Massive Attack: Mezzanine (2LP) [VIRGIN]

Why you'll love it

Mezzanine went to No. 1 in the UK and is one of the defining albums of the '90s. Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins sings "Teardrop" (yes, the House theme), and Horace Andy's voice haunts "Angel."

This edition

• 2LP set, 11 tracks
• Virgin pressing of the 1998 album
• Includes "Teardrop", "Angel", "Inertia Creeps" and "Risingson"

About the album

Bristol's Massive Attack had already invented trip-hop with Blue Lines and perfected it on Protection, so for their third album they went somewhere darker. Mezzanine swaps the warm soul samples for brooding post-punk guitars, heavy dub bass and industrial textures, and it sounds like the city at 4 a.m.: paranoid, sensual and gorgeous all at once.

Robert "3D" Del Naja and new collaborator Neil Davidge pushed the sound hard, and the guest voices are perfectly cast: reggae legend Horace Andy floats over the menacing crawl of "Angel," and Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser turns "Teardrop" into one of the most beautiful singles of the decade. The album went to No. 1 in the UK and has been a fixture on best-of-the-'90s lists ever since. It's a record for headphones and the lights turned low.

Also at Kops: more Massive Attack on vinyl · browse Electronic

Tracklist

Listen

On Virgin, a reissue of the 1998 album.