade se evidencia ao criar uma atmosfera sombria e introspectiva em todo o álbum, que é repleto de samples de jazz e soul, bem como influências de dub e punk.
Отлично 👍
One of the darkest trip hop albums from the 90. It is raw, obscure, primitive. Its tribal percussion connects you with some kind of voodoo ritual. Similar to what Massive Attack had been doing at that point, the feminine voice adds some kind of mystique. Definitely a must if you enjoy trip hop, industrial, shoegaze, or IDM.
I love downtempo trip hop, this is great.
Superbonito. Trip hop,experimental,electronic,R&B,post-rock,British hip hop. Tiene una colaboración con Portishead.
I loved the moody, dark, sultry feel of this. Lots of styles blended in here from rock to electronica to jazz - Tricky has put a lot of treats in this! I really dig it!
Dark. Mysterious. Honest. The Singing of Martina. The lyrics. Public Enemy's Picture Me a damn I said never. Sung by a woman (Martina) Hell Is Round the Corner. As I grow I grow Collective. Struggling with the Insane. Saw him often live and he never disappoints. This one and Pre Millennium Tension and Nearly God and unfortunately the last 2 ones after his and martina's kid died are all 5 stars. Hero.
At the time, I liked this more than the Portishead debut album, even though that one is still 5 star too. In any case, Maxinquaye is still great in every aspect. Later albums, especially Nearly God and Pre-Millennium Tension, still had their moments but are not so good as Tricky's debut album.
This album makes me feel like I’ve been smoking the kushiest herb. All CBD; no THC. That, and Goldfrapp doing her best Bjork (or is it Bjork who’s been doing Goldfrapp all along?) on Pumpkin makes me realise what the noise about this disc is all about.
Hadn't heard this before but absolutely loved it, obvious huge influence on UK music. Could have seen this would have been an album played again and again if I'd have gotten it at the time.
Love the blends!
Trip hop,experimental,electronic,R&B,post-rock,British hip hop. Tiene una colaboración con Portishead.
Hadn't heard of this guy before but I had already heard his work in a massive attack album I got almost 400 albums ago. Goldfrapp is on this album and he was a contemporary of Portishead whose music I love. I enjoyed this a ton. Chillout vibes and some good trip hop. Going to check out his other work.
Trip-hop/Alt-Rock
Beh, di cosa stiamo parlando?
Amazing album and probably my favourite of all the music labelled Trip Hop. I even rate this over Massive Attack.
Forgot how much I loved the tunes on this album - sending me back on a chilled 90’s vibe. Beautiful to remember the influence women had on this era of music - which has often been overshadowed. Effortless homage striking of the mid 90’s. Sexy chilled 90’s vibe thanks for the reminder.
Enjoy this, very much in the realm of Portishead etc
Oh I loves my Trip-Hop.
Great album!
Top album
1995 - rip hop; experimental; electronic; R&B; post-rock; British hip hop
An old time favourite and a hell of a debut although you could argue that Massive Attack was his training ground. Either way, big fan, Black Steel is incredible but the whole is great.
Trick managed to somehow make a Public Enemy cover that’s better than the source material… so much cool stuff here
10/10
Brilliant vocals, unique (and brilliant) lyrics, wonderful instrumentation and production. Loved it, and would probably not have listened to the whole thing unprompted. 4.5 🌟 rounds up to 5 🌟
Blown away by this tbh. Never heard of Tricky before, but the album is excellent. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Trip-hop bliss
Интересная, экспериментальная музыка
Ooh lovely. Great album, very happy to listen to this again and again
Yes please.
Not quite what I was expecting, but I am very much enjoying it. Yep. Wish I'd heard it 25 years ago.
really digging! 4 or 5 so far
Brilliant vocals, unique (and brilliant) lyrics, wonderful instrumentation and production. Loved it, and would probably not have listened to the whole thing unprompted. 4.5 🌟 rounds up to 5 🌟
Great sound
Genre opening era defining classic. Filled with things I like to hear, and beautifully balanced voices and samples
surprisingly great
Great! Experimenral triphop, tight up my alley.
Sexy, stolpernd, verkifft, fast ausnahmslos homogen diese dunkle Boudoir Stimmung; als würde „Karmachoma“ zu einem Album ausgewachsen sein mit Gruß rüber nach Portishead. Vertrackt und gradlinig zugleich. Ich erkenne keine Schwachstelle und feiere dazu noch lyrics wie: „I fuck you in the ass / just for a laugh“ Tight 4.8
Confusing but I liked it, beats were really nice, British accent threw me off
OKKKKAT this was FUEGOOOOO
Trip hop vibes, vocals reminiscent of Fiona Apple some times. Apparently he's a Massive Attack alum Fave songs: Hell is Around the Corner, Pumpkin, Suffocated Love - 5 Stars
Always excited to listen to Tricky. Dude can make a beat, and he has a voice like none other. He recruits great vocalists as well.
