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* "Risingson" contains samples of "[[I Found a Reason]]", written by [[Lou Reed]] and performed by [[The Velvet Underground]], and "[[Where Have All the Flowers Gone?]]", written and performed by [[Pete Seeger]].
* "Risingson" contains samples of "[[I Found a Reason]]", written by [[Lou Reed]] and performed by [[The Velvet Underground]], and "[[Where Have All the Flowers Gone?]]", written and performed by [[Pete Seeger]].
* "Exchange" and "(Exchange)" contain samples of "[[Our Day Will Come]]", written by [[Bob Hilliard]] and [[Mort Garson]], and performed by [[Isaac Hayes]].
* "Exchange" and "(Exchange)" contain samples of "[[Our Day Will Come]]", written by [[Bob Hilliard]] and [[Mort Garson]], and performed by [[Isaac Hayes]].
* "Man Next Door" contains samples of "[[10:15 Saturday Night]]" by [[The Cure]] and the drum samples of "[[When the Levee Breaks]]" by [[Led Zeppelin]].
* "Man Next Door" contains samples of "[[10:15 Saturday Night]]" by [[The Cure]], and the drum samples of "[[When the Levee Breaks]]" by [[Led Zeppelin]] (uncredited).
* "Black Milk" contains samples of "Tribute", written by [[Manfred Mann (musician)|Manfred Mann]] and performed by [[Manfred Mann's Earth Band]].
* "Black Milk" contains samples of "Tribute", written by [[Manfred Mann (musician)|Manfred Mann]] and performed by [[Manfred Mann's Earth Band]].


Revision as of 17:37, 20 July 2019

Mezzanine
Studio album by
Massive Attack
Released20 April 1998 (1998-04-20)
Recorded1997–1998
StudioMassive Attack Studios and Christchurch Studios, Bristol
Genre
Length63:29
Label
Producer
Massive Attack chronology
Protection
(1994) 		Mezzanine
(1998) 		100th Window
(2003)
Singles from Mezzanine
  1. "Risingson"
    Released: 7 July 1997
  2. "Teardrop"
    Released: 27 April 1998
  3. "Angel"
    Released: 13 July 1998
  4. "Inertia Creeps"
    Released: 21 September 1998

Mezzanine is the third studio album by English electronic music duo Massive Attack, released on 20 April 1998 by Circa and Virgin Records. Produced by Massive Attack and Neil Davidge, it saw the duo expanding their trip hop sound to electronica stylings,[1] with diverse influences from new wave,[2] rock, hip hop, and dub music.[3]

Mezzanine topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, becoming the group's most commercially successful album to date. It spawned four singles: "Risingson", "Teardrop", "Angel", and "Inertia Creeps".

Background

The production of Mezzanine was a stressful process. With tensions arising within the group, it almost split the band.[2] They disagreed about the musical direction for the new material. Robert Del Naja first started making samples from new wave records, from the likes of Wire and Gang of Four: it was the music he'd listened to in his early teens. Del Naja wanted Massive Attack to make an album having an atmosphere of edginess and paranoia present in the music of the late 1970s. Grant Marshall, also a new wave fan himself, supported this idea, as he wanted to get away from the "urban soul" of their previous work, Protection, but Andrew Vowles was sceptical.[4] The sessions continued with Vowles and Marshall working on bass and drum loops, while Del Naja carried on experimenting from new wave records. However, during the recording, the group decided to release a new track, "Superpredators" sampling extensively a Siouxsie and the Banshees' song called "Metal Postcard", for the movie soundtrack of The Jackal;[5] the track would be included on the Japanese version of Mezzanine.[6]

The album was initially meant to be released in December 1997, but was delayed by four months, with Del Naja spending most of the time in the studio "making tracks, tearing them apart, f***ing [sic] them up, panicking, then starting again."[7] The album's working title was Damaged Goods, which was the name of the Gang of Four's 1978 debut single.[4]

Mezzanine was a pretty sketchy album in terms of the way we worked, because the band, as reported a lot at that time, were not getting on. So I'd be in the studio working with one of the members and someone else would come in, then the person I had been working with would leave and I'd have to change the track I was working on because they didn't want to work on that track, they wanted to work on something different. Sometimes I'd be working on perhaps four different tracks in one day, which was a pretty messy way to work.

– Neil Davidge in an interview with Sound on Sound.[8]

Composition

Mezzanine has been described as featuring trip hop[9] and electronica,[1] with a "dark claustrophobia" coupled with a melancholy.[3] Musically, the album is a major departure from the jazzy and laidback sound of the first two albums, Blue Lines and Protection, invoking the dark undercurrents which had always been present in the collective's music. The album's textured and deep tone relies heavily on abstract and ambient sounds, as demonstrated in the song "Angel" among others.

