Reviews (page 2 of 8)
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.
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.
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
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
Trippy and relaxing.
Mostly interesting (groovy) hip hop (and such). The female vocalist brings up the average.
Lowkey claustrophobic.
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.
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.
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
7/10
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.
Sounds very much of its time these days, but it's still a grand album.
Reminded me of Portishead somewhat. I dig it.
Massive Attack vibes
The high water mark for the Trip-Hop genre. Very good album that's still somehow isn't too dated sounding, but at the same time bears responsibility for a shit ton of mediocre records that it inspired.
It's been ages since I've listened to this album, so I'm glad it came around in this collection as it's been too long and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed most of the songs on this strangely unique album (then and now). It's always seemed a shame that Tricky didn't give top billing to Martina Topley-Bird, though, because her voice really makes this album shine, but I'm glad to read that she also collaborated with Tricky on at least some of his follow up albums (sadly not nearly as good as this one). My favorites are probably the opening track "Overcome" (a remake of Massive Attack's "Karmacoma"), "Black steel" (which I never realized until now was an amazing cover of Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos"), the very Portishead-like pair of tracks "Hell is around the corner" (which I think I'd vaguely ascribed to Portishead all this time) and "Aftermath", and also "Strugglin'" (sort of). I was surprised by how many of the tracks had videos associated with them, but aside from "Overcome" (which seems to consist mainly of film footage, but I'm not sure what movie) they're fairly nondescript. I also wonder if Massive Attack regretted not letting Tricky shine more with them after they heard this album? I certainly do.
definitely not in the right mental state to write about or fully absorb music rn lol but this is a great album so ill squeeze out a couple thoughts. this record rly makes me think about trip hop's roots in dub, the Ascended Consciousness and Sense Of Possibility that comes with fucking around with a recording to make sounds that cant exist otherwise, its rly creatively rich. Dark Sensuality is a pretty common vibe for this kind of music but this record feels like it goes extra hard on both the Dark and the Sensual, a series of thrillingly on-edge sexual encounters. a great soundtrack to replacing god with the flesh. or maybe insisting that the flesh Is god.
Really liked the album and triphop as a genre. It still sounds fresh today.
Ikke enig med det Tricky slander der er her i gruppen, synes det er en skøn plade med en cool og meget divers lyd!
Trippi Hoppi
the album quickly establishes a gloomy, oppressive atmosphere to act as a foundation for this trip hop record. it's good, but it's no "mezzanine".
Wanted to hear this one for a long time. First track, Super cool beat. Setting the tone for a dark one. The vocals are special too. Track 2 very weird production but beautiful in a way. Bjork-like vocal melody. 3 kind of a rock track. Love the rapping. 4. Feature a great sample. Trickys voice is heard loud for the first time. Great track. 5 beautiful vocals. What a strong song. Very effective. Love the percussion and beat. 6. A long and mellow one. Kind of bluesy. Back to business on 7 which is produced beautifully. Amazing sound. The combination between acoustic and electronic sound is so good. Some michael jackson sample on 8? A groovy one. Track 9 feature cool tricky hooks. 10 is more of a reggae tune. Liked it. 11 is kind of an ambient track, but it works great. Maybe just a bit too long. Feed me. The closer is one of the best tracks on it. An excellent experience with this one. It's very valid
Not on the same level as Massive Attack at their best, but far better than the badly overrated Portishead. I think I'd put this on par with Protection, both of which run out of steam before they run out of songs. But while it's good, it's great!
I’m sure there is a super specific genre name for this brand of downtempo, atmospheric electronic beats / hip hop. I don’t know what it is, but I do actually really dig this, so I should probably figure it out.
I’ve been eating this stuff up. Is it the best trip hop I’ve ever heard? Maybe not, but it is right down my alley and I love it. I’m discovering I’m a huge fan of the genre through this album journey. Great album I’ve had on loop. Super edgy, sexy, dark, and chill.
Listened already lol
Getting major Helena Bonham-Carter in Sweeney Todd vibes from the vocals. The music is very dark, creative, and atmospheric. 4.0/5.0: Great
This album is terrific. It’s better than I remember. I used to think Pre-Millennium Tension was Tricky’s best but I forgot just how good this one is. I do think it tails off a bit at the end, but the first 2/3 of the album is as good as you’re going to get in the Trip Hop genre. 4.5 stars, this is a banger.
I really enjoy the layering and sampling going on here. Moody and silky and perfect for doing ur laundry to. But not when anyone else is home
sehr gueti hintergrundmusig gsi zum de monday blues nach de ferie chli z'lindere – für es längers review hani aber leider doch grad kei kapazität
I've never actively listened to anything like this before and really enjoyed it despite the unfamiliarity. Will probably listen again although I'm not particularly sure its my thing. Really liked all the sounds going on the background, well composed imo but what tf do I know..
80/100. Tricky’s approach is less about rapping in the traditional sense and more about presence. He mutters, whispers, often letting Martina Topley-Bird’s haunting vocals take the lead. Her performances add contrast and clarity to his raw, fragmented delivery, giving the record both tension and intimacy. Lyrically, it’s cryptic but compelling, touching on identity, trauma, love, and paranoia. You’re not always sure what Tricky’s trying to say, but you can feel it.
