Blue Lines is the debut studio album of the British band Massive Attack , released on April 8, 1991 via Virgin Records . November 19, 2012, the official re-release of the album in CD and DVD formats was released [6] .
| Blue lines | |||||||
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| Studio album Massive Attack | |||||||
| Date of issue | April 8, 1991 | ||||||
| Genres | trip hop | ||||||
| Duration | 45:02 | ||||||
| Producers | Massive attack Cameron McVeigh Johnny dollar | ||||||
| A country |  Great Britain | ||||||
| Label | Circa records Virgin records | ||||||
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| Massive Attack Timeline | |||||||
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| R s | Position # 395 in the list The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine |
The album reached number 13 on the UK Albums Chart . Its sales were limited in certain regions. The merger of electronic music with such genres as hip-hop , dub , reggae and soul of the 70s allowed Massive Attack to establish itself as one of the most innovative British bands of the 90s and as the founders of the trip-hop genre [7] .
Content
Background
Massive Attack worked on the Blue Lines for eight months, with breaks for Christmas and the World Cup. Songs like “Safe from Harm” ( Rus. Safe from Evil ) and “Lately” ( Rus. Recently ) were in the band’s repertoire when they were part of “The Wild Bunch” - a group of musicians and DJs from Bristol that existed in the period 1983 to 1989 [8] [9] .
Blue Lines , as a rule, is perceived as an album of the trip-hop genre, which did not have widespread use until 1994 [10] .
When creating the Blue Lines, the group drew inspiration from concept albums of various genres, the performers of which were Pink Floyd , Public Image Ltd , Billy Cobham and Herbie Hancock .
Music critic Simon Reynolds stated that the album also influenced the electronic dance genre, "shifting toward a more voluminous, meditative sound." According to him: “Songs from the Blue Lines work at a mowing pace - from a juicy, 90 bits per minute ... up to a positively apathetic 67 bits per minute” [11] .
Structure
Blue Lines contains elements of breakbeat , sampling and rap on several tracks, but its main component is traditional hip-hop. Massive Attack approached the American-born hip-hop movement of the early 90s, transforming live instrument sounds into mixes . In addition, they included the vocals of Shara Nelson - British singer and songwriter in the genre of soul and R&B, along with recitations by Adrian Thous , also known as "Tricky" [12] - another founder of the trip-hop genre. Blue Lines was popular on the club stage, as well as on student radio stations.
The font used to create the cover is helvetica . Robert Del Nye acknowledged the fact that he was inspired to create the cover by an image from the cover of another album - Inflammable Material punk group Stiff Little Fingers , which depicted the logos of combustible materials [13] .
Partner Del Nai - Daddy G , told:
“We were the lazy slobs from Bristol. Nene Cherry became the one who kicked us in the ass and dragged us into the studio. We recorded a lot in her house, in her child’s room. It smelled bad for months and in the end we found a dirty diaper behind the radiator. I was still a DJ, but what we tried to do was create dance music for the head, not the legs. I think this is our latest album ” [14] .
Rewards
- In 1998, according to readers' reviews of the music magazine Q Magazine, the album took 58th, and in 2000 it was already 9th among Britain's greatest albums.
- in 2003, the album took 395th place among the 500 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine .
- The track "Unfinished Sympathy" was nominated for the title of the best single in Britain in 1991.
List of Songs
Words and music of all Massive Attack songs ( Grant Marshall , Andrew Wales , Robert Del Nye ).
| No. | Title | Author | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| one. | " Safe from Harm " | Massive Attack, Shara Nelson, Billy Cobham , John McLaughlin | 5:18 |
| 2. | "One Love" | Massive Attack, Horace Andy , Claude Williams, Cobham, David “Hawk” Wolinsky | 4:48 |
| 3. | "Blue Lines" | Massive Attack, Adrian Tows , Max Bennett, James Brown , Larry Carleton , John Guerin, Joe Sample, Tom Scott | 4:21 |
| four. | " Be Thankful for What You've Got " | William Devon | 4:09 |
| five. | "Five Man Army" | Massive Attack, Toes, Williams | 6:04 |
| 6. | " Unfinished Sympathy " | Massive Attack, Nelson, Jonathan Sharp | 5:08 |
| 7. | " Daydreaming " | Massive Attack, Nelson, Toes, Valley Badaru | 4:14 |
| eight. | "Lately" | Massive Attack, Nelson, Gus Redmond, Lawrence Brownley, J. Simon, F. E. Simon | 4:26 |
| 9. | " Hymn of the Big Wheel " | Massive Attack, Andy, Nene Cherry | 6:36 |
Record Members
- All tracks are produced by Massive Attack, Cameron McVey and Jonny Dollar .
