Review by Zane Alcorn

The new Massive Attack album, which is a self titled 'collected works' or 'best of' album, is a prelude to a new album the outfit will be releasing in early 2007. There are not, to my knowledge, any new tracks on the album, which was disappointing until I learned that the new album is on its way.  May I be the first to predict you could well see Massive Attack doing the Big Days Out next year ahead of their album release.

I am not a Massive Attack head, I have never owned one of their albums but I love the tracks I have heard on Rage and JJJ over the years. So the collected works album goes down quite well- there are the classics like Teardrop, Protection, and Karmacoma, as well as some that you probably would be just vaguely familiar with unless you own some of their other albums. It is a quality study CD; thematically it drifts from light, inspiring, joyous songs, to dark and melancholic reflections upon the rough edges of our world.

If an album is too agro, sad, happy happy etc..., then it will not always be appropriate- you will have to be in the right mood to listen to it. This Massive Attack CD is one of those CDs that is pretty diverse in content, and also pretty laid back, making it good background music. So you can play Massive Attack on any given day in this 2006, year of the dog and either wag your tail to it or pine at the moon as you attempt, in all futility, to comprehend the tastlessness of some of the arsehole fellating, vomit eating mongrels we share this planet with.

"Her eyes.... she's on the dark side..." the spartan and velvety singing of Shara Nelson and Robert Del Naja breathes life and meaning into the dubbish/ ambient sound art of Massive Attack, so that the tunes become like a certain heartbeat which describes a feeling...

Tricky features on a few tracks with his unique form of spoken UK style emceeing which  breaks up and contrasts to the singing on most of the rest of the album. The band are clearly politically conscious and you will pick up on the subtle references if you are also conscious in this way. But it won't offend rednecks with anything too overt. When I hear 'Teardrop' I get this vibe like she is singing about mushroom clouds when she talks about 'black flowers blossom[ing]". The massive attack website features a constantly ticking thread of facts and figures a la the matrix or a stock market trading screen. It is a bit schizophrenic because alongside constantly ticking figures showing German military expenditure and worldwide oil production, and alongside political headlines, you see Sony (Massive Attack's label) advertising the release of the PS3 console. Weird.

Its all very poetic and emotive stuff. It triggers the imagination, it is a form of sound art which builds to profound and psychedelic crescendos and then dissolves back out into barren icy soundscapes. If you lack imagination, or if you require literal lyrics and short three and a half minute songs, this album will probably bore you. That is the downside of something so laid back in tone- it can border on being boring and lack excitement, it can be a bit tired sounding. If you like Massive Attack and haven't bought one of their albums yet, this would be a good one to start with. 

www.massiveattack.co.uk