ON THE TURNTABLE: Massive Attack – Mezzanine

ON THE TURNTABLE: Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Short, sharp and frank reviews from a confessed vinyl junkie. I’ll be posting my most loved records and most recent purchases right here for your perusal every week.

Rerelease of the third studio album from the groundbreaking Bristolians.

Today marks exactly one year since ‘On The Turntable’ began so I thought I’d feature one of my favourite ever albums. If you’ve been reading these mini-reviews of mine over the past year then I’m sure you’ve noticed my taste is very eclectic, so with that in mind, ‘Mezzanine’ is a perfect summary of the past year, as it takes in Hip Hop, Alt Rock, Dub, Soul, Funk, Post Punk, Electronica and everything in between.

Massive Attack are one of those bands who don’t have one bad record in their back catalogue, ok so they may take a long time in between each release (we haven’t heard one for 12 years and counting, since the magnificent ‘Heligoland’) but when they do release something, it’s always monumental. ‘Mezzanine’ saw the band go down a much darker and experimental route than their two previous albums, with heavyweight beats and soundscapes, they produced something otherworldly, towards the tail end of Britpop in ‘98.

‘Angel’ is the most perfect way to open the album, that creeping bass line followed up with that GARGANTUAN beat, is quite simply sublime. Elizabeth Fraser’s haunting vocals on ‘Teardrop’ still sound as beautiful as they did almost a quarter of a century ago. The last single taken from the album, ‘Inertia Creeps’ is similar to their older material but still with that darker edge, which runs through the whole album.

Mezzanine is a timeless album made by one of the best in the business, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Listen to Massive Attack – Mezzanine – BELOW:

Xsnoize Author
Sean Crossey 86 Articles
Seán is based in Manchester; his favourite artists include James Brown, MF Doom, The National, Bon Iver, Radiohead, Eric B & Rakim, Aretha Franklin, Serge Gainsbourg, John Lennon and Public Enemy. Sean has also been a promoter, DJ and a failed musician. Nowadays he resides in the Northern Quarter of Manchester and is a vinyl junkie, sneaker collector and MCFC fan.

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