Maxinquaye Tricky 1995 Genres: Electronica Styles: Trip Hop, Leftfield, Downtempo 1. Overcome (★★★★★) -Contexto: Reescritura de "Karmacoma" (Massive Attack, 1994): Tricky reutilizó letras que había escrito para ese disco. La crítica (Simon Reynolds) la ubica entre las canciones de paranoia sexual y miedo masculino a la intimidad. La canta Martina Topley-Bird y el clima es más oscuro y febril que el de la versión de Massive Attack. -Fav 2. Ponderosa (★★★★★) -Contexto: Inspirada en sus experiencias con marihuana, alcohol, cocaína y éxtasis, sobre todo en unos dos años de excesos y desánimo mientras cobraba de Massive Attack después de Blue Lines. El tono es de desesperación, de estar atrapado en una realidad deprimente sin salida. El loop de batería viene de la banda sonora de la película india Khalnayak. -Fav 3. Black Steel (★★★★☆) -Contexto: Versión de "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" de Public Enemy (1988), una canción contra el reclutamiento militar. La letra es la del original (no es de Tricky). El cambio está en el tratamiento: guitarras y batería pesadas con la banda FTV, y Martina la canta en vez de rapearla, lo que le agrega una lectura de género. 4. Hell Is Round the Corner (★★★★★) -Contexto: Nace de sus experiencias con las drogas y la paranoia. Tricky le dijo a Reynolds que se sentía parte de la "contaminación psíquica" de su época, tan capaz de codicia como cualquiera, y la letra alude a esa complicidad y al apetito. Se apoya en el loop de "Ike's Rap II" de Isaac Hayes (el mismo sample de "Glory Box" de Portishead) con una voz de vibrato ralentizada. Comparte letras con "Eurochild" de Massive Attack. Su autobiografía lleva el título de esta canción. 5. Pumpkin (★★★⯨☆) -Contexto: Samplea "Suffer" de Smashing Pumpkins y "The Easiest Way to Fall" de Freda Payne. Las voces son de Tricky y Alison Goldfrapp. El tono es de canción de amor doliente (torch song), comparada con Portishead. No encontré una explicación documentada del contenido de la letra, así que no la interpreto. 6. Aftermath (★★★★★) -Contexto: El primer single y la canción que dio origen a su carrera solista y a su dupla con Martina. Massive Attack la rechazó, la sacó de forma independiente en 1993 y 4th & B'way la reeditó en enero de 1994. Incluye una referencia a su madre y un fragmento sampleado de Blade Runner donde el replicante Leon habla de su madre. Reynolds la ubica entre las que reflejan la paranoia, la ansiedad y las visiones de espectros ligadas al consumo de drogas. -Fav 7. Abbaon Fat Tracks (★★⯨☆☆) -Contexto: No encontré fuentes que expliquen su letra o su contexto, así que no lo puedo resumir sin inventar. Solo consta que la produjo Tricky solo y que las voces son suyas y de Martina. 8. Brand New You're Retro (★★★★☆) -Contexto: Tampoco encontré fuentes sobre su letra. Solo consta que es la más corta del disco (2:54) y que la produjeron Saunders y Tricky. 9. Suffocated Love (★★★★☆) -Contexto: Reynolds la agrupa con "Overcome" como canción sobre paranoia sexual y miedo masculino a la intimidad. No encontré un análisis más detallado de la letra. 10. You Don't (★★★☆☆) -Contexto: Según el librito del disco, las voces son de Tricky y Ragga (en lugar de Martina). No hallé fuentes verificables sobre lo que dice la letra. 11. Strugglin' (★★★⯨☆) -Contexto: Inspirada en sus experiencias con las drogas. La letra alude a visiones de sombras místicas sin sentido. Tiene samples de puertas que crujen, el clic de un arma al cargarse, sirenas lejanas y crujidos de vinilo, un clima de alucinación y espectros. 12. Feed Me (★★★☆☆) -Contexto: El cierre del disco. Reynolds la lee como un destello de esperanza: el sueño de una tierra prometida o de una patria perdida (quizás la propia "Maxinquaye"), donde se enseña a crecer fuerte y sensible. Es tentativa, casi burlona, como un espejismo; Tricky murmura que es irreal. -TOTAL = ★★★⯨☆ (3,96)
Hmm… Veldig 90s chill her. Man hører tydelig at fyren var med i Massive Attack. Egentlig en veldig behagelig plate og så legger jeg godsiden til fordi han har samplet Smashing Pumpkins
Strong 3.5. A primeira metade é muito boa mas depois acaba decaindo.
Me gusta la onda, algunos buenos temas, el resto en general buenos. Sería un 3,5, pongo 4.
Pretty good. A lil too much borrowing though. Nice vibes tho. Strongish 7
sehr gutes album gefällt mir melodisches meisterwerk
7/10 Much better than I feared - a lot more interesting than I ever gave it credit for. It undoubtedly drops off in the second half and the unfortunate Portishead "clone" draws inevitable inferiority comparisons, but largely I found it very listenable
Quite enjoyed this one. Relaxed, but enough variety that it never gets boring. I hear the Massive Attack connection, but it's far from a rehash.
loveeee. Fav tracks: Black Steel; Suffocated Love; Brand New You're Retro
Dude, we got more trip-hop on here? Fuck yes. This is my kind of thing! Although, I will say that I didn't enjoy this quite as much as what I've heard from groups like Portishead and Massive Attack. Tricky's Maxinquaye is comparable to albums from those bands in some ways, but it also stands out on its own in other ways. The production is, as one might expect, quite great. It has the chill vibes that I've come to love from the trip-hop genre, though this album is notably darker than its contemporaries. It works though! There's some solid sample usage, with "Love is Round the Corner" using the same core sample as Portishead's "Glory Box." Granted, this does result in a bit of a problem when I listen to the song where I kinda wish I was listening to "Glory Box" instead, but this is still a nice song. The album's pretty solid from a vocal perspective. Tricky's voice is certainly unique, and Martina Topley-Bird's voice is quite nice to hear on many of these songs. The writing has some interesting themes to it, so the album definitely has substance. The opener "Overcome" is probably my favorite song here. I thought "Black Steel" was kinda weird, but also maybe good? It's basically a cover of, of all songs, Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos." I mean, that's a great song, but it's an interesting choice that led to an interesting cover. I genuinely don't know if I like it or not. Overall, Maxinquaye is a good listen. It's earned its legacy as one of the definitive trip-hop albums, even if its not my personal favorite of the bunch. Still, I enjoyed it quite a bit. 4/5.
