Frenchy’s Favorites: Massive Attack - “Blue Lines”
General Description
Artist/Band: Massive Attack
Album Title: Blue Lines
Year: 1991
(image from http://www.ideezik.com)
How I Got Into This Music
First song I ever heard from them was when I saw the video for “Daydreaming”. It didn’t quite register, but the black and white visuals with the band (if you can call them that) did get my attention, especially singer Shara Nelson’s haunting vocals. Then, as usual, I forgot about it ;o).
After a while in 1991/1992 (hazy recollection) the single/anthem “Unfinished Sympathy” broke and the whole world was glued to the TV while watching that weird video of Shara Nelson walking the streets of LA. Incredible! A sound and groove that I hadn’t heard before: her vocals full of sadness and fierceness, the little annoying bells giving the track its theme and the goose pimples violin orchestration: wowee!
This still didn’t get me to listen to the whole album, but after some very insistent advice from a friend of mine (hoi Joentje!) I got the album and boy, am I glad I did!
Massive Attack consisted of four core members, all sound system and party music afficionadoes from Bristol. Their sound was unique for that time and with theirs and Portishead’s efforts the Bristol sound called TripHop was born and labelled.
Tracks that got my attention (well, all of them actually, but still..):
Safe From Harm
Least favorite track
One Love
Mister Horace Andy performing his skills with great samples backing the track
Blue Lines
Wow! Wow! Oooooh.. Coolest track of the Universe! Great lyrics: “Can’t be with the one you love that love the one you with” (remember where it’s from?). And the totally toned down James Brown guitar lick and the wicked keyboards, man!
Be Thankful For What You’ve Got
Video got banned coz it showed a very classy strip act (if such thing exists). This track always makes me feel better about everything: “Diamonds in the back, sunroof top, diggin the scene with the gangster lean, ooh.. ooh.. oohh..”
Five Man Army
“Sharper than a Wilkinson razor sword”, manmanman!! Cool lyrics, dubstyle with Mister Horace Andy on the background - nice!!
Unfinished Sympathy
Breakthrough track - everybody had the song in their head: now that’s power..
Daydreaming
Now here’s some trivia, boys and girls: the track is sampled from a Wally Badarou’s track called Mambo. Want more on the samples used by Massive? Try this topic from the nice people at: Massive Attack Area.
Great song!
Lately
Shara Nelson’s great vocals on a great track
Hymn Of The Big Wheel
Well now, here’s an original almost sample-free song from Massive: vocals by Mister Horace Andy and Neneh Cherry (also credited as arranger on the album). The voices gel perfectly and the drive in the beat is one of my favorites.
Conclusion
One of the best dance albums ever released, while stretching the definition of the term dance coz it’s not a album you’ll be playing or hearing at a dance venue. But there’s a whole cult around the remixes that can really make you shake that booty, so no worries there, I guess..
The impact of this album on the music scene that time can be exaggerated then and now but for me it was huge: sounds, use of samples, orchestrations, arrangements and production I never heard before in that way or manner. Now, maybe it’s my lack of experience, but who cares? This album shook my world in a very, very pleasant manner..
