No, not Ed Sheeran, you silly boy. Blue Lines by Massive Attack. The first time I ever heard the term “trip hop” a style which, like it or not, was original to my ears at least and has had vast influence on pop music since.
I played it today and apart from the sheer quality of the songs it is a fantastic record sounding utterly gorgeous, warm and enveloping.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MassiveAttackBlueLines.jpg
Please post any works you think might have bearing on my thesis.
Please also feel welcome to imagine the picture of the record cover which I hoped might appear above.
Oh and by the way: feel old?
Can’t be thirty years old! That would mean I’m…. is it time for my bed yet?
Most influential record since Sergeant Pepper/Blonde On Blonde
Apart from The Velvet Underground & Nico, p’raps?
I think you mean to say Fulham Fallout.
Have an ‘up’ Moose!
Because you’re worth it.
No. But you’ve had your tea.
Noone ever comes to see me.
The IISGH?
I used to work with someone with that surname, and he was usually referred to as Mr. ‘Know-one’.
I have had my tea, and I have had a visitor today.
Heard Hymn for the Big Wheel the other day. Did sound rather splendid.
Have a very distinct memory of a friend whose judgement I respect telling me excitedly about this record when we met up that summer and insisting I go out at the nearest opportunity and buy it. I did. He was right.
But is it better than Mezzanine? I’d better find out.
A perfect record. There is not one thing I would change on it, no “I wish that fade out came a bit later”, no “the bridge should be the intro”, no “nah, this one would definitely have been better off as a b-side”. Even getting older, building my musical knowledge and realising quite how, ahem, unadorned some of the samples were, to the point where sometimes it’s basically just them talking over someone else’s records, couldn’t spoil it for me. I’ve said on this site before that it’s probably the greatest British LP ever made, and I’m still not convinced I was wrong.
At the time it seemed at first like a continuation of some of the things from the previous few years – Soul II Soul with the Reggae Philharmonic, the smokier moments of Quest and Eric B & Rakim. Except that it was much better than that because it was also wilfully strange. Getting the then-forgotten Horace Andy on board was inspired: that pleading, haunted voice.
Did 3D like Boodo Khan headphones, but any chance? He should have told us.
It is indeed a great album. But (whisper it) I prefer Protection and Mezzanine…
I prefer Protection as well! Maybe because Blue Lines slightly passed me by at the time. For me, ‘trip hop’ (ugh, horrible term) was a slightly later thing, referring more to Tricky, Portishead and Mo Wax. Blue Lines I associate more with Screamadelica and The Orb and stuff like that. Maybe I just have it mixed up in my head.
…..Screamadelica?
….mmmkay…..
Why not Nevermind, while we’re naming random 1991 albums? 😉
Ooh, en peut snarky there, Moose.
I hear you Arthur – at the beginning of the 90s the crusty rock press was beginning to accept the validity of “dance” acts, partly because their own guitar darlings (Scream, Roses etc) were toying with beaty music and partly because it doesn’t matter if you’re starting 33 and a third revolutions per week with your white label 12”s and your clubs and your fields full of ravers, you don’t get admitted to ROCK CLUB unless you’re making albums dahling and Blue Lines and Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld were part of the same wave of geezers with boxes of bleeps ‘n’ beats parking their tanks on the lawns of Guitarsnobs Close.
Yes, that’s what I meant!
En peut right enough. Nice if you can.
I don’t know whether I’m more annoyed that there appears to be not a single thing I’ve recalled correctly from schooldays French or that I’ve committed what I always consider the gravest offence in others which is not checking something (because, in this case, I had made the fatal assumption of believing – goddammit – that I had remembered one thing correctly from those breaks between jumpers for goalposts..
Does anyone remember the Steven Moffatt sitcom Chalk?
A permanently harassed deputy head teacher tells one of his staff that something ‘lurks in the psyche like a French teacher.’
Excuse me?
Yes, yes, like a French teacher.
Do You want to talk me through that?
Well, we give them funding, classrooms – whole WINGS of schools sometimes!
And … ?
Well doesn’t it strike you as suspicious that none of us can speak French!?!
However groundbreaking at the time, and it was, like other posters I find it is all their later work that has lasted better. It sounds, dare I say it, positively mainstream alongside later work. But they wouldn’t have done later work if they hadn’t done it first.
Strange isn’t it, that something that sounded “out there” in 91, now a very assimilated sound.
That is more personal observation than any criticism of this great record.
To those who’ve said they prefer their following LP’s, I tend to agree. Or at least I listen to them from start to finish, which does not always happen with Blue Lines.
I listened to Mezzanine (which is my favourite of theirs) yesterday, and it really is one of those records where you find yourself saying “this is the best bit, I love this bit” repeatedly. Top scientists have actually shown that the ABB (actual best bit) is when the guitar comes in at 5:32 on Group Four.
That’s classic Afterword. “At last…. guitar!!” 😉
It’s a fantastic album. One of only 35 albums I’ve given a perfect rating to in my project. Along with Air’s Moon Safari and Kraftwerk’s The Man-Machine, it’s an album that I have spent some time trying to find other albums (by other artists of course!) that sound and feel just like it. Funnily enough, I downloaded a Massive Attack concert from 1998 only this morning.
