Blue Lines - Massive Attack

Massive Attack ~ Blue Lines
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I thought I would start my music reviews with the album which despite being 14 years old I still consider to be the best album ever to hit the streets of this fair country. Blue Lines was released in 1991 to a somewhat muted response, as with so many new groups, as they had no reputation, outside their home town of Bristol. At that point in time I was enjoying the early years ...
...someone produced a tape called Blue Lines which was played to utter silence and chilled ecstasy, The tape never left my car and was played at least once a night for about 2 years. Needless to say I never gave the tape back, it didn’t matter we all had the CD by then anyway.

Massive Attack must be one of the hardest groups to pigeon hole, they eventually landed the tag of Urban Trip Hop. This being a blend of Hip Hop, soul and dance ... more

Massive Attack ~ Blue Lines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought I would start my music reviews with the album which despite being 14 years old I still consider to be the best album ever to hit the streets of this fair country. Blue Lines was released in 1991 to a somewhat muted response, as with so many new groups, as they had no reputation, outside their home town of Bristol. At that point in time I was enjoying the early years of my mis-spent youth, driving round the streets of Manchester with my mates till the sun came up, visiting underground clubs, shady pool halls and 24hr café’s. One night someone produced a tape called Blue Lines which was played to utter silence and chilled ecstasy, The tape never left my car and was played at least once a night for about 2 years. Needless to say I never gave the tape back, it didn’t matter we all had the CD by then anyway.

Massive Attack must be one of the hardest groups to pigeon hole, they eventually landed the tag of Urban Trip Hop. This being a blend of Hip Hop, soul and dance music. To be fair this tells you very little, they managed to blend rapping, deep soulful vocals, heavy drum and bass and fast tempo beats synonymous with the emerging dance scene. The truth is the band members all brought something to the table which unlike other groups they found an amazing way to harmonize to produce sounds to bring pleasure to all from the most cultured ear to 17 years olds cruising the streets trying hard to look cool.

The album itself did not do that well, not even making the top ten but not surprisingly the album sold better on release of further albums, Protection, Mezzanine, No Protection and 100th Window. This only ever happens when people feel they have discovered a gem, and a group that did not have some big corporate marketing machine behind it. In fact Blue Lines made several re-appearances in the charts over the years and there is no doubt that the songs off this album will stand the test of time better than any album that finished higher in 1991.

The group consists of Daddy G (Grant Marshall), 3D (Robert Del Naja), Mushroom Vowles (Adrian Vowles) and had massive contributions on this album from Tricky, Shara Nelson, Willy Wee, Horace Andy, Tony Bryan and Neneh Cherry.

Safe From Harm
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Massive Attack were forced to change their name briefly to Massive due to the connotations of the word “attack” during the first gulf war. This goes some way to explain the subtle meanings hidden in this haunting first track. It opens with the whistling sound of the desert before the pacy beat of the bass kicks in. The resonance of the words from this song stand up even more clearly nowadays after the even more inexplicable second Gulf War. The inspirational Shara Nelson singing “gunmen and maniacs all featured on the freak show….if you hurt what’s mine I’ll sure as hell retaliate” “friends and enemies I find contagious” and “what happened to the niceties of my childhood days”. This is a truly memorable song and one of my favorites off the album.

One Love
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An extremely simplistic song which some may consider to be a filler but one who’s words echoed round my head for years. Horace Andy has one of the strangest voices, aurally pleasing but oddly whining. The pace of the song is much slower than the previous, with smooth use of scratching to add to the broken feel of the sound. As in several parts of the album the scratching is there to add to the multi layered sound of the music not to demonstrate the sampling abilities of the d.j. as you often find with these additions. Towards the end the piano finally comes in to accompany his voice as the sound slowly drifts away. Some good advice to gigolo’s out there “some men don’t feel secure unless they have a woman on each arm, they have to play the field to prove they have charm”

Blue Lines
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The signature song from the album and even though it’s hard to argue any song is better than Unfinished Sympathy, this song attempts to build a case. During its day there was not one chill out room in any club in this country that had not spun this tune. The bouncy but relaxed beat slides in to the sound of someone exhaling a spliff before the gentle rapping “cant be with the one you love, then love the one your with”. This song truly blends all the talents and backgrounds of the band members, even the Barry White sound alike of Willy Wee adds depth to this tune. Its hard to explain the way the lyrics fit in so perfectly with the music. If you have ever had the thought that rapping was too aggressive or always had to be about someone’s bitch then listen to the peaceful way they are sewn into this song. Its seems the responsibility of so few artists such as Young MC or Arrested Development to prove the value of this genre of music. “take an occupation or you will lose your mind, not a nine to five number, looking for the line”. This song is so subtle at times its almost like they are whispering, like you are overhearing a conversation on the street between a group of men. Very high on my list of favorite songs.