Really dig it, want to hear more trip hop
Got it on a.Sunday. Perfect.choice for a chilled day.
I’m a fan of the darker more brooding numbers. Love the Public Enemy cover. This starts strong but falls away a bit towards the end with some blander tracks. 3.5
I was obsessed with this when it came out. I can acknowledge now that it drags a bit in the second half. But those opening six tracks are still fantastic. To go further out check out the two utterly blasted tracks from The Hell ep featuring the RZA, Frukwan and Poetic then all of The Gravediggaz.
Pairs nicely with Samosas.
I like this a lot, and generally I'm a fan of the genre, but this isn't quite at the level of Portishead's Dummy or Massive Attack's best. Still, I like the claustrophobic nature of it.
This album was everywhere in the mid-90s… and somehow I heard it today for pretty much the first time. Maybe I just wasn't ready for it then, or maybe I was turned off by how much everyone was talking about it. But they weren't wrong. Glad I had a reason to finally give it a shot. I've been missing out.
Alright.
Incredible. Nothing in this was something I expected from a rap album, it was all over the place tonally, but Tricky was cooking like crazy with this one. Black Steel, Hell Is Around The Corner, and Aftermath are all amazing. Honestly there isn't a bad song on this album. Also, Abbaon Fat Tracks has hilarious lyrics.
Feels like this was recorded specifically for 21st century rappers to sample. Really cool though, enjoyed a lot more than I thought.
Stilprägend, rätselhaft.
I judged the album by the cover and I was wrong. This was way more mellow than I was expecting and I really enjoyed it.
smoky, murky, woozy, claustrophobic and intense
Great stuff. Happy to see they have an extensive catalogue.
The beats on this are fire. This very much reminds me of Portisheads Dummy but instead of ethereal pop vocals it's more rap. I could see this go up to a 5 with more listens.
The first time I ever heard Tricky was his track "Overcome" when it was included on the film soundtrack for STRANGE DAYS. Fantastic cyberpunk film by the way. And my other experience was his PRE-MILLENNIAL TENSION album with the fantastic "Christiansands" on it, but I had never gotten around to hearing the rest of MAXINQUAYE until today. I know, a 30 year procrastination, I'm not proud of it. After my first listen I was struck by how many bands this album influenced over the rest of the 1990s, particularly Damon Albarn's Gorillaz. This album was a very fresh sound for 1995. Other than Massive Attack, the other group he collaborated with, no one quite recreated this sound, with equal parts jazz, hip hop, electronica, psychedelic, and dance; all at a slower tempo that is the backbone of trip hop. It is quite a nice adventure that flows nicely, something that happened very rarely in the 1990s. I personally do not consider this a rap album at all. Too jazzy and classy to be labeled with that albatross label. Also the instrumentation is interesting enough that you can safely check out of the lyrics and still enjoy the album. I anticipated that on some tracks, or even most of the tracks, that the vocals and lyrical performances would be given by Tricky himself but I was pleasantly surprised when the album was fronted primarily by female vocalists. Martina Topley-Bird's vocals, found on most of the tracks, are often buried in the mix or barely bobbing throughs the waves at the top of the mix. This technique works well on the track "Overcome" and less well on tracks like "Ponderosa". She did a fine job of striking the right balance of choosing her moments of whether to sing or rap the lyrical performance. I understood she has solo work out there, so I'll be checking that out later (hopefully not 30 years later, ha ha). I already had "Overcome" in the collection from that STRANGE DAYS soundtrack, but I ended up adding most of the rest of this record.
Another English artist I had never heard of. It’s interesting to me that Tricky is a rapper, but he paired up with a female singer, Martina Topley-Bird, to release his debut record (and a couple of others). This proved to be a very wise choice, as what resulted was a super intriguing album with a variety of different layers to it. I loved many of these tracks, including the instrumentals and Topley-Bird’s voice over the top on numerous songs. Right from the jump, Overcome is a great starter. It has a seductive, almost sneaky feel and it was an instant add to my library (joining Live and Better Than Ezra as the third “Overcome” in my playlist). The next two were totally different from Overcome and each other. Ponderosa has a basic but pounding rhythmic feel. Black Steel is driving rock based. Both were excellent in their own right. Hell is Round the Corner steals from Glory Box by Portishead (took my daughter to help me place it) and has a great groove to it as a result. Pumpkin felt like something off of a moody 90s alternative record. 5 songs in, all totally different styles, but all really cool songs. Amazing start. After this, the album wanes a touch for me. Aftermath is a bit of a sleepy track and is 3 minutes too long, but it’s the front part of the track that should be cut, as the random distorted guitar and flute (?) was cool. Having the two leads layered on top of each other in Abbaon Fat Tracks was great and it had an excellent groove, I just didn’t like some of the lyrics. Brand New Your Retro was similar for me in that I thought the song was interesting except for some of the lyrics. Suffocated Love was cool, gave me a bit of a PM Dawn type of feel for some reason. You Don’t had a reggae base, yet another style on this album. Good tune as well. The last three, You Don’t, Strugglin’, and Feed Me were all decent but somewhat unremarkable. What makes this record such a fascinating listen is the variety of styles. At times rap, at times sultry R&B (a la Silk), and on occasion one on top of the other. Other times it has electronic and harder rock alternative elements which borders on a Nine Inch Nails type of feel. Still others it is experimental in its sound and construction. On this effort to get through all 1,001 albums, there have been times when I was excited to dive into an artist or album I was familiar with but I hadn’t yet fully explored. In other cases, there were brand new artists which I’d never heard of, but they mostly have been underwhelming. This is the first time that an unfamiliar artist got me excited while I went through the record. It was a very cool experience. Still, some of the songs on here aren’t great, keeping me from making it a 5.
