Another landmark album from MA, pinpoint production, powerful
Disadvantages:
None that can't be put up with
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Some albums are just born classics, some albums never quite make it to begin with and some just tend to mature and grow with time . A little like Charlotte Church (joke!!) . Mezzanine isn't a Revolver, and it isn't a Westlife LP either, it's an album that I have owned for over a year but only with time have I truly begun to realise the pure genius that is held within, to the extent that I would consider it highly in my top 5 favourite albums.
This album is the third and currently the most recent collection of tracks that the Bristolian pioneers have released and I'm still waiting patiently for their fourth studio album that was promised back in January of this year . Still no sign lads so get on with the mastering before I learn the way down to Bristol and lend a hand. But anyway, first there was Blue Lines, 11 years old now but still as great sounding now as it was back then, inspired by war, greed and a hint of love (yes love!) this was the album that gave rise to the slowbeat dance classic Unfinished Sympathy and introduced us to Shara Nelson and Tricky amongst other guests.
3 or so years later came the second bundle, Protection. I would deem this to be a much more poppy and mainstream approach to electronica and although it was the first Massive Attack album I bought, I still think that to date, it is their weakest. Its saving grace was the heavy influence of Tracy Thorn of EBTG fame and Protection itself is still arguably the most popular MA track of all time. It would seem that with fewer gritty tracks and pieces of low-key ominous rapping (Karma Coma excluded) that 3D and the boys were mellowing in their old age. I was worried, what was I going to listen to in a darkened room when emotionally fuelled and in need of sustenance . It looked like reaching for that Hearsay album . when along came 1998 and the release of Mezzanine.
In a long gone interview, Del Naja promised a much more revolutionary approach to their music making, with a deeper and more infused feel. Mezzanine definitely didn't disappoint and at the time critics were singing it's praises as one of the most experimental and daring electronica albums of all time, with worries that it wouldn't take off. If you looked at the inlay for the accreditations, you'd realise that the samplers had gone into overdrive, but you wouldn't know it to hear it, as we're not talking happy hardcore by any stretch of the imagination. Gone are the usual faces of Shara Nelson and Tracy Thorn, with Tricky not even appearing (maybe as a talk-on role but I couldn't swear to it). Instead we've got Liz Fraser who had previously collaborated with Craig Armstrong on the track This Love, featured on The Cruel Intentions OST and Sara Jay, another new vocalist. The old favourite reggae cool guy Horace Andy and the ever-present vocals of 3D and Daddy G are still to be found though amidst the mix.
-- Angel -- A throbbing and almost sub-sonic baseline (well on a 2 Watt per channel mini stereo it would be) is what introduces the album with an even deeper and more subtle riff soon to be added to increase the mood. It's worth noting at this early stage that this album possesses almost obscene amounts of base so if you've got fussy neighbours or a substandard sound system you are forewarned .. or you could just sod them and love it anyway. Angel is for the most part simplistic and monotonous and gradually builds to a crescendo involving real acoustic drums and overdriven guitars; a first for MA. The band then had gone down a similar route to Prodigy with Fat of The Land and in Angel the seemingly falsetto vocals of Horace Andy and the dirty guitar tones build up an impression of closeness and longing that is to be maintained throughout the album. Although I'm sure it was Angel that was playing in the background whilst some Liverpool scally ran around in the trailer to a cop program it is a fine track, one of the best on the LP and has many merits. -- Risingson -- Risingson, in my opinion, verges on hypnotic industrial at times. "Toy like people make me boy like / they're invisible when the tripping flips / they get physical way below my lips" muses Del Naja in the whispered vocal that the album characterises so well. Risingson is all about extremely fat trip-hop beats and analogue synth style LFOs that pan around the speakers like no-ones business. Possibly the most lively track of the album with plenty of grunt and layered riffs, the almost modest guitar parts adding well to the choral effects and heavy base tones. Not a favourite of mine I have to admit, but it does show the band moving off in a delightful new direction and we are now awaiting the lads' next release with eager anticipation if this new style and approach is anything to go buy. You'd imagine that this was also just another case of drug fuelled ramblings but take a look at the lyrics and they're very clever: "I sink myself in hair upon my lover / I don't know her from another miss / I don't know you from another / see me run now you're gone " would ring true of those one off boy meets girl encounters in clubs for example -- Teardrop -- Everyone's eyes will no doubt wiz down the track listing to this number as it is a household name on many compilation albums of the time. This doesn't mean to say that the track loses any of its respect or brilliance: chuck away those Celine Dion tapes and love albums cos if you're planning a romantic night, in this track, let alone the album, you have everything that you need to get up close and indecently personal. From the steady pulsing base drum to the entrancing harpsichord, as well as those little touches such as the flames and wispy scratchings in the background, Teardrop is a work of art. "Love, love, is a verb / love is a doing word" Liz Fraser reminds us with an almost absent minded vocal and although she might not do the best job of singing in the world on this single she has all the warmth and intrigue of a curry house in Calcutta. Teardrop is sentimental without being cheesy and powerful without being aggressive, I may gush but listen to this through headphones and immerse yourself in it to get the true picture. -- Inertia creeps -- We have a far sleazier and up front number here, still only moderately paced (well below the 100BPM mark) yet it is urgent and pressing and may well have you pacing the room before long. Sometimes Arabic in feel with the persistence of an entrapped fly seeking freedom, Inertia Creeps is full on for almost 6 minutes: "Raise me to your lips / 2 undernourished egos / 4 rotating hips" and " "And the frames will freeze / see me on all fours", I may have famed crudeness and a dirty mind but even the most innocent of readers should be getting the Jist as to what this one is about - or maybe I'm totally wrong! As with many of the tracks, there is nothing melodically outstanding about the guitar accompaniment or synth and drum work - no fancy Kirk Hammett style 2 finger tapping or Muse-like arpeggios, think more in the vain of a rhythm guitar played right on the bridge as Portishead like it and the odd tambourine rattling about and you'll get a general idea of the sound. I love inertia creeps as along with Rising Sun and Dissolved Girl it brings a whole new light to guitar music. -- Exchange -- MA tend to include an instrumental on each of their albums and Exchange is the offering here. It's an oddly nocturnal number, extremely slow and dignified and if you hear it through headphones you'll notice the crickets scratching away in the background. The base line comes from a double base, Lamb style and apart from saying that it is extremely relaxed and that it is reprised at the end of the LP there isn't really much else to say about Exchange. -- Dissolved girl -- Now to me this is the highlight of the album. Slow and sensual once more and with the ubiquitous strong and heavy base line. Like a fine Nigella Lawson recipe 3D and co have produced an uncanny blend of looped backing samples and base that are to be joined one by one with elements of accompaniment. As the vocals kick in: "Say, say my name / need a little love to ease the pain" the gas burner is turned up a few notches and Sara Jay keeps gnawing away at you as the tension within the song builds. This song is all about frustration and insecurity: "Cos it feels like something that I've done before / I could fake it but I'd still want more" and it isn't long before the angry guitars bluster in and take over. I'm not quite sure why I like this song so much but in general the combination of rock and electronica tends to do it for me; although it may be a while before I start listening to Nine Inch Nails -- Man Next Door -- Nope, it doesn't feature Gary Lineker but the long time collaborator and vocalist Horace Andy. Even though this track isn't exactly any looser or less dark than the others, it has some melodic relief and the male vocal show that MA have more than sweet little girl voices to their selection. "I've got to get away from here / this seems not a place for me to stay / I've got to take my family and find a quiet place" again underlines the whole theme of unrest that the album puts across. Without wanting to appear too deep and indulgent, I'd imagine that the man next door isn't so much a loud lout that causes hassle to the neighbours but someone that lives inside your head and shifts around threatfully as you try to sleep .. but then again it's probably more likely to be the result of skinning up with a beat box. The vocals have actually been taken from an obscure reggae track called The Poisoned Flower Song (cheers for that one Mark) but the languid tones of Andy still possess the correct vibe to term this as electronica meets reggae. A decent enough single but not outstanding by any means. -- Black milk -- As we enter the later stages of the album we are clearly heading well into the realms of the small hours - this isn't an album you'd put on after watching Eastenders. If I did have one complaint about the album it's that it does slightly lose its way after Man Next Door and you can see why no singles were found beyond this point. Although this isn't ambient it is very minimal with Liz Fraser trickling softly, but perhaps slightly ineffectively over the vacant sounding piano and base. I'm not really sure what black milk is about, it's haunting enough but doesn't stand up and shout at you to stop and listen. Not bad but you wouldn't play it as a one off selection. -- Mezzanine -- The title track returns us to the sinister tones of earlier ventures such as Rising Sun. Simple yet effective, 3D and Daddy G take on a kind of question and answer role with each other: "Why don't you close your eyes and re-invent me? / you knew you had a heart of stone / you should have let me know / you could have let me know". Reading the lyrics, they are a lot more un-nerving than the backing that accompanies them, there is no rest to be found anywhere on this album so make sure you don't listen to it too intently or you might find yourself becoming as uncertain of yourself as a mid 90s Thom Yorke. Mezzanine is a fine culmination of the album's contributors and its messages, so with a few listens you might just get what it is trying to tell you. -- Group four -- This is probably my least favourite track on the album as to me it is basically Black Milk reworked with a bit of input from Del Naja to spice up Fraser's vocal. Although much of Mezzanine can appear quite samey at a glance, especially the last 3 tracks, there is always enough variety to keep you interested and enough thought provoking lyrics to keep you thinking: "Flickering I roam / and listening, my ears know that my eyes are closed." It's lyrics like these that show that Massive Attack have something on most of the electronica bands out there and that I am even more looking forward to the new material grrr. -- (Exchange) -- The album finishes with a reprise of the earlier instrumental, whether it was because the guys ran out of ideas or that they were wanting to revisit themes we won't know but this version incorporates vocals from Horace Andy and there's something about the track that makes you extremely uneasy when hearing it. The insistent "You see a man's face but you will never know his thoughts" and "Never mix love with hatred" do kind of sum up the album nicely and if you haven't enjoyed this CD within 6 months of buying it I wanna know why. Let's just say then that Mezzanine is the kind of album that you might buy, listen to a few times and remain unimpressed. You'll take it from your cd rack a few months later and give it another go and then you'll realise how great it is and how the clever and even almost tongue in cheek lyrics tend to initially pass you buy. Mezzanine definitely is MA's best studio work to date and I hope to have it as a keen influence for future musical material that I may write. Cheers Craig - July 2002
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How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Outstanding
Cover / Inlay Design and Content
Satisfactory
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