Be thankful for what you’ve got
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A song clearly with its roots buried in soul with the great voice of Tony Bryan preaching of the values of character over material wealth. I still really enjoy this song but I guess it is not the best off the album, but honestly how many groups nowadays would use an organ to achieve a particular sound. It could so easily have been an American song “Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac……you may not have a car at all, but just remember you can still stand tall”. Very melodic.

Five Man Army
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A more traditional rap song with Caribbean undertones using steel drums and more slow tempo lyrics. Each of the male protagonists take the mike like runners passing a baton in American style, almost a competative way. “Money money money, root of all evil” lyrics which again express the feelings of the time as mentioned earlier with the Gulf War. The song has echo’s of 70’s music produced by the likes of Bob Marley and its clear that though patriotic they still acknowledge their heritage. “its started by Marconi and pursued by Sony”. Certainly one of the less memorable songs but still quality with a clear and not too subtle message. Again reference to the war and money being the root of it…..where have I heard that before?

Unfinished Sympathy
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Where do you start with this song? Considered a classic by just about everyone with any knowledge of music and if you have not heard it by now then get out and buy it. The song was the first released off this album and only made it to no. 13 which is quite amazing but like Blue Lines there is not a club in England that has not played this song in one form or another. It has been sampled and remixed more times than I have had hot dinners but the simple fact is that the original is by far the best. When I first heard it back in my car I could not believe it, it was so unlike any other music I had ever heard. The song builds layer upon layer, percussion, instrumental, base, guitar and haunting orchestral chords. At the start you even hear them hushing each other in the studio, then the vocals of Shara Nelson “the curiousness of your attention has got my mind and body aching” “like a soul without a mind, a body without a heart I am missing every part”. A truly phenomenal song of Massive proportions in all ways. One of the hardest songs to categorize, a mix of soul, dance, garage and classical music.

Daydreaming
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Like so many of the songs on this album daydreaming is perfectly positioned after Unfinished Sympathy. The opposite in many ways, much more simple with similarities to Five Man Army. “I don’t need another lover I just need, I’m insecure”. Tricky and Shara Nelson share the vocals on what is probably the shortest song on the album. At one point it certainly does show its age “Maggie this, Maggie that, Maggie means inflation”. And I love the reference to ‘fiddler on the roof’. A very chilled example of some of the best work from their early days, just a little bit political.

Lately
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“Summertime always gives me the blues, thinking bout the things we used to do”. Shara Nelson again touching places other singers cant reach, with a powerful love song. The downbeat element of the music synchronized with the feeling she is portraying in the lyrics. The beat is slow but unrelenting, which is one of the things I really like about the song. Again hard to categorize but certainly one that most will enjoy even if to some degree it may be considered an album filler.

Hymn of the big wheel
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The final song is no disappointment with this album, the amazing echoing voice of Horace Andy will never leave my head. This song seems to have its roots in nature and Africa, even the voice seems to belong to a Paul Simon Album. The song starts with the sounds of crickets and whale noises, then a slow repetitive heavy beat comes in, the tempo picks up, then the beautiful vocals “The earth spins on its axis one man struggles while another relaxes” I have no idea if there were any references to Nelson Mandela but it sounds like it to me, the African theme seems to back that up. There is a sweet ecological theme throughout the song “an acid drop of rain recycled from the sea, it washed away my shadow and burnt a hole in me”. As the pace of the song slows you just hear the beat with the sound of the wind and then the sample of Whale noises. Its sounds like some hippie crap, but its put together so carefully that it is inoffensive to all listeners and a quite wonderful example of the talent that this group has.

Massive attack followed up this album with other great songs, indeed their work with Tracy Thorn is awesome, but for me they never quite hit the mark as well as on this album. I recommend Protection and Mezzanine as well as this although I was disappointed when I went to see then 2 years ago when they only played the songs off their new album, give that one a miss. I hope I have not bored you senseless, just wanted to share what I think is the most talented and beautiful albums I have ever listened to. Thanks for reading!
 

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