Pre-millennium Tension (Limited Edition) - Tricky

A classic in the alternative scene, Pre-Millenium Tension is departed enough from his Massive Attack days to make it original, but different enough from Nearly God to make it accessible. Anyway, enough with the foreplay....let's get it on:


Tricky starts off a lot of his albums with an energised track, and PMT is no exception. Vent is a beautifully atmospheric track. The chorus-of-sorts "Can't Hardly Breathe" is accompanied ...
...suffocating and energetic that the introduction of a thrashy guitar towards the end is actually a pleasant breath of air. Its imagery isn't incredibly subtle, but all the more powerful for it.

Christiansands sounds is a moody, Maxinquaye-esque track, with Tricky's typical take on love and relationships seeping through in the lyrics. "Always...what does that mean? Forever...what does that mean? It means we'll manage....I'll master ... more

A classic in the alternative scene, Pre-Millenium Tension is departed enough from his Massive Attack days to make it original, but different enough from Nearly God to make it accessible. Anyway, enough with the foreplay....let's get it on:

Tricky starts off a lot of his albums with an energised track, and PMT is no exception. Vent is a beautifully atmospheric track. The chorus-of-sorts "Can't Hardly Breathe" is accompanied by a looped drum and synth track that is so suffocating and energetic that the introduction of a thrashy guitar towards the end is actually a pleasant breath of air. Its imagery isn't incredibly subtle, but all the more powerful for it.

Christiansands sounds is a moody, Maxinquaye-esque track, with Tricky's typical take on love and relationships seeping through in the lyrics. "Always...what does that mean? Forever...what does that mean? It means we'll manage....I'll master your language" Optimism never was one of his strong points. The loop here represents a microcosm of eternity, with Tricky and the female vocal exhibiting the different communications trying to coexist in some kind of relationship. Or maybe it's just a good track :)

I can almost imagine Tricky singing Tricky Kid to his children as some sort of crazed lullaby. This mini-(and I do mean mini) autobiography sees Tricky venturing into a slightly more Hip Hop vein, and despite its lack of any meaningful melody, is just one of those songs that makes you want to nod your head. Not necessarily a good thing, I know (especially if you have no shoulders).

Bad Dreams, to me, seems to be a follow-up to Black Steel on the Maxinquaye album. On that track he put a female vocal version of Public Enemy's Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos to one of his trademark beats. I've never heard the lyrics on Bad Dreams, but it's definitely some kind of gangster rap. This track works almost as well as Black Steel, except the chorus doesn't quite live up to that Black Steel's drum-roll. Still, another moody track from the King of Mood.

Makes Me Wanna Die is one of the most melodic songs I've heard from Tricky. Heavy melody accompanied by female vocals at the forefront and a minimalist drum beat. It could almost be a ballad, if it weren't for the lyrics, which you can guess at from the title. Nevertheless, it shows a sensitivity to harmony previously unreached by Tricky that divides the album up perfectly.

Ghetto Youth is, frankly, an odd track - even for Tricky. A slightly reggae guitar strums three or four notes very slowly to an extremely slow drum beat, with a Jamaican speaking rather fast over the top. A kind of anti-jungle track, that I almost always skip through. It's not a bad song, but when you've heard it once, that's about enough, really.

Unsurprisingly, I guess, Tricky throws most of his energy and instruments into Sex Drive. An almost-funky bass line, with a bizarre harmonica outtake, swing along to Tricky going on about one of his favourite topics. No deep meanings here, methinks.

Bad Things is a silky smooth acoustic-guitar-emphasised track. The usual Tricky lyrics come along with it and the middle of the song drops into a subtle little chaos, allowing a small sort of climax to build towards the end of the song. A nice chill-out song, if ever I heard one.

Lyrics Of Fury bounces out of Bad Things nicely, with some nice angry lyrics and some random energetic sounds to go with it. Definitely a good one for when you're in a bad mood.

My Evil Is Strong is one of those full-of-random-sounds-but-still-sounds-amazing deals. It feels like a smiling demon describing his exploits (don't ask how I know what that's like). Nice track for when you want to kick your neighbour's kids out of a 4th floor window.

Piano sees Tricky break out the (shock horror) piano sounds on his synthesiser. With two minor chords plinking away in the background, and Tricky's gravelly voice pootling along on top at twice the pace, the contrast feels like the kind of thing Satan might perform when depressed. If he got depressed. If he's a he. Oh, never mind.

All in all, in my opinion, Tricky's best album. After PMT, his albums became more and more commercial (BlowBack - his latest - features Cyndi Lauper and - gag - Alanis Morrisette). This feels like his last-ditch attempt to open people's minds to new sounds and ways to appreciate music. Maybe he was right to stop trying. Music nowadays is for the stubborn.

 

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