A true jewel and a wonderful symbiosis
5
By Burgerbear
Bristol was the epicenter of trip-hop and Massive Attack (MA) was one of its best instigators in the early nineties. "Blue Lines" was too linked to their hip-hop and reggae roots, but their sophomore album was an intelligent escape from that formula. Meanwhile, they discovered that another band from Bristol, Portishead, had just produced one of the best trip-hop albums of the decade, "Dummy", in which they included an array of soul samples and, surprisingly, dramatic statements from John Barry's film scores. So, MA decided to add orchestral and grand piano textures in a similar way, arranged by both Craig Armstrong and Marius de Vries. This cinematic and more polished musical experience benefited from Everything But the Girl's collaboration as well, and especially Tracey Thorn's amazing vocals. And, in a wonderful symbiosis, Ben Watt/EBTG would take advantage of this common effort exploring the possibilities of samples and electronica in one of the band's best albums: "Walking Wounded". Art favors art.
