Massive Attack

Massive Attack
Origin	Bristol, UK
Years active	1988 – present
Genres	Trip-Hop
Labels	Virgin Records
Members	Robert Del Naja ("3D") Grant Marshall ("Daddy G")
Past members	Andrew Vowles ("Mushroom")

History

Early work

Massive Attack began as an offshoot of the Bristol art community The Wild Bunch. Although their line-up has shifted over the years, they originally had three members, Robert Del Naja ("3D"), Grant Marshall ("Daddy G") and Andrew Vowles ("Mushroom"). In 1988 they released their first single "Any Love," followed in 1991 by their first album, Blue Lines, featuring the hit singles "Unfinished Sympathy" and "Daydreaming." The album was well-received both critically and commercially, with some polls calling "Unfinished Sympathy" one of the best songs of all time. [1] Blue Lines subsequently became one of the most influential British records of the 1990s, ushering in a new genre of music sometimes referred to as the "Bristol sound," but more often labelled trip hop, which Massive Attack have said they dislike.

Later work

Massive Attack's third album, Mezzanine, was released in 1998. Mezzanine showed the band moving towards an extremely dark, tense sound filled with distorted guitars and a combination of drum machines and live percussion that lacked the laid-back, jazzy nature they had occassionally shown in their previous albums. Original member Vowles, dissatisfied with this change in sound, left the band. He was replaced by Neil Davidge, who worked with Del Naja for much of his material on Mezzanine. The release of Mezzanine also led to a change in Massive Attack's live show. In addition to their previous simple set up of a few mics and turntables, the group began incorporating more and more live instrumentation into their shows. In addition to their usual numerous guest vocalists, the trio were now being joined on stage by a live guitarist, bassist, drummer, and keyboard player, as well as a video screen and lighting effects.

Controversy

During the first Gulf War, several British media channels became anxious to avoid using words suggestive of war and violence, and Massive Attack (then struggling to become established) were forced to temporarily change their name to simply Massive. Del Naja makes no secret in interviews of his political objections to what he sees as U.S. aggression against the Third World in the name of democracy, often expressing regret that he ever agreed to the name change.

Discography

Albums

Date Title UK Chart US Chart Aus Chart June 1, 1991 Blue Lines #13 - #69 September 26, 1994 Protection #4 - #15 February 17, 1995 No Protection (remixes) #10 - #34 April 20, 1998 Mezzanine #1 #60 #1 February 10, 2003 100th Window #1 #69 #4 October 11, 2004 Danny the Dog (soundtrack) #70 - - April 22, 2005 Bullet Boy (soundtrack) - - - March 27, 2006 Collected (compilation) #2 #198 #19 February 2007? Weather Underground - - -

Singles

Date Title UK Chart US Chart Aus Chart June 5, 2006 False Flags (iTunes only) #158 - - March 13, 2006 Live With Me #17 - - June 16, 2003 (ineligible) Butterfly Caught (EP) - - - February 24, 2003 Special Cases #15 - - September 21, 1998 (ineligible) Inertia Creeps - - - July 13, 1998 Angel #30 - - April 27, 1998 Teardrop #10 - #16 July 7, 1997 Risingson #11 - - January 9, 1995 Karmacoma #28 - - January 9, 1995 Protection #14 - - October 17, 1994 Sly #24 - - February 10, 1992 Massive Attack (EP), aka Hymn of the Big Wheel #27 - - May 28, 1991 Safe from Harm #25 #32 (Dance) - February 11, 1991 Unfinished Sympathy #13 - - October 15, 1990 Daydreaming #81 - - 1988 Any Love - - -

Live mixes

• BBC Radio One Essential Mix (December 12, 1994)
• Heaven, Stockholm (May 18, 1998)
• Pinkpop Festival (June 3, 1998)
• Royal Albert Hall (July 7, 1998)

Samples

• "Unfinished Sympathy" (help·info) from Blue Lines
• "Group Four" (help·info) from Mezzanine

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