Its classic trip hop
Bij elk nummer starten met, mwah, wordt een 3, maar er dan weer compleet in zitten na een minuutje, mooi. Portishead en Massive Attack doen wel echt meer voor me, maar ook dit is top
Ja als grote triphop-head erken ik dat Maxinquaye niet en de buurt komt van de heilige gralen die Mezzanine en Dummy zijn, hoewel sommigen het daarin oneens met me zullen zijn. Op de beste momenten is deze plaat echt waanzinnig cool, maar het is soort van rommelig op een manier dat de andere genoemde albums niet zijn. Wellicht is dat wat het cool maakt, maar het maakt ook dat deze wat minder landt.
5. septembar 2026. 17.43h truly ga nikad nisam nesto previse slusala ali je fanki i seksi best: overcome, black steel, abbaon fat tracks za hell is around the corner: In the Winter of 1994/95 two separate artists used the instrumental backing track to Isaac Hayes' "Ike's Rap II" from the BLACK MOSES album for songs on their respective albums
God I love triphop so much it such a fun and genre bending sound. It only works if you listen to so much music. So many references to other music but man I love this it feels earned the beginning guides you through with some songs like Pumpkin that song is so dark and feels really heavy instrumentally and works so well it is like no other song I have heard like every song on this album. A COVER OF PUBLIC EMEMY MAN I THAT IS HIGH ART THIS IS AWESOME. HIP HOP RESPECTING HIP HOP SO AWESOME. BLACK STEEL IS REAL ART GOD I LOVE IT. Anyways unqiue music will always make me think I love it and I love Porishead alot lol.
I enjoyed this. Hadn't heard anything quite like it before. It has all the tricks, tools, moods, and unease of trip hop, but where Portishead is shrouded in the mist and Massive Attack creeps up slowly, Tricky comes right at you. It's trip hop for days you're feeling edgy and energetic. Good stuff.
Listened before?: never Overcome - 5/5 Ponderosa - 4/5 Black Steel - 5/5 Hell Is Round the Corner - 4/5 Pumpkin - 5/5 Aftermath - 4/5 Abbaon Fat Tracks - 4/5 Brand New You're Retro - 3/5 Suffocated Love - 3/5 You Don't - 3/5 Strugglin' - 3/5 Feed Me - 3/5 Average score: 3.8/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ the first 2/3 was really good, especially the tracks that featured more of Martina Topley-Bird's vocals. however, i found the more i heard Tricky's voice on this album, the less i enjoyed the tracks. despite all that, i mostly enjoyed my listen
Interesting. Like it.
International electronic rap
Catchy synth-pop vibes
Interesting. I liked it.
This is new to me and I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did! My experience with the previous 90s electronic albums on this list has not been great, but this reminded me a lot of Portishead crossed with Flume (one of the very few contemporary electronic artists I listen to).
This was pretty awesome, actually. Sometimes sexy, sometimes a little sinister. It’s a nice mood to sit in for a while. I’m glad this came up on the list, must-listen #390.
7/10… trip hop / electronic indie / *1995
Love Tricky. The album is a bit over long, but great stuff throughout.
3.5 rounded up
gran proyecto de trip hop pero no terminé de cachar la vibra, mis gustos en el trip hop tienen otras inclinaciones, auque bastante solido, no auto
Much better than expected.
A classic 90s trip hop pioneer. 4/5.
Ponderosa - moja ulubiona piosenka z albumu
Yllättävän kova Massive Attack kaltainen. No sehän olikin sama tyyppi siellä taustalla. Enemmän hiphopia
Enjoyed this album on a hot summer's day. I like the first half better. The very sexual songs made me a bit uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s a bit too slow for my taste.
Nice, ich mochte vor allem die Vocals und die Tracks, die ein bisschen gitarrenmusikmäßig waren (z.B. Black Steel)
Some quite weird music rose the level of popularity in 80s & 90s Britain. Gotta give them some credit for that.
Damn, this was really good! Hearing lyrics repeated from Protection is a bit weird, even if apparently they were written for these tracks first.
Loved this album when it came out. Still holds up.
Yes!
Interesting. First time listening to this one. Not as good as Portishead or Massive Attack. Brand New You're Retro I quite liked. Really had to go look up the lyrics to Abbaon Fat Tracks - which were....interesting. The underlying trip-hop was really good, but still not on par with Massive Attack or Portishead. Not a three though, that seems too harsh.
petite preference pour le premier disque mais j'aime les differentes possibilites et album passe partout
This was enjoyable, but definitely a step down overall from Massive Attack or Portishead. Also, considering Martina Topley-Bird was on every single track, it's a bit cheeky to call the album a Tricky one rather than including her in the title.
