This is the greatest album I haveheard in a long time. While other acts look for mainstream success, create wildlyexperimental messes, or even just play it safe, each Massive Attack title pushesthe art of music five years into the future and raises the bar for the rest ofthe industry. Each of their carefully constructed albums follows this pattern:from the first note to the very last, "100th Window" becomes the soundothers will be chasing.
Through most of the four years it took to releasethis album, the band consisted of just one member, Robert "3-D" delNaja. The only other member still officially in the group, Grant "DaddyG" Marshall, sat this album out, but will return for the next one. With whatis basically a solo release, del Naja takes us on a journey that is much softerthan previous titles.
Reportedly recorded with live instruments at onepoint, and then computerized with parts replaced and cut up digitally, drums arenot as hard in the mix, and there are synth parts. The imagination, beauty,complexity, attention to detail and elegance of the computer and keyboard work isunmatched.
Vocals are also treated in new ways, with many fascinating,highly musical editing tricks applied to lead and background vocal tracks fillinggaps and enhancing chord progressions building intensity.
In all,"100th Window" is the most sensitive Massive Attack album yet, forgingonce again a new direction: innovative, beautiful, groove-based hypnotism at itsfinest. This album deserves a lot of attention.
|
