Music : 100th Window

Rating: - Forget what you were expecting...
Blue lines set an almost insurmountable precedent;Protection
managed to live up to that standard.When Mezzenine
was released there was much wringing-of-hands as
many reviewers compared it unfavourably
with it's predecessors - too dark,too heavy,too
'white',too unlike what had gone before.People
are reluctant to accept a radical change in direction
from a band in whom they have invested;even,ironically,
from a band who started out radically..but now
it is regarded as a classic recording.And now the same criticism
is levelled at 100th Window;that it isn't it's
predessor.
The first time I listened to it I also was slightly
disappointed;I missed the guitars(though
100th Window is covered in them actually) and Elizabeth Fraser.
But the second time I forgot that I was 'disappointed'
as the hairs on the back of my neck went up.And each time
I have listened to it,just as with Mezzenine,this increases!
Massive Attack are really unusual because they
are have the knack of eliciting an emotional response,and
it seems they're still just
as capable of this with the new record.

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Rating: - Excellent!
This is one of those albums that requires several listens before a realistic opinion can be formed. At first I didn't think it was as good as Mezzanine, which I loved. But, after several listens it's started to grow on me.

This album is dark, darker possibly than Mezzanine. It's an album for those moody moments and for the times when your mind wanders. It manages to remind me of past events in my life, those things being good and bad.

The stand out tracks for me are "Future Proof", "What Your Soul Sings", "Special Cases", and "A Prayer For England".

If you liked Mezzanine, buy this. If you haven't heard any Massive Attack, buy this. This album just needs a few listens.

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Rating: - Very disappointing
And then there was one... after three albums with ever-reducing line-ups, all of which were in their own way distinctive and brilliant, we get what is effectively a del Naja solo album under the Massive Attack brand. And, whisper it quietly, it's just not very good.

I always think when you've got a release by a big name which you're not sure about it's as well to wonder how you would feel about it if it was a first album by someone you'd never heard of. And in this case I'm afraid the answer would not be flattering. It's trying to be dark, but none of this has the singular menace of, say, Angel from Mezzanine. There's certainly nothing particularly poppy or containing good hooks.
It just kind of ambles along unobtrusively but unengagingly. I've given it a few plays in an attempt to get into it (an indulgence it would not have had if it had been someone's first album) but it just isn't happening. Big disappointment. (But if you like Massive Attack you'll buy it anyway despite iffy reviews, just like I did!)

Two stars rather than one, for not having anything to do with Simon Cowell, Gareth Gates, Will Young, Girls Aloud etc etc.

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Rating: - Maturing, but still lacking
When looking back at some of the band's previous work, it is clear to see that everything has been a little more pollished since the days of Blue Lines. For that was the era in which Massive Attack could be seen creating a broad range of styles; not particularly fixed on their sound.
When Mezzanine came along, the group's darker side was starting to show, taking only a small time out with wonders such as Teardrop, and Exchange.
And then comes 100th Window. I don't know about a lot of other people, but I believe most of Massive's albums hold at least one jewel, from the romantic coolness of Protection, to the passion of Unfinished Sympathy. But now there is nothing. Not even the first single, Special Cases, does it for me up there in the hall of fame.
And thats what dissapoints me about this album. Although it is still a wonderful masterpiece, there is nothing that reaches deep down, like Teardrop once did.
Apart from that, there is some great work here. The surreal Small Time Shot Away complements the much-loved Prayer For England perfectly, sending you into a dark trance thats kinda chilling.
All in all, Mezzanine lovers will feel right at home with this album, while lovers of Protection and Blue Lines could find it hard to get used to. With that said, my advice is to let it grow on you - it certainly did me.

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Rating: - Music for our times
Amost unbearably bleak at times, this album is prescribed listening for those who have followed Massive over the years. The hallmark hypnotic rhythms and complex electronic structures are very much in evidence, mixed with the fey, childlike quality of Sinead O'Connor's vocals. Not forgetting the distinctive vibrato of Horace Andy without whom no Massive album would be complete. This is NOT easy listening,indeed most of the tracks would be (will be?) very much at home within the sombre confines of a Matrix soundtrack. But in memory of 9-11, Massive have created a hymn to our times. And they are dark times indeed...