Sexy and seductive. Sounds like the Cowboy Junkies meets Portishead meets Thievery Corporation. I can’t tell for sure, need to listen again, but this might be a 4. And I’ll give it a 4 for now (which is saying something— it takes a lot for me to be impressed by electronic music).
Fantastic trip hop album
Love this album. Black Steel is one of the great cover versions, which is still played regularly at home. Martina Topley-Bird really makes these tracks stand out as well. Production is brilliant with a sense of grimey doom.
Bristol has always been a city of contrasts. Leafy suburbs sit alongside sink estates. Grand civic buildings (which even a cursory glance at a history book will tell you were paid for by the slave trade) were of little comfort to a generation of young people with no jobs and no prospects. It’s hardly a surprise that the 80s saw riots born of despair and hopelessness, but from the literal ashes a new musical genre appeared that reflected something of the mood of the time. Tricky was part of the Massive Attack project, but was understandably frustrated to be seen as just a vocalist (albeit a damn good one). This is first solo album and it is noticeably darker and more introspective. It’s a musical evolution of the trip-hop sound rather than a revolution, but the real revelation on this album is the discovery of Martina Topley-Bird who Tricky found sitting a wall near his flat, singing to herself after finishing her college exams. Her voice perfectly complements the music here.
Black Steel carries the album MASSIVELY
Dark subject matter. Dirty production. Enchanting vocals. This was a gem
Not my usual style of music mainly due to lyrical delivery however this is good with Matina Topley-Bird as principal vocalist
Love
I seriously NEEDED this. After slogging through what felt like endless 60’s “cannon” offerings- The Band, Crosby,Stills and Nash, BOB, two from Dylan actually, The Who, this album is like hitting land after a long time at sea. I almost want to give it 5. It’s emotional. The second half falls off. I can’t give it a 5. But… I’m having a physical reaction of relief. I guess it’s generational. But this exercise is teaching me that as much as I might appreciate the 60’s, and while there may be artists from that time I revere, overall- I hate the 60’s. Oh album generator- please- tomorrow give me 50’s jazz, 70’s soul, 80’s new wave - anything, except the 60’s. Not even the Beatles. No. And this. This was so, so appreciated. That cover of Public Enemy is awesome. That’s how a cover is done right. 4 Boolean: true
I've really been getting into trip hop lately, so this was a timely listen. Glad to have checked it off the list. I knew Hell Is Round The Corner already and it's probably my playlist pick, even if Portishead has my favorite sample of Ike's Rap II by Isaac Hayes. (Fun fact, Alessia Cara's Here also samples that song.) I may need to listen again to contextualize it in the timeline of trip hop history. Maybe I would have a better understanding of the production choices then. I am at a 3.5 with this, and I'll round up to 4. I really enjoyed the vibes but was often left wishing the tracks had been developed just a bit further with additional interesting sonic elements. Ooh, also, I had a hilarious misheard lyric from Abbaon Fat Tracks..."there'll be big fauna at my hotel, motel"...nope, that's not it. Cover your ears, moose.
Very interesting
Really cool downtempo stuff
Amazing
You don't come close to Massive Attack than this. No surprise given he was in the band at first. Really really like the tone of this. But I've also grown to love Massive Attack, so that is hardly surprising. While the atmosphere and "setting" of this album is great, it lacks some standout "hit" songs for me. 'Hell Is Round The Corner' feels recognizable and like such a song, but that is about it. Almost all songs on this album are decent though, and as a whole it fits nicely together. Something more uptempo to change it up would be nice, but in general it's not lacking in the groove department. The only real downer is 'Brand New You're Retro'. You can't sample one of Michael Jackson's biggest songs like that and expect it to work. it's just too pop and recognizable, which is everything trip-hip is trying not to be - at least for me. Realistically this is probably a strong 3, but since I'm a trip-hop fanboy I'll give it a weak 4.
I actually had to edit this review cause I accidentally left my review for Killing Joke here. But now that I’ve fixed that, I got to say the first time I listened to this album I was underwhelmed and I didn’t really enjoy it. Like it felt like none of it was especially memorable and I remember thinking to myself “this is what Portishead would sound like if they were lame” but I don’t know where that came from because on further replays, I have fully fallen in love with this album. It has really cool and interesting production and specifically the percussion is always really creative and different. I still think the Portishead comparison is valid cause sonically and aesthetically they are very similar, but that’s a good thing. Portishead unfortunately only have like 3 albums, so more of that sound is more than welcome. My biggest complaint about this album, and the only thing really holding the album back is the fact that I just don’t care for the male vocals. They are not out of place or offensive, I can even appreciate that he’s trying to match the tone of the music successfully. I just think he doesn’t really add anything that wasn’t added better by the female vocalist, and I’m not saying it needs to be exclusively her, in fact I’d prefer some variety like what The Sugarcubes do. But I think there might’ve been a better voice out there to add to this project. Seriously I couldn’t even imagine how cool this music would be if you got somebody with a Tim Waits type of gravelly sound. Still a great album though! Excited to possibly hear more from them in the future.
Casi a ala altura de massive attack y Portishead. Alguna canción flojea pero el sonido es interesante.
Never really listen to this before even though I like the style of music and was familiar wither their music. Its pretty good.
