Massive Attack: Blue Lines 2012 Mix/Master (Virgin)

 |   |  <1 min read

Massive Attack: One Love
Massive Attack: Blue Lines 2012 Mix/Master (Virgin)

Few albums can claim to have invented and come to define a genre -- but Blue Lines did that for trip-hop . . . and more.

It turned the spotlight on Bristol, introduced Tricky and Shara Nelson to the wider world, reminded people of the distinctive and smooth voice of reggae singer Horace Andy, spawned bands like Portishead, influenced Moby and a dozen others, and provided the soundtrack to a million parties or quiet nights at home.

Its slinky marriage of low range dub and reggae influences, gentle rap and lounge jazz proved that by speaking quietly more people listen. And it was very much a listening album.

Which makes this remix/remaster edition such a stone cold delight -- and one to pull the headphones out for. And for the real sonic purists it comes as a double disc, one version on CD and the other on DVD.

Either way, it was a five star album back in '91 -- and now it just sounds even better. So how many stars does that make? 

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Various Artists: A Day in My Mind's Mind Vol 4 (Frenzy)

Various Artists: A Day in My Mind's Mind Vol 4 (Frenzy)

Although the recent initiative by recordedmusic.co.nz has brought some lost treasures (and some pretty ordinary music) back into public domain, this on-going compilation series pulls up some... > Read more

Willis Earl Beal: Acousmatic Sorcery (XL)

Willis Earl Beal: Acousmatic Sorcery (XL)

Beal's story is as interesting as this often engrossing debut album. In 2007 at age 23 after being discharged from the US army, he went and lived in the New Mexico desert while suffering from... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT; THE RADIANT CHILD, a doco by TAMRA DAVIS (Roadshow)

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT; THE RADIANT CHILD, a doco by TAMRA DAVIS (Roadshow)

The art critic Robert Hughes didn't have much time (but some sympathy for) New York painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. In a brutal essay in The Republic in '88 -- after the death of the painter at age... > Read more

ROTOR+ CONSIDERED (2013): A beautiful journey into the black

ROTOR+ CONSIDERED (2013): A beautiful journey into the black

For many decades Avis, the international rental car outfit, had slogans which were variations on its position as number two in the market. Among them was “When you're only No 2, you try... > Read more