Ooh, it wasn’t Manchester in 1998 was it?
No, the Royal Albert Hall, London
I was at that one! During the finale, which was a long, freakout version of Group Four that had me in absolute raptures, my wife destroyed the mood by shouting into my ear, ‘Are they going to finish soon!?’ She did a similar thing at a Spirtualized gig.
It’s since become the shorthand in our house for noisy, psychy bands who go on for ages. i.e. ‘You wouldn’t like Interstellar Fuzz Monster. They’re an “Are they going to finish soon” sort of band.’
We all have one of those, don’t we? In Mrs F’s case, it was a 10-minute Moog solo during Super-Electric at the Astoria in 1995.
“What are they like? A bit Stereolab.”
Come on Paul, we’re dying to see what those 35 are. This is the Afterword, remember 🙂
Seconded!
And I agree with Moon Safari. Faultless album, not a duff track on it.
Really? Well this is, essentially, a list of my top 35 albums from the 6,162 I’ve rated so far. Only 1,562 to go (plus all the ones I haven’t had time to process, cos I’ve been too busy with the house move these past few months, maybe another 50-60). Looking at the list though, or more precisely the ones just below the 35, I am wondering what I decided was wrong with Astral Weeks, Violator, Blood On the Tracks, The Queen is Dead and Straight Outta Compton to not give them full marks? Maybe I need to look at this. Anyway, the 35 (a lot of the usual suspect, but with one or two that will raise eyebrows or have you shaking your head!)
Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine (the only record where, for me, every second, every note, every beat is perfect)
The Beatles – Abbey Road
The Beatles – Revolver
Pink Floyd – The Wall
Prefab Sprout – Jordan: The Comeback
Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home
Nilsson – A Little Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night
Pernice Brothers – Overcome By Happiness
The KLF – The White Room
NaS – Illmatic
Bob Dylan – Blonde On Blonde
Pink Floyd – Animals
Air – Moon Safari
R.E.M. – Life’s Rich Pageant
Vangelis – Blade Runner: Original Soundtrack
The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
The Beatles – The Beatles
Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon
Brother Ali – All The Beauty In This Whole Life
Nick Drake – Bryter Layter
Paul McCartney & Wings – Band On The Run
Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
Stephen Duffy – The Ups And Downs
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night
Pet Shop Boys – Please
Massive Attack – Blue Lines
Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
The Lilac Time – Paradise Circus
The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
The Lilac Time – The Lilac Time
Frazier Chorus – Ray
Van Morrison – Moondance
David Bowie – The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
It’s a while since I looked at this list, so it’s ready for a few tweaks, a couple knocked down a bit and a couple moved up. That’s what it looks like at the moment though.
Mmmm … a fascinating list, Mr Wad.
Surely Public Enemy’s “Fear of a Black Planet” must be knocking on the door of the exclusive Top 35?
There are loads on the step down, that one included. This just reflects that I’ve had one of the 2 big PE albums for about 20 years longer than the other, so I’ve played it way more. The problem rap albums face is that until a few years ago, Beastie Boys apart, I only had a handful. I now have a ridiculous amount, so there have been loads fighting for my attention. I reckon in general I’ve listened to way more albums for the first time in the past 5 years than I did in the first 46. Those in the first 46 benefitted from many more repeated plays though. There’s very few in my top 35 that I haven’t owned for decades. It’ll probably look quite different in another 5 years, as my listening habits have completely changed and I haven’t played many albums in the past 5 years that I have owned for decades.
I would have gone for “In Absentia” rather than FOABP as Porcupine Tree’s best.
And just because he’s been involved in remastering a lot of these mega box sets that everyone’s complaining about, does that justify calling Steven Wilson a public enemy….
It’s interesting to hear so many people say how influential it is. Personally, I’ve never ventured any further than the singles as they I file them under ‘dull’ . I’m now wondering if they’ve influenced other bands that I don’t like.
Circa Mezzanine, Julie Burchill said they were the greatest group ever to have existed.
I bet she regrets that. There are at least three black people on that record.
The thing with that album is it’s neither here nor there. I end up wondering what it’s purpose is.
Shes going to have more time to play her CD collection now. Bless her.
I love that Massive Attack opened their gigs a few years ago with a cover of Bauhaus’ Bela Lugosi’s Dead. It was brilliantly done too, as the original is quite dubby if you think about it.
I always felt Massive Attack were inspired by the soundtrack to The Hunger: Goth, The Idiot and Opera.
I always felt most of the time I have no idea what you are talking about. I assume you are referring to The Idiot (my good god, what an awful album) or The Idiot (the world’s most boring book) but what’s that got to do with yer Massive, no idiot idea whatsoever. I’m 97 by the way
Well, the album is named after the book.
The movie opens with the best use of Bela Lagusi’s Dead, I’ve ever witnessed, features Funtime from said Idiot, probably because it mentions Dracula and, most importantly, an exquisite scene backed by Lakme. I bet you 3D, Mushroom and Daddy G took notes.
I bet you they did. Or more precisely – nope, still haven’t a clue what you on about.
You don’t hear it? A dark, underbelly of Gothic nightmares, occasionally punctuated by the bright, gorgeous melody of maidens singing as they pick flowers.
Never seen H&O described like that before but now you mention it…