Massive Attack
Blue Lines: 2012 Mix/Master

THE REVIEW

"We were lazy fools from Bristol. It was Neneh Cherry who got us off our asses and into the studio. We were trying to create music for the head and not for the feet. I think it’s our freshest album, we were at our peak." Daddy G.

Feet firmly planted in Bristol and eyes set towards New York. Indeed... Because if you talk about "Blue Lines", the firstborn of the acclaimed Massive Attack group, you can’t help but bring up Hip Hop as a reference and main source of inspiration, the spring from which 3D and company drew extensively. Lazy fools from Bristol... Struck by the exploits of people like Grandmaster Flash, Rock Steady Crew and Cold Crush Brothers (immortalized in the cult film, Wild Style) gave life to a collective composed of DJs, rappers, breakers, and writers, the Wild Bunch, whose evolution was destined to dramatically change the fate of British (and not only) alternative Pop/Rock of the '90s.

It is from this context that Massive Attack was born, who, if they borrowed from Hip Hop the technical and aesthetic component of the productions, managed in every way to go beyond, adding influences and flavors born from the multifaceted British city, cradle of various ethnicities born from the leftovers of the empire and the consequent slave trade.

Dub, funk, electronics, and a splash of psychedelia here and there, all filtered by following the sampling styles adopted by overseas colleagues, with whispered raps intertwining with soul vocals. These are the main traits of "Blue Lines", ingredients (even if still in an embryonic state here) that have created followers everywhere.

The album begins with "Safe From Harm", an archetypal formula of the entire Bristol sound, downbeat or whatever it may be called in the late twentieth century. A rhythmic section sampled from Billy Cobham’s "Stratus" with an evident bass, atmospheric pads, and Sarah Nelson’s singing dialogue with 3D's whispered and restless rapping. Followed by the smoky and slowed-down beat of "One Love" with keyboard and brass samples taken respectively from Mahavishnu Orchestra and Isaac Hayes, the jazzy rap of the title track, the soul of "Be Thankful for What You've Got", a cover of the classic by William DeVaughn, the dub pulses of "Five Man Army", the single with a strong emotional impact "Unfinished Sympathy", and the electronic veins of "Hymn of the Big Wheel", where the first cries of "Mezzanine" are already visible. All of this in the grooves of "Blue Lines".

For a few months now, there has been a remastered version of the album from the original tapes on the market, which has much of the flavor of a commercial operation but will surely entice those who over the years have been able to appreciate the new course dictated by the constant evolution of a collective with a strong personality and capable of brilliant musical intuitions.

Seminal.