Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Blue lines is anything but blue
Arrogant, pretentious, self-absorbed. These harsh adjectives have been used to describe Massive Attack lately. But for all of the harsh words thrown their way, they sure make one hell of a CD. This is it. The originator, the innovator, the percolator of trip-hop. And what a CD it is. At first listen, some songs are great, while others are obnoxious. Some you wish would go on forever, while others go overlong. But as you listen, the album sticks to you like white on rice.I'm not fan of giving CD's five stars. But Blue Lines is truly a masterpeice. It takes the best elements of reggae, house, hip-hop, funk, and soul and puts them in a blender. Every song, with the help of a number of guest vocalists, sounds completely different from the last. The album has a cohesiveness that few albums share nowadays. This is truly a record that can be appreciated as an entire record, front-to-back, rather than just a compilation of songs. High points: Too many to count. Safe From Harm is a stellar and spacey opener, with One Love following it up with a brilliant reggae vibe. Five man Army could be the mellowest hip-hop song in history, and Unfinished Sympathy evokes feelings that had not yet been seen in electronic music. Low points: I wish I could say that there aren't any, but Daydreaming (the first single, no less) can get a little repetitive, as can Lately, but that hardly keeps it from being a perfect album. If you are a music fan and can stand to listen to equipment that's a little outdated. Do not hesitate. buy now.
Rating: - Revolutionary; to compare it to the other 2 is futile..
I've been an MA fan since '94. I own all three albums, as well as No Protection and the Singles Collection. Massive Attack, aside from being insanely talented, switch formulas from album to album, which is why it's pointless to compare the albums to each other. Moreover, many of the latecomers who think Mezzanine is MA's best are oblivious to the beauty and texture of "Protection" and "Blue Lines". (You can't get to C by ignoring A and B.)Now as far as "Blue Lines" goes, what can be said that hasn't been said already? Eight years after it's release, this album still stands as a masterpiece of "trip-hop" (I loathe that term.) The groove is melodic, built from fragments of hip-hop, soul, and reggae. One of the best things about the album is the harmonizing of Shara Nelson. She brings depth to everything she touches, whether it's the opener "Safe From Harm" ('but if you take what's mine/I'll sure as hell retaliate...'), "Unfinished Sympathy" (a Radio 1 favorite, with a hip-hop bassline and orchestral strings), or "Daydreaming", the 1990 single that _really_ started it all. The verbal exchanges between 3D, Daddy G, and a young Tricky are also witty (listen to the way 3D pronounces 'vitamin' on "Daydreaming".) And how can I leave out Horace Andy. From his work here, it's easy to see why he's been a mainstay ever since. (IMHO, however, "Spying Glass" is Horace at his best.) All in all, this is a gem. It singlehandedly gave birth to a sound that matured with each passing album.
Rating: - A classic in every sense of the word
Massive Attack's debut introduced the rhythms of trip-hop to the music world, and even if we ignore its historical importance, it is still a masterpiece of its genre. While "Mezzanine" boasts several stronger tracks ("Angel", "Risingson", "Teardrop"), they have never matched the consistent brilliance of their debut.The album begins with "Safe From Harm", immediately setting the trip-hop blueprint: soulful vocals, stoned rapping and hazy beats. From that point on, the pace never slows down. The group takes us on an amazingly varied trip, ranging from the dub-influenced "Five Man Army" (featuring none other than reggae legend Horace Andy's exquisite falsetto) to the dance classic "Unfinished Sympathy". The title track is equally worthy of praise, making the connection to hip-hop even more explicit courtesy of Tricky, himself a member of Massive Attack at the time. While the production may sound slightly dated to modern ears, the songwriting and vocals are simply timeless. There is no doubt this album will receive even more recognition in the future and once you hear it yourself, you will easily realize why. Simply essential.
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