- Robert Del Naja ( Robert "3D" Del Naja) - vocals, keyboards
- Grantley Marshall ( Grantley "Daddy G" Marshall ) - vocals
- Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles - keyboards
- "Safe from Harm"
- Vocals: Shara Nelson
- Recorded: Coach House, Bristol
- Flattened: Matrix, London
- Sound Engineer: Jeremy Allom
- "One Love"
- Vocals: Horace Andy
- Recorded: Coach House, Bristol
- Driven By: Konk Studios, London
- Sound Engineer: Bryan Chuck New
- "Blue Lines"
- Vocals: Massive Attack and Tricky
- Recorded: Eastcote Studios, London
- Engineer: Kevin Petri
- Sound Engineer: Jeremy Ellom
- Bass: Paul Johnson
- "Be Thankful for What You've Got"
- Vocals: Tony Bryan
- Recorded: Cherry Bear Studios
- Flattened: Matrix, London
- Sound Engineer: Jeremy Ellom
- "Five Man Army"
- Vocal: Massive Attack, Tricky, Horace Andy, Claude Williams ( Claude "Willie Wee" Williams )
- Recorded: Eastcote Studios, London
- Engineer: Kevin Petrie
- Flattened: Matrix, London
- Sound Engineer: Jeremy Ellom
- "Unfinished Sympathy"
- Vocals: Shara Nelson
- Recorded: Coach House, Bristol, and Abbey Road Studios , London
- String Arrangement and Conducting: Wil Malone
- String Instrument Engineer: Hayden
- Flattened: Matrix, London
- Sound Engineer: Jeremy Ellom
- Leader: Gavin Wright
- "Daydreaming"
- Vocals: Massive Attack, Tricky, Shara Nelson
- Recorded: Cherry Bear Studios
- Flattened: Konk Studios and Roundhouse, London
- Sound Engineer: Jeremy Ellom
- "Lately"
- Vocals: Shara Nelson
- Recorded and mixed: Coach House, Bristol
- Sound Engineer: Brian Chuck New
- "Hymn of the Big Wheel"
- Vocals: Horace Andy
- Additional arrangement: Nene Cherry
- Backing vocals: Nene Cherry, Michael Taylor ( Michael "Mikey General" Taylor )
- Recorded: Coach House, Bristol, and Hot Nights, London
- Flattened: Matrix, London
- Sound Engineer: Jeremy Ellom
Samples Used
- “Safe from Harm” - Billy Cobham “Stratus”
- “Blue Lines” - Tom Scott “Sneakin 'in the Back”
- “Daydreaming” - Wally Badarou “Mambo”
- “Lately” - Lowrell Simon “Mellow Mellow Right On”
Notes
- ↑ John Bush . Massive Attack - Blue Lines review. Allmusic.com .
- ↑ Robert Christgau . Massive Attack review.
- ↑ Mike Diver . Massive Attack Blue Lines Review. July 4, 2011.
- ↑ Nick Butler . Massive Attack - Blue Lines . January 16, 2005.
- ↑ Sal Cinquemani . Massive Attack - Blue Lines . November 2, 2002.
- ↑ Massive Attack announce specially remastered Blue Lines reissue . factmag.com (September 11, 2012).
- ↑ Frank Guan. Massive Attack's Blue Lines Just Turned 25, But It Still Feels Ahead of Its Time . Vulture (August 11, 2016).
- ↑ The Wild Bunch Biography . www.red-lines.co.uk.
- ↑ The Bristol Sound Crows 'Massive' . Billboard (April 15, 1995).
- ↑ Guy Garcia. MUSIC; Trip-Hop Reinvents Itself to Take on the World . The New York Times (October 25, 1998).
- ↑ Sean O'Hagan. Blue Lines: Massive Attack's blueprint for UK pop's future . The Guardian (October 28, 2012).
- ↑ they used to call me Tricky Kid ... .
- ↑ Steve Jansen. The Album That Changed Everything - Massive Attack's 'Blue Lines'. . Popmatters (October 4, 2011).
- ↑ Blue Lines, Massive Attack . The Observer (Sunday 20 June 2004).