Donkere trip hop. De zang en mompelrap werkt vervreemdend. Er zitten veel verborgen details die je bij de eerste keer luisteren mist maar later wel oppakt. Het heeft wat meer aandacht nodig dan je op één dag kan geven met deze 1001 challenge. Ontelbaar veel sampels aan elkaar geplakt, verdraaid en vervormd naar iets waarvan je denkt dat gaat niet werken maar hij bewijst keek op keer het tegendeel. Komt weer op de lijst waar ik wat meer in moet duiken als deze vierjarige 1001 kruistocht voorbij is. $ voor nu maar zal misschien later wel een 5 worden
Ja wel vet, er wordt een goede sfeer neer gezet en het luistert lekker weg. Voor je t weet heb je het album alweer afgeluisterd waarbij je merkt dat het een album is wat aan je moet groeien. "You ask what is this? Mind you business". heel vibey.
Absolutely classic 90s electronica
Mörkare och mer svårsmält än Portishead och Massive Attack, men växer för varje lyssning, om än inte till riktigt samma nivå. Även om det känns lite trist att använda samma sampling som Portishead så är Hell is around the corner riktigt bra. Totalt sett en bra och rätt unik skiva som jag kommer att lyssna mer på.
Trippy and relaxing.
Mostly interesting (groovy) hip hop (and such). The female vocalist brings up the average.
Lowkey claustrophobic.
Obscure, mysterious, an album hinting at hidden depths that turn out to be shallow surfaces reflecting back at each other. Haunted dub production - deconstructed samples reworked into ambient fodder. A deep bass rumbles at a slow ambling pace leaving loads of space for the echoes to scatter and skitter across the high end. The middle is dj scratching, diva vocals, mumbled raps, and snaping snares that punctuated the trippy tipsy stoned blur.
I only know Tricky from Evolution Revolution Love, that great collaboration with Ed Kowalczyk (shouldn't there be a Live album on here somewhere?). I didn't so much like this album (though I did), as I was drawn in by it's claustrophobic and suffocating atmosphere.
I think I have a type... Regret that I saw them in concert before I really knew the catalog 4/5
Nice
Unique sound, Topley-Bird’s vocals are perfect. Maybe slight diminishing returns in the back half but Overcome is fantastic. High-end 4
В натуре трип хоп
8.0/10 Thought this was pretty cool...
Still so so great. Blew my mind in release, and it still sounds so cool and unusual.
I love it when members of a group leave and immediately show how crucial they are.
Listened previously. Expectations: High - Verdict: Near Perfect - I love this album. One of the most obvious high points of trip hop. The sister album, Protection, that Tricky used many of the same lyrics on is my favourite Massive Attack record and he was clearly just operating at a ridiculous level around this era. This album just sounds incredible. The grooves are so deep and rich, the vocals are smoky and seductive, and overall this is almost flawless.
A british hip hop artist that is good. I'll be damned. I think this is the first one I thought belonged on this list and the rest were all 1 stars for me.
Cool, almost lazy dreamy trip hop but very deliverately constructed downtwmpo hip hop beats with fun insturments flitting in and out. Has tape warmth, very listenable, effortless quality. This is like a massive attack portishead genre mashup somewhere between the two
No hay mucho que decir más que seguramente lo escuche de nuevo. El primer tema el mejor. Nota: 4.1
I liked this! Definitely up my alley. Pleasant surprise bc I had no idea who Tricky was.
не знаю почему здесь все его обосрали
Solid album throughout. Not on the level of Portishead or Massive Attack themselves, but decent.
Really torn on this one. I try not to rate 3s because it's a cop out. Most times its not to hard to grade it 2 or 4 overall but this one has songs all over the place. For 1995 it's not quite a genre busting or novel record, but it has its moments. I think this one is saved by Martina Topley-Bird's collab, the best songs feature her at her best!
Unnerving but very sexy album, black steel is an all-time great song
Funny, just last week I reviewed something as "Massive Attack but with balls". And now this. Fun, cool vibes and some songs an absolute bop. Bit long tho.
Cool, chill
loved this one. but the female singer made this album great. give her more crediiiiits
This was a diverse interesting album and a 1st listen of Tricky for me. The female vocalist has a nice smooth delivery and I enjoyed the mostly relaxing nature of the album. Some good rap hip hop and pop tracks.
Sorprendemente bueno, flashero, tranquilo. Me añadí un par de canciones, y sorprendentemente sexual, por más de que creo que no hace alusión al sexo nunca.
Surprisingly fun and interesting
Really gelled with this and how chilling it got
Un disco que tuvo enorme éxito de crítica entonces y que tuvo continuidad con otro segundo álbum igualmente bueno, pero luego su estrella se fue apagando hasta alguna entrega olvidable como ... Blowback. El trío Massive Attack , Tricky y su novia Martina Topley-Bird eran, por aquella época, imbatibles. Overcome, Ponderosa, Hell Is Around the Corner, Pumpkin... se te vienen a la cabeza cosas como Burial, Blade Runner, Humo negro, Black Steel es duran su modo. Suffocated love es una gema que reluce igual que entonces. Con su bajo navegando por el tema y su duelo de voces por encima de efectos de sonido que atrapan.
Never quite sure what I'm going to run across when it comes to trip hop. In this case, this was a very enjoyable experience with some interesting beats (including one basically used by Portishead a year earlier), some laid back rapping and some not too overdone singing. There's a few cringe moments from being of its time, but overall, I really dug this.
trip hop might be the greatest genre of all time and it upsets me so bad that people cant seem to understand it.
