Massive Attack

Mezzanine

Previously before this album, I wouldn't call Massive Attack exactly "huge" yet. Sure, as the creator of trip-hop they would always be respected, but it wasn't 1991 anymore. Bands like Portishead and even Massive Attack's own Tricky had been pushing the sound of trip-hop far beyond its simple roots in dub, and had pushed the envelope so much that by 1998 it was safe to say that Massive Attack weren't the most popular artists in the scene, hell they were more like the third biggest by that point. But when "Mezzanine" dropped, it became an instant classic. From the opening bassline of "Angel", it became clear that they weren't fucking around anymore.

This album doesn't have hooks in the traditional sense, like in melody (though it is their most melodic release) but rather the hooks come from the sounds they produced on this album. The bass is thick, dense, prominent in the mix yet never overshadowing any of the other instruments. The drums are almost industrial in how heavy they can become, the mixing and mastering is absolutely perfect and the newly added post-industrial vibes can be felt all across this album. Each individual part of the songs become the melodic hooks, and they sink into you, even if not immediately, perhaps on further listens, but once you feel them - there is no going back. This album is one of the few I've heard where I can actively turn it up as much as I like and have it sound great regardless. Even when compressed it sounds fantastic, you know how bizarre that is?

The lyrics are vivid and cryptic, imagery of drug use cover the entire album but are most notable in examples like "Risingson" when it's stated "It's how you go down to the men's room sink" or on the previously mentioned opener where the "angel" could well be a metaphor for a drug of some sort, lyrics like "Her eyes, she's on the dark side... neutralize... every man in sight, every man in sight" and the hypnotic refrains of "Love you, love you, love you, love you..." could well mean drug use. I mean, who knows? The entire album is vague. But that's why I love it - the intrigue remains on repeated listens.

I don't often return to the backend of the album, but it remains similar levels of quality to the start. The title track features subdued deep vocals amongst industrial percussion and bizarre ambient textures like guitars and distant synthesizers, "Group Four" is the longest and perhaps trippiest song on the album, a brooding behemoth one that swirls and swells up into some of the noisier moments on the entire album, the vocals range from hauntingly beautiful to foreboding and gritty to create an absolutele experience and a half. The smooth "Black Milk" is hard to describe, but feels like walking through a dingy park at night, with the trees shaking with the slight breeze and the water staying still.

To be quite honest, the magic speaks for itself with this one. It's a hypnotic, magical listen that sounds fantastic on quite literally any setup you will have. It doesn't sound like 1998, hell it doesn't even sound like today. It sounds like a future we are yet to enter, the atmosphere is tight and anxious and the mood is usually downbeat, but there's a beauty to the pretty downcast style this album inhabits. I can't say anything more, please listen to this. It really depends on perspective.

Wanna head back?