Mezzanine (album)

Mezzanine
Studio album by Massive Attack
Released 20 April 1998 (1998-04-20)
Recorded 1997–98
Studio Massive Attack Studios and Christchurch Studios (Bristol, England)
Genre
Length 63:29
Label
Producer
Massive Attack chronology
Protection
(1994)Protection1994		 Mezzanine
(1998)		 100th Window
(2003)100th Window2003
Singles from Mezzanine
  1. "Risingson"
    Released: 7 July 1997
  2. "Teardrop"
    Released: 27 April 1998
  3. "Angel"
    Released: 13 July 1998
  4. "Inertia Creeps"
    Released: 21 September 1998

Mezzanine is the third studio album by English electronic music group Massive Attack, released on 20 April 1998 by Circa and Virgin Records. It was produced by the group and Neil Davidge. Musically, Mezzanine sees the group expanding their trip hop sound to electronica stylings,[1] with diverse influences from new wave,[2] rock, hip hop, and dub music.[3]

Mezzanine topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, becoming the group's most commercially successful album to date. The album spawned four singles: "Risingson", "Teardrop", "Angel", and "Inertia Creeps".

Background

The production of Mezzanine was a stressful process, with tensions arising within the group, it almost split the band.[2] They disagreed about the musical direction for the new material. Robert Del Naja first started making samples from new wave records, from the likes of Wire and Gang of Four: it was the music he'd listened to in his early teens. Del Naja wanted Massive Attack to make an album having this astmosphere of edginess and paranoia present in the music of the late 1970s. Grant Marshall, also a new wave fan himself, supported this idea, as he wanted to get away from the "urban soul" of their previous work, Protection, but Andrew Vowles was skeptical.[4] The sessions continued with Vowles and Marshall working on bass and drum loops, while Del Naja carried on experimenting from new wave records. However during the recording, the group decided to release a new track, "Superpredators" sampling extensively a Siouxsie and the Banshees' song called "Metal Postcard", for the movie soundtrack of The Jackal;[5] the track would be included on the Japanese version of Mezzanine.[6]

The album was initially meant to be released in December 1997, but was delayed by four months, with Del Naja spending most of the time in the studio "making tracks, tearing them apart, f***ing [sic] them up, panicking, then starting again."[7] The album's working title was Damaged Goods, which was the name of the Gang of Four's 1978 debut single.[4]

Mezzanine was a pretty sketchy album in terms of the way we worked, because the band, as reported a lot at that time, were not getting on. So I'd be in the studio working with one of the members and someone else would come in, then the person I had been working with would leave and I'd have to change the track I was working on because they didn't want to work on that track, they wanted to work on something different. Sometimes I'd be working on perhaps four different tracks in one day, which was a pretty messy way to work.

– Neil Davidge in an interview with Sound on Sound.[8]

Composition

Mezzanine has been described as featuring trip hop[9] and electronica.,[1] with a "dark claustrophobia" coupled with a melancholy.[3] Musically, the album is a major departure from the jazzy and laidback sound of the first two albums, Blue Lines and Protection, invoking the dark undercurrents which had always been present in the collective's music. The album's textured and deep tone relies heavily on abstract and ambient sounds, as demonstrated in the song "Angel" among others.

Similar to their previous albums, several songs use one or more samples, ranging from Isaac Hayes to The Cure. In 1998, Manfred Mann sued Massive Attack for unauthorised use of a sample of the song "Tribute" from Manfred Mann's Earth Band's eponymous 1972 album, used on "Black Milk".[10] The song has subsequently appeared as "Black Melt" on later releases and at live performances, with the sample removed. Later digital editions of Mezzanine have retained the original song, with Mann being added to the songwriting credits.[11][12]

Mezzanine marked the parting of band member Vowles, due to creative conflicts. Horace Andy, a well-known reggae artist, also performed several spots on the album.[13]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[9]
The Guardian[15]
Los Angeles Times[16]
Muzik10/10[17]
NME8/10[18]
Pitchfork9.3/10[19]
Rolling Stone[20]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[21]
Uncut[22]

Mezzanine entered the UK Albums Chart at number one,[23] and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 4 September 1998 and then double platinum on 22 July 2013.[24] However, it failed to share the same success in North America, peaking at number 60 on the Billboard 200[25] and number 51 on the Canadian Albums Chart.[26]

The album received significant critical acclaim, which praised the collective's new sound. Rolling Stone's Barney Hoskyns, although praising the album, pointed to its flaws: "Sometimes rhythm and texture are explored at the expense of memorable tunes, and the absence of the bizarre Tricky [...] only highlights the flat, monotonous rapping of the group's 3-D."[20] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a two-star honorable mention rating and selected "Risingson" and "Man Next Door" as highlights.[27]

John Bush of AllMusic also had positive words for the album's song "Inertia Creeps", saying it "could well be the highlight, another feature for just the core threesome. With eerie atmospherics, fuzz-tone guitars, and a wealth of effects, the song could well be the best production from the best team of producers the electronic world had ever seen."[14]

Years after the album was released, it was placed on several best-of lists in the UK and the United States. In 2000, Q magazine placed Mezzanine at number 15 on its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 412 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[28] In 2013, it was placed at 215 on NME's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[1]

As of 2010, sales in the United States have exceeded 560,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[29]