Similar to their previous albums, several songs use one or more samples, ranging from Isaac Hayes to The Cure. In 1998, Manfred Mann sued Massive Attack for unauthorised use of a sample of the song "Tribute" from Manfred Mann's Earth Band's eponymous 1972 album, used on "Black Milk".[10] The song has subsequently appeared as "Black Melt" on later releases and at live performances, with the sample removed. Later digital editions of Mezzanine have retained the original song, with Mann being added to the songwriting credits.[11][12]

Mezzanine marked the parting of band member Vowles, due to creative conflicts. Reggae artist Horace Andy also performed several spots on the album.[13]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[9]
The Guardian[15]
Los Angeles Times[16]
Muzik10/10[17]
NME8/10[18]
Pitchfork9.3/10[19]
Rolling Stone[20]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[21]
Uncut[22]

Mezzanine entered the UK Albums Chart at number one,[23] and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 4 September 1998 and then double platinum on 22 July 2013.[24] However, it failed to share the same success in North America, peaking at number 60 on the Billboard 200[25] and number 51 on the Canadian Albums Chart.[26]

The album received significant critical acclaim, which praised the collective's new sound. Rolling Stone's Barney Hoskyns, although praising the album, pointed to its flaws: "Sometimes rhythm and texture are explored at the expense of memorable tunes, and the absence of the bizarre Tricky [...] only highlights the flat, monotonous rapping of the group's 3-D."[20] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a two-star honorable mention rating and selected "Risingson" and "Man Next Door" as highlights.[27]

John Bush of AllMusic also had positive words for the album's song "Inertia Creeps", saying it "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."[14]

Years after the album was released, it was placed on several best-of lists in the UK and the United States. In 2000, Q magazine placed Mezzanine at number 15 on its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 412 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[28] In 2013, it was placed at 215 on NME's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[1]

As of 2010, sales in the United States have exceeded 560,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[29]

Legacy

"Teardrop" became the opening theme to the American medical drama television series House, which ran on Fox from 2004 to 2012.

Reissue

A reissue on both CD & vinyl is scheduled to be released in early 2019. It features 8 of the Mad Professor remixes, initially intended to be released in 1998 but scrapped at the time by the record company. It includes "Metal Banshee" – an unreleased dub version of "Superpredators" – which was a reworked cover of "Metal Postcard", and "Wire", a track recorded for the soundtrack to the film Welcome to Sarajevo.[30]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Angel"
6:18
2."Risingson"
4:58
3."Teardrop"
5:29
4."Inertia Creeps"
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
5:56
5."Exchange"
4:11
6."Dissolved Girl"
6:07
7."Man Next Door"John Holt5:55
8."Black Milk"
6:20
9."Mezzanine"
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
5:54
10."Group Four"
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
  • Fraser
8:13
11."(Exchange)"
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
  • Hinds
  • Hilliard
  • Garson
4:08
Japanese edition bonus track[6]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Superpredators" (The Mad Professor Remix, 1997 [31])
5:16
Total length:68:45

Sample credits[32]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Mezzanine.[32]

Massive Attack

  • Robert Del Naja a.k.a. 3D – vocals, production, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples, art direction, design
  • Grant Marshall a.k.a. Daddy G – vocals, production, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples
  • Andrew Vowles a.k.a. Mushroom – production, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples

Additional personnel

  • Neil Davidge – production, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples
  • Horace Andy – vocals (tracks 1, 7, 11)
  • Elizabeth Fraser – vocals (tracks 3, 8, 10)
  • Sara Jay – vocals (track 6)
  • Angelo Bruschini – guitars
  • Jon Harris, Bob Locke, Winston[33] Blissett – bass guitars
  • Andy Gangadeen – drums
  • Dave Jenkins, Michael Timothy – additional keyboards
  • Jan Kybert – Pro Tools
  • Lee Shepherd – engineering (Massive Attack and Christchurch Studios)
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (Olympic Studios)
  • Jan Kybert – mixing assistance
  • Paul "P-Dub" Walton – mixing assistance
  • Tim Young – editing, engineering (Metropolis Studios)
  • Nick Knight – photography
  • Tom Hingston – art direction, design

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[67] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[68] Gold 25,000*
Belgium (BEA)[69] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[70] Gold 50,000^
France (SNEP)[71] 2× Gold 200,000*
Germany (BVMI)[72] Gold 250,000^
Italy (FIMI)[73] Gold 25,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[74] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[75] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[76] Gold 25,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[77] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[78] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[24] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[79] Gold 560,000[29]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[80] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b Chapman, Rob (July 1998). "Dark Side of the Spliff: Massive Attack". Mojo. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b Mueller, Gavin (1 September 2003). "Massive Attack – Mezzanine – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b Cavanagh, David (January 1999). Are We A Fucking Punk Band Now?. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b "inflightdata.com – Massive Attack Discography – Tune Info + Lyrics – superpredators". inflightdata.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b Massive Attack – Mezzanine. Virgin – VJCP-25360. CD, Album Japan.
  7. ^ Hanson, Amy. "Risingson - Massive Attack". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  8. ^ Humberstone, Nigel (April 2003). "Massive Attack – Neil Davidge: Recording 100th Window". Sound on Sound. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b Mirkin, Steven (15 May 1998). "Mezzanine". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
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  14. ^ a b Bush, John. "Mezzanine – Massive Attack". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  15. ^ Bennun, David (10 April 1998). "As dark as it gets". The Guardian.
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  17. ^ Newsome, Rachel (May 1998). "Massive Attack: Mezzanine (Virgin)". Muzik (36): 71.
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  30. ^ Peacock, Tim (9 November 2018). "Listen to Mad Professor's 'Mazaruni Dub One' Mix Of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop'". udiscovermusic.com. Retrieved 4 December 2018.}
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