[Today: Steaming up the windows...]
Not quite electronica, but not exactly hip-hop, Massive Attack split the difference and spawned an entirely new genre – Trip-Hop. Blending the smooth, stylish beats of post-rave chill out music with shades of soul, hip-hop, dub reggae and even gospel, this Bristol (UK) group charted new musical territory that was urban yet spacious, sophisticated yet street. Full-time group members Grant “Daddy G” Marshall, Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles and Robert “3-D” del Naja evolved into Massive Attack from the sound system collective Wild Bunch, and carried the collective spirit forward by surrounding themselves with interesting collaborators.
Reggae great Horace Andy’s low grumble, Tricky’s smooth cockney rhymes, and Shara Nelson’s soul siren workouts were just three of the guest textures that set Massive Attack’s 1991 debut album Blue Lines miles apart from everything else. As Daddy G told Melody Maker in 1992, “When we were the Wild Bunch we got our reputation as a sound system from the fact that we played all kinds of music — punk, funk, reggae. For us to try and make an album that’s all one sound just wouldn’t be natural.”
Blue Lines feels chill, but it doesn’t sit still, musically shape-shifting from the pure soul of ‘Be Thankful For What You’ve Got’ to the narcoleptic hip-hop of ‘Daydreaming’ to the near-gospel ‘Hymn Of The Big Wheel’. On album opener ‘Safe From Harm’ Nelson threatens all the “Midnight ronkers/City slickers/Gunmen and maniacs” who might harm her baby, promising in the sweetest possible voice that “If you hurt what’s mine/I’ll sure as hell retaliate.” Like a cross-section of the average urban hipster, this album projects outward cool, while inwardly processing a jumble of emotional and philosophical dilemmas.
Fashion is fickle and tastes change, but nearly 20 years after its release, this kaleidoscope of cool beats, sweet voices and lush sounds still has the power to set the mood and steam up the windows.
Listen: Safe From Harm
Listen: Daydreaming
Listen: Be Thankful For What You Got
Listen: Blue Lines
Tags: Andrew Vowles, Blue Lines, Daddy G, debut album, Grant Marshall, Horace Andy, Massive Attack, Mushroom, Robert del Naja, Shara Nelson, Tricky, Wild Bunch