Sexy, seductive and intoxicating, the beats on Tricky's debut make it an incredibly easy record to get lost in. I found this especially to be true on the longer cuts like 'Aftermath' and 'Strugglin''. It feels wrong to referring to a solo album as guest vocalist Martina Topley-Bird adds so much to the moody atmosphere. Her voice has a Bjork-like quality at times to it. Whilst its a mostly chilled-out record, we get some rock instrumentation on tracks like' Black Steel' and Tricky shows some aggro on 'Brand New You're Retro'. Since leaving Massive Attack in an attempt break out on his own, Tricky further develops the sound that can be found on those albums with his own unique flair. A very morish listen, I wasn't expecting myself to like this as much as I did.
Рука автоматично тягнеться, щоб порівняти альбом з Massive Attack чи Portishead. І на мій смак Трікі зовсім трохи, але все ж таки програє в порівнянні. Музично все дуже цікаво, стильно, атмосферно. Поєднання двох вокалів тут створює хорошу динаміку. Чудово, але було краще.
Very 90s Fav songs: Black Steel, Hell is Round the Corner
Overcome Ponderosa Black Steel Hell Is Round the Corner Aftermath
I'd listen to it again
Really enjoyed it all. Happy to listen again. Dirty, in a good way.
Sick
This is surprisingly good. Surprising perhaps because I'd never heard of them before. Otherwise, their production sound is pretty complex and perhaps masterful. I'll definitely listen again.
Gritty, gloomy, dark, and awesome
Moody. Visceral. Dark. Edgy. Really puts you in a weird funk, but that's clearly the intention. Perhaps it overstayed its welcome by just a bit, but overall a really interesting and unique hip-hop addition to this list. I'll even bump it from 3 to 4 stars for the simple fact that it's a 90s hip-hop album that doesn't feel the need to include a single (poorly-aged) skit!
This album is cool and inventive, I enjoyed the mix of hip hop and electronic elements. I would write more but I am, like, a week behind on albums right now. Favorite track(s): "Hell is Round the Corner"
primera vez con tricky y entré sin saber qué esperar. oscuro, medio incómodo, pero me atrapó. quiero más.
I'm pretty consistently impressed by just how consistent the 90's trip-hop scene seemed. I don't think I've heard something out of it that I thought was less than good honestly. And I'm sure that some of it is that the best stuff has inevitably floated to the top over time, and I also don't think the genre ever became *particularly* saturated. But regardless, the scene had a *lot* of good stuff. Maxinquaye is an album that I have managed to largely avoid until now. I did give it one listen in the background of a social setting, and I wasn't particularly impressed. But, giving it my complete attention, this is pretty great. This captures the nocturnal, skeletal, moody vibes of the genre's best. And it has it's own personality. This has a more organic sound than Massive Attack. And it's a little more stark than Portishead. The aesthetic here is tied together by great melodies and really emotive singing perfomances, and the full package is a fantastic listen that really puts you into a place and a mood. I do also like the sensuality here, but there are a couple of moments that almost read comically. Regardless of some minor complaints here, this comes together really well. The atmosphere is cool, the songs are cool, and the performances are cool. I'm probably gonna revisit this at some point, great stuff.
An album I've played so many times - usually while engaging in various endeavors of the flesh or journeys of the altered mind - that it's forever burnt into my brain. One of the fundamental pillars of trip hop with Mezzanine and Dummy, it manages to be bleak and luminous, abrasive and sensual, groovy and laid-back at the same time. Hell Is Round The Corner and Pumpkin belong to the most beautiful trip hop songs ever composed, with perfect beats and haunting vocals. However, there's a marked drop in quality on the B-side with some less memorable tracks, and the album doesn't hit as hard as when I first discovered it. Maybe it hasn’t aged well, or maybe it’s just me – but this time around I found it a bit dragged out, and I realized I didn’t really vibe with it anymore. One could also debate if this is truly Tricky's best album - his later stuff is pretty good too, especially Angels With Dirty Faces. Maxinquaye is still an instant classic though, and its relatively low global rating is both surprising and undeserved. 8/10
highly enjoyable
Trip-hopping to the top
a really enjoyable listen. my trip hop phase cannot come soon enough
rules. sounds so scifi. halfway between fiona apple and bjork.
Mixed feelings. I am going four rather than three. There was a lot on this album that I quite liked, most of it Martina Topley-Bird's vocals. Black Steel and Hell is Round the Corner stood out to me. I was less keen on the parts where Tricky is performing his vocals but I quite liked the overall sound, which was experimental, atmospheric, chilled hip hop.
She could’ve been our Lily Allen but instead we got Lily Allen
Real nice groove up until “Strugglin’”, which I struggled to get through. You don’t get many “Revolution 9”s on albums, but here it is. Removing that track entirely would have bumped this to a 5 since the rest of it was pretty good.
I just can’t
Tricky and the rest of the Bristol trip-hop scene of that era is definitely my jam. Martina Topley-Bird's sensuous vocals and Tricky's hypnotic delivery accentuate and punctuate each other as they alternate the lead in the foreground or the background of the vocals. Tricky differs from other favourites like Massive Attack or Portishead with the slyly threatening gangster element he brings. The beats, hooks, and samples are an eclectic blend of somewhat unusual sounds that nonetheless still produce that signature chill vibe of the genre that I love. The flow of this album in the sequencing of the tracks is also superb.
