I don't remember how I stumbled across Massive Attack, as on paper they certainly wouldn't have been my thing. Possibly after getting Protection out of the library (yes, our local library had CDs by then) for the Tracey Thorn songs and being pleasantly surprised. I played that album to death, and picked this up later when I saw it cheap.
It opens with Shana Nelson's Safe From Harm, a driving beat and a pleasant soulful song, then Horace Andy delivers the gentle One Love, with the trademark Massive Attack treatment. The real trip-hop starts with the lovely Blue Lines (I was racking my brain trying to remember where they sampled the opening bars from, turns out Barry Adamson sampled it from them), but Be Thankful For What You've Got doesn't inspire, and the same goes for the more reggaefied Five Man Army. But Unfinished Sympathy, another Shara Nelson song, blasts this album back into life. Daydreaming just kind of flows by, as does Lately, and the album concludes with the anthemic, but ordinary Hymn Of The Big Wheel.
This laid back soul-type music isn't really my genre, and for me, on this album Massive Attack don't really do too much that's new or interesting. That said, it's a pleasant listen, with a few standouts, and certainly no stinkers.
3* - Pleasant, relaxing, but that's all. A good album, not a great one.
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