Mezzanine [LP]

Rating

Album: Mezzanine [LP]
#	Song Title		Time
	Disc 1
1)	Angel (Side A)	More Info...
2)	Risingson (Side A)	More Info...
3)	Teardrop (Side B)	More Info...
4)	Intertia Creeps (Side B)	More Info...
5)	Exchange (Side B)	More Info...
6)	Dissolved Girl (Side A)	More Info...
	Disc 2
1)	Man Next Door (Side A)	More Info...
2)	Black Milk (Side A)	More Info...
3)	Mezzanine (Side A)	More Info...
4)	Group Four (Side B)	More Info...
5)	Exchange (Side B)	More Info...
3)	Teardrop	More Info...	0:05
4)	Inertia Creeps	More Info...	0:06
5)	Exchange	More Info...	0:04
6)	Dissolved Girl	More Info...	0:06
7)	Man Next Door	More Info...	0:06
8)	Black Milk	More Info...	0:06
9)	Mezzanine	More Info...	0:06
10)	Group Four	More Info...	0:08
11)	(Exchange)	More Info...	0:04

Album: Mezzanine [LP]
#	Song Title		Time
	Disc 1
1)	Angel (Side A)	More Info...
2)	Risingson (Side A)	More Info...
3)	Teardrop (Side B)	More Info...
4)	Intertia Creeps (Side B)	More Info...
5)	Exchange (Side B)	More Info...
6)	Dissolved Girl (Side A)	More Info...
	Disc 2
1)	Man Next Door (Side A)	More Info...
2)	Black Milk (Side A)	More Info...
3)	Mezzanine (Side A)	More Info...
4)	Group Four (Side B)	More Info...
5)	Exchange (Side B)	More Info...
3)	Teardrop	More Info...	0:05
4)	Inertia Creeps	More Info...	0:06
5)	Exchange	More Info...	0:04
6)	Dissolved Girl	More Info...	0:06
7)	Man Next Door	More Info...	0:06
8)	Black Milk	More Info...	0:06
9)	Mezzanine	More Info...	0:06
10)	Group Four	More Info...	0:08
11)	(Exchange)	More Info...	0:04

Performer Notes

Increasingly ignored amidst the exploding trip-hop scene, Massive Attack finally returned in 1998 with Mezzanine, a record immediately announcing not only that the group was back, but that they'd recorded a set of songs just as singular and revelatory as on their debut, almost a decade back. It all begins with a stunning one-two-three-four punch: "Angel," "Risingson," "Teardrop," and "Inertia Creeps." Augmenting their samples and keyboards with a studio band, Massive Attack open with "Angel," a stark production featuring pointed beats and a distorted bassline that frames the vocal (by group regular Horace Andy) and a two-minute flame-out with raging guitars. "Risingson" is a dense, dark feature for Massive Attack themselves (on production as well as vocals), with a kitchen sink's worth of dubby effects and reverb. "Teardrop" introduces another genius collaboration -- with Elizabeth Fraser from Cocteau Twins -- from a production unit with a knack for recruiting gifted performers. The blend of earthy with ethereal shouldn't work at all, but Massive Attack pull it off in fine fashion. "Inertia Creeps" could well be the highlight, another feature for just the core threesome. With eerie atmospherics, fuzz-tone guitars, and a wealth of effects, the song could well be the best production from the best team of producers the electronic world had ever seen. Obviously, the rest of the album can't compete, but there's certainly no sign of the side-two slump heard on Protection, as both Andy and Fraser return for excellent, mid-tempo tracks ("Man Next Door" and "Black Milk," respectively). [Mezzanine was re-released on LP in 2017.] ~ John Bush

Professional Reviews

Spin (1/99, p.91) - Ranked #6 on Spin's list of "Top 20 Albums of '98."

Entertainment Weekly (5/15/98, pp.102-103) - "MEZZANINE is Victorian trip-hop--hulking, clangorous, and dank....It's industrial music for the turn of the century--the 19th century." - Rating: A-

Q (12/99, p.100) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."

Q (6/00, p.80) - Ranked #15 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums" - "...Sonic murk and gloom...a punk-hop record about autism..."

The Wire (1/99, p.27) - Included in Wire's "50 Records Of The Year [1998]"

Mixmag (1/99, p.49) - Included in Mixmag's "Ten Best Albums of 98" - "...Britain's coolest band..."

CMJ (1/11/99, p.7) - "...The grandfathers of trip-hop pulled off yet another wise and wily album, redefining the future shape of pop, soul and trip-hop, while inspiring another wave of artists in the process..."

Musician (7/98, pp.84-86) - "...at once the best and most personal album of their career....MEZZANINE shows them creating exotic, bruised backdrops for battered relationships that feel as strangely alienating as a night out with Travis Bickle..."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.66) - Ranked #14 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "[I]t evokes DARK SIDE OF THE MOON's epic yet intimate dread, reflected in the obliquely monochrome title..."