Blue Lines

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Untitled

Blue Lines is the debut album by British electronica group Massive Attack, released on August 6, 1991 (see 1991 in music) by Virgin Records. Generally considered the first trip hop album, though the term wasn't coined until several years later, Blue Lines was a massive success in the United Kingdom, though sales were limited elsewhere. A fusion of electronic music, hip hop and dub music, the album established Massive Attack as one of the innovative British bands of the 1990s and the founder of trip hop's Bristol Sound. Simon Reynolds writes that the album also marked a change in electronic/dance music, "a shift toward a more interior, meditational sound. The songs on Blue Lines run at "spliff" tempos - from a mellow, moonwalking 90 beats per minute (exactly midway between reggae and hip hop) down to a positively torpid 67 bpm."[1] The group drew inspiration from concept-albums in various genres by artists such as Pink Floyd, Public Image Limited, Herbie Hancock and Isaac Hayes.[1]

Critical acclaim

In 1997 Blue Lines was named the 21st greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998 Q magazine readers placed it at number 58, and in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 9 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. Template:RS500

Stuart Bailie of BBC Northern Ireland stated that [1] "It was soul music. But it had bold, symphonic arrangements. It featured samples of the Mahavishnu Orchestra going ‘hey, hey hey, hey’. It had funky breaks and an emotional power that was hard to figure. It sounded anxious and lost. But there was a grandeur in the music also. People who came across the record became obsessed, spinning it endlessly."

The track "Unfinished Sympathy" has frequently been described as one of the best songs of all time, according to polls produced by MTV2, NME, and various other magazines and reviewers. A BBC writer stated that: "More than a decade after its release it remains one of the most moving pieces of dance music ever, able to soften hearts and excite minds just as keenly as a ballad by Bacharach or a melody by McCartney." [2]

Track listing

  1. "Safe from Harm" (featuring Shara Nelson) (McLaughlin/Cobham/Del Naja/Marshall/Nelson/Vowles) – 5:16
  2. "One Love" (featuring Horace Andy) (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Wolinski[2]) – 4:48
  3. "Blue Lines" (Bennett/Carlton/Del Naja/Geurin/Marshall/Sample/Scott/Thaws/Vowles) – 4:21
  4. "Be Thankful for What You Got" (featuring Tony Bryan) (DeVaughn[3]) – 4:09
  5. "Five Man Army" (featuring Horace Andy) (Del Naja/Marshall/Thaws/Vowles/Williams[4]) – 6:04
  6. "Unfinished Sympathy" (featuring Shara Nelson) (Del Naja/Marshall/Nelson/Sharp[5]/Vowles) – 5:08
  7. "Daydreaming" (featuring Shara Nelson) (Badarou/Del Naja/Marshall/Thaws/Vowles) – 4:14
  8. "Lately" (featuring Shara Nelson) (Brownlee/Del Naja/Marshall/Nelson/Redmond/Jeffrey Simon/Fred Simon/Vowles) – 4:26
  9. "Hymn of the Big Wheel" (featuring Horace Andy) (Cherry/Del Naja/Hinds/Marshall/Vowles) – 6:36

Samples

Personnel

Chart positions

Billboard Music Charts (North America) - singles

  • 1991 Safe From Harm Modern Rock Tracks No. 28
  • 1991 Safe From Harm Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 35
  • 1991 Safe From Harm Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 32

References

  1. ^ a b Reynolds, Simon (1998). Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture. Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 0415923735.
  2. ^ Warner Chappell Music only lists these four. Other sources claim W. Cobham, Clyde Williams III / C.J. Williams / J Williams, and Horace Andy as co-writers.
  3. ^ Cover of the William DeVaughn song of the same name.
  4. ^ Rapper Claude Williams (Willie Wee) of "The Wild Bunch".
  5. ^ Jonathan Sharp, most likely this one.

External links

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