Heligoland
Audio CD
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£5.17
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Reviewer
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Not quite up to what I expected. Then again Mezzanine was their Dark Side of the Moon, and that was my last purchase by the lads. Horace Andy song is the best by far. Approach with caution. Maybe I just need to listen to it more...
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I gave this to a Massive Attack fan as a present and it went down a treat. I, however, have not heard it and so cannot make a judgment.
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I have been listening to Massive attack for years ever since saw a clip introduced by Normski ( yes that long ago) and have pretty much loved the majority of work produced. The trouble with this album is that its like all the darkest tracks from 100th window, mezzazine and the obscure B sides all on 1 album, it makes for a dark and depressing journey of music that if your not in a pleasant frame of mind then its a steer clear record. I wanted to love it but its pretty boring ( i hate myself for saying that) but it dosn't inspire you to play it again after a couple of listens.
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It's amusing to see the wide variety of contrary views of this album - it just goes to show that it depends on what sort of music you happen to like, as much as anything else. So if you don't like generally slow, dubby, textured sounds with rather morose lyrics, you probably won't like this. The general sound world is very recognisably Massive Attack, but with some interesting new directions. What I wasn't prepared for was how the album would grow on me - how different tracks come 'into focus' over repeated listens - and this is still happening. It's incredibly well produced, with a richness of layering to all the tracks, and some utterly delicious sounds, e.g. the brass lines that increasingly underpin 'Girl I love you'. The stand out track in early listenings was the ethereal and beautiful 'Paradise Circus'. Then I started to notice 'Flat of the Blade' which is the most 'different' and perhaps 'difficult' track, judging by earlier comments like 'In what can only be described as a bizarre choice, Guy Garvey (Elbow) lends his vocal to a song which seems devoid of any point or reason, just a incoherent set of noises ....' Well I'm afraid it can't 'only' be described in this way - I find it one of the most extraordinary, beautiful and moving songs they've ever produced, with excellent lyrics, and a perfect performance by Guy Garvey. All the other tracks are revealing their riches the more I listen ... I think that's the main thing - letting go of preconceptions, and letting it sink in. Unless you don't like this sort of music, in which case listen to something you do enjoy. For me, it vies with Mezzanine as their best album ever.
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Still dark, but more 'groovy' than the previous two releases. Some tracks I really love (Paradise Circus), but there are others that are too devoid of a decent melody or feeling of purpose to have touched me (think of Portishead's Third, which really wasn't my cup of tea at all). It is (as usual) an excellently produced album, and well worth a buy. But perhaps don't expect the entire album to be Massive Attack at their very best. I'm still waiting on what I hope will be their best ever album.
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