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You all can help keep the Hall of Fame alive and kicking by sending me your nominations via PM. A short (or long) write up on why you think your artist should be nominated and some youtube videos are welcome.
Thanks to everyone who has put forth artists for nomination!
The original trio: (left to right)- Mushroom (Andy Vowles), Robert Del Naja, & Tricky (Adrian Thaws).
It's been 20 years since the release of Massive Attack's groundbreaking debut album Blue Lines which at the foundation of the trip-hop genre and remains one of the most influential albums of the past twenty years. Massive Attack's origins date back even further than 1991 with the 1983 formation of the Wild Bunch, a Bristol UK based collective of deejays renowned for their seamless integration of a wide range of musical styles, from punk to reggae to R&B.
One of the first homegrown soundsystems in the UK, The Wild Bunch became dominant on the Bristolian club scene by the mid-1980s.
Originally three in number, it was DJs Grantley "Grant" Marshall (a.k.a. Daddy G or "G"), Andrew "Andy" Vowles (a.k.a. Mushroom or "Mush") and graffiti artist-turned-MC Robert Del Naja that were the original Wild Bunch members that were the founding members of Massive Attack, along with deejay and rapper extraordinare, Tricky.
Massive Attack's first single Daydreaming appeared in 1990 and featured soul diva Shara Nelson's sultry vocal along with Tricky's hynotic rapping. Daydreaming was followed by the release of Unfinished Sympathy & Safe from Harm during in the same year. Shara Nelson exited Massive Attack shortly before the release of Blue Lines the first full MA album in August 1991.
Their debut album, Blue Lines (1991), was co-produced by Jonny Dollar and Cameron McVey, who also became their first manager. Geoff Barrow, who went on to form Portishead, was an intern and trainee tape operator at Bristol's Coach House studio when the album was recorded. McVey (credited at the time as 'Booga Bear') and his wife, Neneh Cherry provided crucial financial support and in-kind assistance to the early careers of Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky during this period, even paying regular wages to them through their Cherry Bear Organisation.
Massive Attack went on to critical acclaim for their ever-changing line-up of distinctive, often 'ethereal' or whispery guest vocalists, interspersed with Del Naja and Marshall's (initially Tricky's) own, similarly hushed, sprechgesang stylings, on top of, what became regarded as, quintessentially British, creative sampling production; a trademark sound that fused down-tempo hip hop, soul, reggae and other eclectic references, musical and lyrical.
MA's body of work is small but influential. Over 19 years the group has only released 5 studio albums and a soundtrack but each new release is unique and Massive Attack avoids a formulamatic approach which frustrates efforts to pidgeonhole the band into a neat generic genre. The group disavowed the trip-hop label in the Nineties and follows it's own creative muse to destinations unknown.
Each album is different: With the coffee-table chill-out of Protection in 1994, a rather heavier, guitar-upgraded Mezzanine in 1998, and then the denser, more clinical soundscaping of Robert Del Naja's essentially solo 100th Window in 2003, Massive's overall sound grew persistently more experimental and melancholy, having a greater degree of gothic post-punk texture and moodily cinematic electronica integrated into it. Their newest 2010 release Heligoland is another moody affair and find former Tricky collaborator & jazz/R&B stylist Marina Topley Bird as vocalist on many of the songs. Heligoland finds MA moving away from the high tech dazzle of earlier outings into a more organic sound.
Mushroom's acrimonious departure from the Massive Attack trio, left Robert Del Naja & Tricky as a duo.
Massive Attack has never sold a lot of records even in their UK. Mezzanine was their best seller and went gold (sold 300,000) in the UK and entered the chart at #1. None of of Massive Attack's albums have made the Billboard Top 40 selling album lists. But their musical influence can't be measured in sales of album units.
Massive Attack's is essentially an experimental music project. Over the years the Massive Attack ethos as being to have a very different creative approach to each album and to "avoid the obvious". Some of their most noted songs have been without choruses and have featured dramatically atmospheric dynamics, conveyed through either epic distorted guitar crescendos, lavish orchestral arrangements (such as swelling, sustained strings or flourishes of grand piano) or prominent, looped/shifting basslines, often underpinned by high and exacting production values, involving sometimes copious digital editing and mixing.
Massive Attack's experimental approach to electronic music has been the guiding force for the current generation of both electronica & pop music artist. Not since Brian Eno's experiments in electronic & ambient music in the 70s has any electronica/production group had more influence than Massive Attack.
Below is a trio of songs from MA. Unfortunately Sony International has forbidden the embedding of any of MA's for the album Blue Lines:
Daydreaming, Massive Attack's first single demonstrates the extraordinary rapping skills Tricky, Mushroom and Robert, as Shara Nelson's vocals float gracefully in and out from afar. This video isn't embedded but it's worth a look at the YouTube page to give you an idea of what the group looked like and was doing way back in 1990.
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Horace Andy a reggae superstar in his native Jamaica has been a longstanding featured vocalist with Massive Attack. MA's reworking of the Dennis Brown reggae classic on Mezzanine offered an entirely new musical perspective on reggae dub and influenced heavyweight reggae producers like The Mad Professor, King Tubby and Scientist.
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Paradise Circus from Massive Attack's latest 2010 release Heligoland features former Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sandoval. This remix of Paradise Circus is done by deejay Gui Borattro:
Massive Attack are one of our most influential and STILL listenable bands of the last 20 years. A massive (sic) yes. Everyone should own Mezzanine if you truly love music even if you rarely play it.
I'll be curious to see which crackheads vote no on this one.
i'm only a pothead so i'll just abstain. i remember liking the Karmacoma single a lot, which is probably why i've found myself to prefer Tricky's subsequent output far more than 3D's.
Linear Mode
