Mezzanine - Massive Attack

Massive Attack, along with their one time band member, Tricky and Portishead, created the genre 'trip-hop". They may not like the term, but you don't get much say over how people see you anyway. To me, nothing says 1990s Britain more than trip-hop. Brit Pop can probably argue for this title as well, however the dark, funky, laconic beats were more unique than anything a brat with a guitar produced over the same period. Let's just remember the genre for these three artists, not for the fourteen hundred "Chill Out" compilation albums they spawned.

Angel is such a kicker of an opening track. When Zoey Bartlet goes missing at the end of the 4th series of the West Wing, Angel is the haunting, frightening song that provides the perfect soundtrack of foreboding. Characters anxiously hurry around but are flat-footed and impotent. Angel is a slow song, but feels urgent. It chases you and it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong. To be honest, I feel like this about the whole album. Angel encapsulates a frightening beauty that is often uncomfortable.

It's a pity then, that I read the liner notes. "Fanx." Really? Radiohead, The Clash, Prada, Mad Professor and Michel Gondry all get fanxed. I try and forget my ridicule and return to the 'moody mood'.

Indeed, Risingmoon continues the angry mood. However, Teardrop, the third, famous track, is a burst of sweet relief with Elizabeth Fraser's angelic voice. Although it has a sad, depressing undercurrent, it is simply a beautiful song. The filmclip takes its place as a late night Rage favourite. It's a pity we all just think of House now.

The Indian folk tones of Inertia Creeps, along with the thumping beat makes me want to dance slowly in the candle light. Instead I pour another glass of shiraz. It's about as close to drugs as I will venture.

Mezzanine's dark, crawling synths, dirty guitars and hip-hop beats are hypnotic. I sing the defiant lyrics of Dissolved Girl. "Feels like something, that I've done before, I could fake it, but I still want more".

Man Next Door and (Exchange) are weaker songs but they are still essential in bringing Mezzanine all together. Group Four is final highlight as the male and female voices combine. It represents the album perfectly. Massive Attack's earlier albums, Blue Lines and Protection were lighter. Mezzanine is bittersweet; a juxtaposition of light beauty and death.

The album was released in 1998 and was apparently available for download a month before the album's official release. I think Metallica were suing people about the internet ruining music soon after. Coming back to Mezzanine over a decade later, it more than stacks up to a reflective, sombre and cold Saturday night.