Heligoland: Limited Edition
Audio CD
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£8.68
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Reviewer
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After all the pre release review hype I fell for the trick of buying this album unheard. I do like Massive Attack, but this album somehow grates. They are well past their best now, and for me this does nothing to redeem. Gloomy,rather than moody,for me it is disppointment. I can't be bothered to play it again, so another expensive frisbee.
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Are Massive Attack a band who have said all that they need to say? On the evidence of 'Heligoland' and the previous album '100th Window' I'd have to say that there is a very strong case for the prosecution. There are only two songs here that can truly bare comparison with the band's 90's material - namely the Horace Andy fronted 'Girl I Love You', a multi layered slow builder that reaches a pleasingly cacophonous crescendo, and the closing 'Atlas Air' that has real energy and, importantly, a groove.
The rest of the material ranges from worthy but not entirely satisfying near-misses (restrained opener 'Pray for Rain' falls into the role of mere mood setter without putting up much of a fight and 'Splitting the Atom', surely influenced by the approach taken by Portishead on their jaw-dropping 'Third' album, lacks the required dramatic weight to truly take off), to place holders like 'Rush Minute' and 'Babel', and finally some compositions with very little to recommend them at all. I still can't decide which guest performance is worse out of Damon Albarn's horrible vocal turn on 'Saturday Come Slow', his mewling cry of 'Do you love me?' grates like fingernails on the blackboard, and Guy Garvey's mumbly bottom of the pint musings on 'Flat of the Blade' which should have been left on the cutting room floor.
With their peers delivering albums of the quality of aforementioned 'Third' and 'Untrue' (Burial) this release just sees this previously trail blazing collective losing ever more ground and where once Massive Attack battled away on the frontlines they now appear to have resigned themselves to a comfort zone - here's hoping they aren't dug in for the long haul.
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I am a long - time Massive Attack fan and have been eagerly awaiting their next release. Well, this is AMAZING!
They have managed to come up with totally original music but still sound firmly like massive attack. The album flows well form one track to another really well but the tracks can also stand alone.
There are the usual collaborations with Horace Andy and Martina Topley Bird but Also with Damon Albarn and Guy Garvey.
The standout tracks for me are Girl I Love You, which features some excellent brass orchestration and Horace Andy's unique voice, Paradice Circus which is truly haunting (featuring Topley Bird) and Atlas Air which has a constantly evolving keyboard riff over its 7 minute length.
Overall and album which will appeal to Massive Attack fans and virgins alike.
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Massive Attack is perhaps an acquired taste and this is perhaps their most accessible work. Start here and work backwards, (If you want to) Some of their best work to date in my estimation.
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If you are a Massive Attack fan you will love this album. It is exploding with beautiful and delicate touches that aren't just pleasing to the ear but impossible to find from any other band out there. It isn't the type of music that you want to go out and party to, but it is the type of music you could sit and contemplate your life and the universe to.
It is far better than I expected and for me, I think its the best album along side Mezzanine, it wouldn't beat Mezzanine but to be honest you cannot compare the two, they are different and brilliant in their own way.
Buy it, buy it now!
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