Ville gerne væk fra massive attack og lave sit eget men det er naturligvis stadig triphop og virkelig god af slagsen.
Gorgeous album - 'Hell Is Round the Corner' is an awesome song
Love trickyand the tracks and collaborations on this record are very gritty and urban with underlining Melodie’s , very enjoyable
I listened to this back in the day when it came out. I'm not sure I was fully ready for it then. I like the chill of most of the album with some injections of spirit in there. Enjoyed the reimagining of Pumpkins and Public Enemy. I would revisit this.
trip-hop. dummy vibes. chill. pairs well w/ shrooms.
its a vibe for sure
bangers. i like trip hop
An album I know well, but not one I’ve listened to in a number of years. It still has the same bewitching power. Twitchy, paranoid, little bursts of melody breaking out of the claustrophobic noise. Martines voice brings a honeyed sweetness alongside Trickys raspy muttering. Not an easy listen but a a deeply rewarding one
massive attack
so good and experimental that it still sounds modern, somebody PLEASE give martina topley-bird her flowers
Cool Trip Hop Album, wasn’t very familiar, re listen value
8.0/10
Super experimental, interesting
LOVE THAT trip hop, portishead vibes amazing
listened to on june 24th, at first i wasnt digging it but as the album progressed i got more into the vibe and liked it better, definetly has a place in my permanent playlist
Well this was quite the pleasant surprise.
What a great find, kinda like portishead but still unique in its own way.
really liked it.!! songs that actually sound different to each other. vibey af
Franchement, je m'attendais à pire. Sais pas pourquoi. Pas pire du tout.
J'aime bien le trip-hop, ça groove et ça rock à la fois. Et ça s'écoute bien en background. Sauf qu'au travail j'ai dû skipper Abbaon Fat Tracks pour des raisons de décence.
I throughly enjoyed this debut album by Tricky! I’d never heard of this album or artist before but I was very much into the trip hop/experimental vibes of this album. Overall, I thought this was a great album and I will definitely check it out again in the future.
For sure a vibey album. I would definitely be able to add this album to the rotation at my vinyl coffee shop!
Terrific album, with a great cover of PE’s Black Steel
Listened: in bed Fave song- aftermath
I enjoyed this. Cool sounds and quite interesting. Worth the listen for sure.
listens like a proto-thievery corporation, even though they are from the same era. enjoyable
I really enjoyed coming back to this album. It's been a few days since I listened, but I did get most of a 2nd listen in and there's a number of tracks on here that still resonate. Especially right after Fatboy Slim, this feels like it has staying power.
A stark contrast with Fatboy Slim. As much as You’ve Come A Long Way Baby sounds like formula electronica that made it big, Tricky sounds rich, dark and weird. I love the density of the beats, dripping with mood and feeling. Mainstream 90s electro is skying on e’s in a muddy field; Maxinquaye is a hallucinogenic walk through a haunted forest. I’ll take the forest please.
sounds exactly like its cover
Nice timing, I've been on a big Massive Attack trip lately and this is very much from that family. This is smooth and sultry and sexy as fuck. You sort of know what you're going to get with Tricky and this gives exactly that. Lovely stuff.
Trip Hop is not my jam, but I can see why this (and earlier Massive Attack) is considered essential listening in this genre
Very interesting style of music. I obviously love the beats as hip hop breakbeats are always incredible, especially when done like this. I love the fusion of soul stuff (like having singers) in quite a few places. I feel like this feels a lot like Blue Lines era Massive Attack, probably because he was in it and probably had a large sway over the sound of it. His slightly creepy unnerving singing/rapping is really unique, and the singer (who I'm not sure who is) one a good deal of the songs is great as well, and I feel like has a lot of duality with him. The weird lyrical themes and storytelling is great on here, they're just all-round immersive pieces of music. I feel like a complaint could be that its too long, some song sort of go on aimlessly just repeating, but if its a good repeat then I guess its fine. The song which uses the same sample as Glory Box Portishead is great as well, totally shows how the same piece of music can be approached and recontextualied in a different way. Some of these songs I think are quite haunting and creepy in the same way as Nick Cave or Tom Waits can be, like the strugglin' song. Favourite songs: overcome, black steel, hell is round the corner, aftermath, you don't, strugglin', feed me Overall around 7/10
say what you want to say but i want you guys to relisten to Overcome and tell me it's not perfect </3 (i'm sure u guys know of his history with Massive Attack and i think this album is better than lots of their stuff)... i don't know. this album is much more memorable than that damn Red Snapper shish! some songs go on a little too long or are super monotonous (Aftermath, You Don't, Strugglin', etc.) and i also think Martina Topley-Bird and the other female vocalists make this album, without her it would be boring as hell. but with songs like Overcome, Ponderosa, and Suffocated Love, this album is AT LEAST a 3... this album's play with samples and major-minor switches is so entertaining to me... i'm not trying to glaze i swear. </3 and you all can't act like this album isn't sexy as hell... wtf... the first half is better than the second half but the second half makes up for it with sexiness and ASMR
The first half was such a banger. I enjoyed the second half too however wasn't too much of a fan of the guy's style, felt too edgy. Nevertheless it was a great find and definitely a hidden gem. 4/5
finally some good fucking food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love trip hop this is soooooooo good
Dark and minimalist. Feels like Burial years before Burial. Setting the blueprint for trip hop. You can feel the shadow of Massive Attack looming here too. The juxtaposition between Martina Topley-Bird's bright vocals and the dark, brooding and chaotic sounds and spoken word monologues that Tricky mixes in the background creates a unique sound. The hodgepodge of noises, percussion and melodies that Tricky is seemingly throwing together at random somehow come together to something that's completely out there, but also not a challenge to listen to at all. It's the sort of thing that you don't fully take in until a second or third listen. I still don't know why it works, but it really, really does work.