listened at work, nice trip-hop background listen, loved the ambience and the female vocals
Album starts blistering early tracks monumental but it weakens as it progresses, inconsistent, good but not brilliant.
It’s giving Bjork mixed with Cibo Matto, a fun combo. Fun 90s vibes
# Playlist Track - Overcome # Notes - It starts well, with a trip-hop vibe that is really cool. Really enjoyed the instrumentals in the beginning. - On "Hell is Round the Corner", the "Glory Box" sample is cool, but it almost feels like a reimagined version. - On "Brand New You're Retro", the Michael Jackson one is better executed. - The tail end of the album is pretty poor, and the recurring whirring on "Strugglin'" is just awful. - Interesting listen, worth taking the time, but I won't be coming back often.
Ponderosa Hell is Around the Corner Black Steel
An okay album, I liked Overcome and Hell Is Around The Corner the most.
Unusually, for such a foggy, paranoid, stoned-sounding album, the first six tracks (half the album) were all singles in the UK. None of them were exactly smash hits, but this was definitely Tricky's heyday. The reason I mention this is that it makes the album feel imbalanced, definitely a bit front-loaded, but it's still a good listen. The lyrics occasionally make me feel a bit queasy though.
01) Overcome - 8,5 02) Ponderosa - 8,5 03) Black Steel - 8,5 04) Hell Is Round the Corner - 9,5 05) Pumpkin - 8,5 06) Aftermath - 8,5 07) Abbaon Fat Track - 8,0 08) Brand New You're Retro - 8,5 09) Suffocated Love - 8,5 10) You Don't - 8,5 11) Strugglin' - 7,0 12) Feed Me - 7,5 TOTAL: 8,33 (83/100) Current ranking: 130/567
Tricky always felt like an afterthought in the Bristol hip-hop 'trifecta' as I was a huge Portishead fan and a big Massive Attack fan. That's not to say he wasn't equally great or influential; I did buy Maxinquaye, I just didn't listen to it nearly as much as Dummy, Blue Lines, Portishead or Mezzanine. It's a great album and I was delighted to have it on rotation for the past week. Both for the nostalgia and the unbiased, pure enjoyment of it.
my jaw is on the floor. what the h-e-double hockey sticks. this is amazing. so groovy so nice, great for background music.
murky, experimental and atmospheric trip hop rock. according to wikipedia, the likes of david bowie was a fan of tricky, and i can see why; it's experimental music that's treated like an art form. it has very earthy sounds, like the beats are directly coming from the soil in the ground. i can't help but admire a lot of the sometimes abstract techniques at play here, this album is unlike anything i've heard before. some tracks are a bit odd, but for the most part i had great pleasure listening to each track. a fever dream of an album.
Trip hop was a momentary scene but produced some great music. This lilts along like a lullaby.
4 stars for chilling out
Freakiest trip hop album I ever heard.
Some albums just make you want to do a little opium and fuck, and this is maybe foremost among them.
A pretty cool vibe from this one. It’s interesting and different from anything I’ve heard before. Would make a good movie soundtrack i feel like (if it hasn’t already been included in movies idk)
Layered, dark, dense and dreamy trip-hop. Sometimes it drops from chilled to boring.
My buddy Freddy recommended me this one and boy was he not wrong.
I really liked this. Kind of spacey. 4
8.5/10 Excellent. Not sure it is as pure trip hop as its reputation would have - it is electronic, hip hop, post rock too. excellent production, great samples Maybe a little too monotonal and dark to be perfect but this is excellent. Best: Black Steel
★★★★½
A long-time favourite. Martina & Tricky’s styles complement each other perfectly.
Trip hop always feels like a fun little diversion from the rest of this journey because it sounds just so different from 95% of this list. This album is smooth and sometimes overly sexual (Abbaon Fat Tracks caught me off guard haha), but it's still a fun trip. I don't think it reached the highs of Massive Attack for me, but there is some cool stuff here. The Public Enemy cocer of Black Steel is really cool, as is the backing music in Hell is Round the Corner and Pumpkin. I also liked the reggae in You Don't.
I just like this genre and am probably up-rating slightly. Scrapes a 4 despite dragging along a bit.