MASSIVE ATTACK “Blue Lines” LP

Recorded in Neneh Cherry’s nursery by a group of self-proclaimed “lazy Bristol Twats”, ‘Blue Lines” took the hip hop rulebook, ripped it up and used it for roaches. Generally considered the first trip hop album, though the term wasn’t coined until several years later, “Blue Lines” was a runaway in the United Kingdom, though sales were limited elsewhere. A fusion of electronic music, hip hop, dub, ’70s soul and reggae, the album established Massive Attack as one of the innovative British bands of the 1990s and the founder of trip hop’s Bristol Sound. Shifting the ‘dance-music’ focus from the feet to the head, “Blue Lines” saw hip hop beats collide head on with lilting dub grooves, while dusty samples were dexterously chopped and scratched into fresh rhythms. While tracks like “Blue Lines”, “Five Man Army” and “Daydreaming” feature free-flowing rhymes from Daddy G, 3D and Tricky in ATCQ style, Massive Attack approached the American-born hip hop movement from an underground British perspective, packing their innovative beats with elements of jazz-funk and dub. Elsewhere, reggae legend Horace Andy lent his unique voice to the revolutionary grooves of “One Love” and “Hymn Of The Big Wheel” (also featuring Neneh Cherry), while Shara Nelson’s soulful vocal capped off album standout “Unfinished Sympathy” perfectly. Now back in press on pristine black wax, “Blue Lines” sounds every bit as good today as it did on its release 25 years ago – timeless.