Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Massive Attack - Mezzanine (1998)

Genre: Trip Hop, Electronica

House M.D. introduced me to Massive Attack, which sucks, because for the longest time I disregarded Massive Attack as a generic EDM project. Well, better late than never. This album is being reviewed per request. As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade. 

As this is the first album I have listened to by this group, I have nothing to compare it to, but I am aware that this seems to have been a departure from their previous two albums. One thing I really loved about it is the atmosphere that it creates. The intense bass and electronic pulses that are present throughout give a sense of dread; an almost claustrophobic feeling. The irony from this is that it's borderline mechanical sounding, while still sounding very much human at heart.

The lyrics establish this sort of disconnected relevance, most prominently on Inertia Creeps. Its lyrical content deals with a very human, emotional activity of sex, but is reduced to a metaphorical, robotic sort of meaning, with the line, "two undernourished egos, four rotating hips,” serving as an example. The nuances that comes with creating such an atmospheric tension has some downfalls, though. For one, while I was very much a fan of this record, a lot of songs could be borderline unmemorable for a lot of people, because of its favoring towards experimentation rather than creating an established and memorable melody.

Personally, a lot of the tracks did stick out to me though, as I for the most part I did enjoy the intricate sound textures and samples scattered throughout, like in the song Risingson, using a sample of I Found a Reason by The Velvet Underground. But, the aspect that really solidifies a lot of these songs for me are the vocals, especially from the female guests. Listening through Teardrop all the way through as opposed to just an edited snippet on House, was a beautiful experience, which further haunts me after reading up on some backstory. Dissolved Girl is another fantastic song with some great vocal deliveries and hard rock aesthetic. And not to take away from the male voices on here either, as they're all generally very good as well. Man Next Door is just chilling.

For the most part, I did enjoy this album pretty thoroughly, though I did feel like it slogged a bit during a handful of songs I didn't find as enjoyable. I loved this album for its sonically dark, moody vibes and how well it blended together with some of its themes and varied vocal performances. I'm glad to say that it has opened the floodgates for me when it comes to the rest of Massive Attack's discography. 

A-

Favorite Tracks: Angel, Teardrop, Inertia Creeps, Dissolved Girl, Man Next Door, (Exchange)

Least Favorite Track: Mezzanine