Granted, the central triumvirate – Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja, Andrew ‘Mushroom’ Vowles and Grant ‘Daddy G’ Marshall – were still there, although Tricky had left the fold following disagreements with 3D. That “unit” was one undergoing substantial upheaval at the time. “I love 3D, he’s like a brother, but he’s an argumentative bastard.” It really feels like that album sums up that unit of people.”
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Davidge points out that, at its heart, Mezzanine is “very Bristol”: “ Blue Lines and Protection almost feel like they were made in London, not Bristol, and Mezzanine has that post-punk thing, has that reggae thing, has a little bit of funk, has almost a bit of jazz at times, a bit of prog-rock…it’s a real mixture of all of the influences from members of the band, and myself included, and other contributors. That’s something confirmed by Mezzanine producer Neil Davidge – essentially a fourth member of the band throughout the sessions, and a central part of the group ever since. Mezzanine is Massive Attack’s most polyglot album – the natural product of the band’s too-many-cooks “collective” practice, multiracial background and broad pool of influences. It remains their greatest achievement, one of our very favourite albums of the 1990s, and, with a new vinyl reissue recently out, a welcome return visitor to the FACT turntables. Previous Massive Attack albums asked if you were sitting comfortably Mezzanine strove to upset and unsettle. Featuring guest spots from old hand Horace Andy and Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser, it’s one of the decade’s most thrilling bummers – a paranoid blend of rolling basslines, shredding guitar licks, snarling exotica and the occasional ray of pallid light.
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It was 1998’s Mezzanine, however, that saw the Bristol collective hit their cloud-scraping creative apex.
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Massive Attack broke through with force and speed with 1991’s classic debut Blue Lines, and refined their sound with 1994’s languid, skunk-scented Protection. Dysfunction, betrayal, threat – Massive Attack‘s greatest album isn’t an easy listen, and it wasn’t exactly a breeze to make either.