Bristol based trip hop pioneers Massive Attack are a hugely influential force in British music. Formed out of the legendary Wild Bunch Soundsystem the group combined elements of hip hop, funk, dub and rock into one stunning package. Massive Attack released the three stunning ’90s albums Blue Lines (1991), Protection (1994) and Mezzanine (1998) while only producing the two albums 100th Window (2003) and Heligoland (2010) in the subsequent 15 years.

The Neil Davidge-produced Mezzanine is the group’s third full-length and most commercially successful album to date reaching the #1 spot in the UK, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. A darker record than its two predecessors, Massive Attack’s crafty samples and ethereal keyboards are supported here wonderfully by an imaginative studio band and guest vocalists Sara Jay, Horace Andy, and Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins).

From the opening trio of hits “Angel,” “Risingson” and “Teardrop” to the mid-tempo numbers “Man Next Door” and “Black Milk,” Massive Attack is in top form on Mezzanine and as uncompromising as ever.

LP1

1.  Angel
2.  Risingson
3.  Teardrop
4.  Inertia Creeps
5.  Exchange
6.  Dissolved Girl

LP2

1.  Man Next Door
2.  Black Milk
3.  Mezzanine
4.  Group Four
5.  (Exchange)