Good music lives always on
So there I was, sneaking in a quick break from work, just bouncing around the internet, and I stumble across this Tiny Desk Home Concert Andy Horace doing “Safe from Harm.”
What a track. Sent me right back to Mezzanine, and honestly, I forgot how insanely good that album is. Go throw it on. Trust me.
Hey Hive Family
listen to good music
and let us travel the world again
Massive Attack
Massive Attack. Man, I’ve been listening to these guys since the ’90s, and nothing else really sounds like them. Out of Bristol, they basically invented trip-hop—that weird, shadowy blend of dub, hip-hop, and pure mood.
This is late night music. Stuff for thinking too much. Heavy, loaded with feeling.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_Attack
Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, and Andrew Vowles in 1998.
Picture by theparisreview.org
Their Essential Albums
- Mezzanine (1998) - Dark, paranoid, absolutely massive. This one's a genuine masterpiece
- Blue Lines (1991) - Where it all started. Revolutionary at the time, still sounds fresh
- Protection (1994) - Smoother, more soulful, but just as deep
The Tracks That Define Them
- Teardrop
- Unfinished Sympathy
- Angel
- Safe from Harm
- Paradise Circus
The Lineup
It’s always been Robert “3D” Del Naja and Grant “Daddy G” Marshall at the core. Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles was there from the start, but he left after Mezzanine.
What sets Massive Attack apart is how they pull in these incredible vocalists—Shara Nelson, Horace Andy, Elizabeth Fraser, Tracey Thorn. Different voices, different moods, but somehow it always sounds exactly like Massive Attack.
They've never chased trends, never compromised. That's why they still matter.
Andy Horace - tiny desk
Andy Horace - Safe From Harm
Safe From Harm (2012 Mix/Master)
Teardrop from Album Mezzanine (1998)
I remember when Mezzanine landed in ’98. It was darker than anything else out there. The whole album felt like the soundtrack to some broken, future world we were already living in. Blue Lines was all warmth and soul, Protection had a gentle edge, but Mezzanine? Cold, sharp, claustrophobic—absolutely brilliant. That’s why I keep coming back to it.
The Sound
This album just swallows you whole. The bass is massive, the guitars are gritty and tense (yep, real rock guitars), and everything is layered in this thick, suffocating haze. It’s not background music. It grabs you and doesn’t let go.
You can hear the late-’90s creeping in—post-rock, industrial, all that restless millennial anxiety. But Massive Attack made it their own. No one else ever got this close.
The Standout Tracks
- Teardrop - Elizabeth Fraser's vocals floating over that heartbeat drum. Haunting doesn't even cover it
- Angel - Pure dread. That opening riff is like a panic attack in audio form
- Inertia Creeps - Slow-burning paranoia that builds and builds
- Risingson - Hypnotic, sinister, impossibly cool
- Group Four - Industrial and aggressive, shows their experimental edge
Why this music still matters
More than twenty years later, Mezzanine hasn’t lost a bit of its punch. If anything, it fits the world even better now. It nails that sense of unease, of things falling apart, of something dark just under the surface. That’s why I love it. That’s why I still play the CD.
This is the one where Massive Attack became untouchable.
Have a great day everybody
and let us travel the world again
pic by @detlev
Enjoy the #BeerSaturday
have 3 pics and a story
around beer - and go!
@Detlev loves HIVE
Yes, I must admit that I once used them as the basis for a video that was never published. Mezzanine is a great album!
It is, and best listened with a good sound system
I can only agree with that.
Such gems. Listened to a bit of MA while writing . I love them. I don't know Horace though. Thanks for that :)
You are welcome and a friend of good music. This is outstanding music that never gets old.
We are largely in agreement regarding Massive Attack. Their first three albums are the ones I listened to the most, by far. Blue Lines and Mezzanine, by far the most. Such great music they made! Heligoland and 100th Window I have somewhere but hardly listen that one. Not sure why, perhaps because I generally start with the two mentioned albums when I revisit them. Must admit, years ago was the last time I heard any track. Time for another revisit! Perhaps coming few weeks when most days I have no office work to attend to. Tons of time then 🥳
They where on tour this and next year but canceled a few gigs.
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Wow... It's been so long since I last heard from them! Thank you for bringing them back!
listen to a few tracks and think about how actual in time this sound is....
Enjoy!
I'll definitely do it!
Thanks again!
Big hugs!