at a glance...

Hometown: Bristol, England
Formed: 1982

Members:
Daddy G, 3D, and Mushroom -vocals, keyboards, samples and production
Horace Andy, Liz Fraser, Sara Jay - vocals
Angelo Bruschini -guitar
Andy Gangadeen -drums

Bands in the family :
Tricky, Smith & Mighty, The Wild Bunch, Portishead, Neneh Cherry, Howie B, Björk, Horace Andy

Notes:
Massive Attack began as the Wild Bunch, a DJ collective spinning dub and hip-hop at Bristol parties in the '80s. Brought into help produce Neneh Cherry's debut, they quickly evolved into Massive Attack and in the early '90s laid the blueprint for the Bristol sound that would be labeled trip-hop. "Unfinished Sympathy" from their debut LP Blue Lines was hailed as a masterpiece and drew the band into the British national consciousness, as well as making minor waves in America. After more than three years away they returned with Protection, but not before their in-house rapper Tricky had gone solo and part-time engineer Geoff Barrows had launched the enormously successful Portishead. The recording of the next album, Mezzanine, saw serious tensions develop between founders Daddy G, 3D and Mushroom, though the group completed the record and stayed together.

Links:
We Love Massive Attack

Featuring Liz Fraser, samples of The Cure and The Velvet Underground, a host of guitars and a Bo Diddley beat, Mezzanine threatens to be Massive Attack's rock album. It's not, thanks to some lovingly-crafted hip-hop and an echo chamber full of dub. It is, however, one half of Massive Attack's best album, no mean feat as Blue Lines and Protection are two of the most revered LPs of the '90s.

The dissociated rumble and whir of "Angel" sucks you into a world that's darker and more menacing than previous Massive records, but it's second track "Risingson" that announces just how far they've come. The perfect fusion of dub bass and hip-hop grooves, it's the scary flipside to the yearning, orchestrated soul of "Unfinished Sympathy." It's every bit as good, too, even featuring some top-notch rapping that shows they don't need that Tricky kid around after all.

In fact, "Inertia Creeps" and "Exchange" suggest the album we've been hoping Tricky would make since Maxinquaye. The exquisite "Teardrop," though, sets Mezzanine and Massive Attack apart from the Bristol crowd, by reminding us of the emotional range they can wring from samplers and washed up female vocalists (this time it's Cocteau Twin Liz Fraser).

The second half of the album plods by comparison, especially the unremarkable title track and a pointless reprise of "Exchange." Yet Mezzanine is still a compelling record, and deserves its place next to Blue Lines on your shelf.