Ethereal vibe and you can hear multiple genres. Solid
- mulla on heikko kohta trip hopille, ja pääsikin yllättämään että tää kaveri on mässyätäkin ukkoja (ainakin ollut) - soundi on erittäin ysäriä ja meitsi kyllä diggailee
Fun record. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
good record, had never listened to more than the singles. A lot of depth and chill work music
The album did a solid job transferring me into its world. I felt it was moody, dark, sensual at times. This was interesting enough that I will give it a few more times to be played through.
good trip pop
This one was a vibe! I had grew up hearing of Tricky and I may have heard a song here or there but I never revisited him as an adult and I feel like I missed out. Some of the production certainly dates this album to the 90’s but it doesn’t stop with the surprises, I never knew where it was going to take me but I was here for all of it. Great stuff ‘ 8/10 Favorite tracks- “Ponderosa” “Hell Is Round The Corner” “Aftermath”
7/10
This was fun. Definitely worth checking out at least once.
Kind of cool
Nice vibes. Good for working.
A beautiful lyricist with a great voice and super interesting beats. Not really my style, but something I may revisit when I'm feeling something different
Las primeras dos son curiosas Black Steel tiene buen ritmo Hell is Around the corner TA buena
Enjoyable, trippy, great beats and vibe. Will likely gain on listens.
Actually really enjoyed this, wasn’t really familiar with Tricky before. Massively helped by Martina’s voice, giving it a Morcheeba vibe.
this was a nice surprise! has tastes of that 90s alt but is much cooler than most of it. i think it shined most with the slower stuff and just let us sit with the instrumentals while the vocals could glide slightly underneath. low 4
This is a great album.
Re-review 2 months later. I keep coming back to this album. I’m upgrading it to a 4. Still demanding justice for Portishead though…. 2007 Interview excerpt from Mark Saunders who produced this record: "Tricky entered the studio with 'a great idea for a loop', incorporating samples from Isaac Hayes' 'Ike's Rap II'. We did the whole track ('Hell Is Around The Corner') and Tricky then did his usual thing, calling the manager and telling her, 'This is fantastic! You've got to come and listen to the next single!' At that time we were working at my own Loveshack studio, and the manager was just up the road, so she came in and she stood in the doorway as he played it to her, and I saw her jaw drop. She said, 'Tricky, I can't believe you did that.' Tricky went, 'What? What are you talking about?' I could see he was starting to smirk, he knew what she was talking about. She said, 'You know Portishead have used this,' and he said, 'No, I had no idea!' He was laughing, and it turned out that she'd given him a cassette of some rough mixes off the Portishead album.”
Well this was quite the pleasant surprise. Personal enjoyment: 4/5 Relevance to this list: 5/5
This hip hop joint from Great Britain is well composed, moody, deliberate, sensual, smooth and almost uniformly slow. With lust-protest-drug lyrics that are highly introspective, delivered mainly by the sultry lead vocals of Martina Topley-Bird, this record is not your run-of-the-mill rap. It’s highly eclectic, drawing from jazz, blues, prog rock, funk, reggae, you name it. These tracks have a huge variety of sounds, including delicate scratch that actually makes sense. Tricky has clearly done his audio homework.
02.10.25 #8 Favourite Tracks: Ponderosa Rate: 7/10 i liked the vibe of the album.
Muy bien. Pensé que su hip hop, rap, rock álbum no me iba a gustar, pero en cuanto comienza a cantar la vocalista no hay marcha atrás. Muy buena unión entre la producción de hip hop y la voz generalmente dulce de lsa solista.
Sexy and groovy
Surprisingly never listened to Tricky's solo stuff but really enjoyed it. Was a nice bit of Bristolian trip-hop to start the day.
Adorei
It's the 90s and I'm in a smoky room with a sexy lady
I enjoyed this album. Would love to learn about it.
This album took a turn at song 4, like complete vibe switch in my opinion. I didn't mind the first song, but the beat got annoying after a bit, was not a fan of song 2 or 3. Surprisingly, Hell is Round the Corner came in with some groovy jazzy backing, I was surprised with the sudden male vocals, really liked the slow rapping. Favorite on the album for sure. Rest of the album kept switching around the vibe song to song, but I didn't bump against much of it compared to songs 1-3. Overall was fun to listen through as it had a very unique sound. Only listened to side 1, will have to give side 2 a go at some point. 7/10
I've known this album for a long time, and like a lot about it, but don't think it hits the highs of his trip hop contemporaries like Massive Attack and Portishead. Some great songs though and inventive production - it sounds very unique.
3.75 stars rounded up. Best place to start and best overall Tricky album. Great Side A, though the LP steadily loses steam after “Brand New You’re Retro.”
Great album. Kind of blends into the background after a while. Definitely sounds like it came from the 90s but it holds up real well. 3.75 stars.
It's cool. Pioneered a whole new genre and such. Nice sounds, some pretty clever lyrics.