Legacy

"Teardrop" became the opening theme to the American medical drama television series House, which ran on Fox from 2004 to 2012.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Angel"
6:18
2."Risingson"
4:58
3."Teardrop"
5:29
4."Inertia Creeps"
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
5:56
5."Exchange"
4:11
6."Dissolved Girl"
6:07
7."Man Next Door"John Holt5:55
8."Black Milk"
6:20
9."Mezzanine"
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
5:54
10."Group Four"
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
  • Fraser
8:13
11."(Exchange)"
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
  • Hinds
  • Hilliard
  • Garson
4:08
Sample credits[30]

Personnel

Massive Attack

  • Robert Del Naja a.k.a. 3D – vocals, production, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples, art direction, design
  • Grant Marshall a.k.a. Daddy G – vocals, production, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples
  • Andrew Vowles a.k.a Mushroom – production, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples

Additional personnel

  • Neil Davidge – production, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples
  • Horace Andy – vocals (tracks 1, 7, 11)
  • Elizabeth Fraser – vocals (tracks 3, 8, 10)
  • Sara Jay – vocals (track 6)
  • Angelo Bruschini – guitars
  • Jon Harris – bass guitar
  • Bob Locke – bass guitar
  • Winston Blisset – bass guitar
  • Andy Gangadeen – drums
  • Dave Jenkins – additional keyboards
  • Michael Timothy – additional keyboards
  • Jan Kybert – Pro Tools
  • Lee Shepherd – engineering (Massive Attack and Christchurch Studios)
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (Olympic Studios)
  • Jan Kybert – mixing assistance
  • Paul "P-Dub" Walton – mixing assistance
  • Tim Young – editing, engineering (Metropolis Studios)
  • Nick Knight – photography
  • Tom Hingston – art direction, design

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[59] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[60] Gold 25,000*
Belgium (BEA)[61] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[62] Gold 50,000^
France (SNEP)[63] 2× Gold 243,000[64]
Germany (BVMI)[65] Gold 250,000^
Italy (FIMI)[66] Gold 50,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[67] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[68] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[69] Gold 25,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[70] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[24] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[71] none 560,000 [29]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[72] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 300–201". NME. Time Inc. UK. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 Chapman, Rob (July 1998). "Dark Side of the Spliff: Massive Attack". Mojo. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 Mueller, Gavin (1 September 2003). "Massive Attack – Mezzanine – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  4. 1 2 Cavanagh, David (January 1999). Are We A Fucking Punk Band Now?. Q.
  5. 1 2 "inflightdata.com – Massive Attack Discography – Tune Info + Lyrics – superpredators". inflightdata.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  6. 1 2 Massive Attack – Mezzanine. Virgin – VJCP-25360. CD, Album Japan.
  7. ↑ Hanson, Amy. "Risingson - Massive Attack". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Humberstone, Nigel (April 2003). "Massive Attack – Neil Davidge: Recording 100th Window". Sound on Sound. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  9. 1 2 Mirkin, Steven (15 May 1998). "Mezzanine". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  10. ↑ "Manfred Mann Sues Massive Attack". MTV News. Viacom. 30 December 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "Mezzanine by Massive Attack". United States: iTunes Store. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Black Milk – Massive Attack". Deezer. Retrieved 1 July 2018. (Subscription required (help)).
  13. ↑ "Horace Andy Bio - Horace Andy Career". MTV Artists.
  14. 1 2 Bush, John. "Mezzanine – Massive Attack". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  15. ↑ Bennun, David (10 April 1998). "As dark as it gets". The Guardian.
  16. ↑ Weingarten, Marc (10 May 1998). "Massive Attack, 'Mezzanine,' Virgin". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  17. ↑ Newsome, Rachel (May 1998). "Massive Attack: Mezzanine (Virgin)". Muzik (36): 71.
  18. ↑ Cameron, Keith (18 April 1998). "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  19. ↑ Patrin, Nate (8 January 2017). "Massive Attack: Mezzanine". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  20. 1 2 Hoskyns, Barney (28 May 1998). "Massive Attack: Mezzanine". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  21. ↑ Kot, Greg (2004). "Massive Attack". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 517–18. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  22. ↑ "Floored genius". Uncut (11). April 1998.
  23. 1 2 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 26 April – 2 May 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  24. 1 2 "British album certifications – Massive Attack – Mezzanine". British Phonographic Industry. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2015. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Mezzanine in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  25. 1 2 "Massive Attack Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  26. 1 2 "Top 100 CDs". RPM. 67 (7). 11 May 1998. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  27. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Massive Attack: Mezzanine". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  28. ↑ "412) Mezzanine". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. 1 November 2003. Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  29. 1 2 http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/959308/massive-attack-prove-new-album-was-worth-the-wait
  30. ↑ Mezzanine (liner notes). Massive Attack. Virgin Records. 1998. WBRCD4.
  31. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  32. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  33. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  34. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  35. ↑ "Massive Attack / Mezzanine". TOP20.dk. Archived from the original on 17 March 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  36. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  37. ↑ "Hits of the World". Billboard. 110 (21): 63. 23 May 1998. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  38. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  39. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  40. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  41. ↑ "Top 40 album-, DVD- és válogatáslemez-lista – 1998. 20. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  42. 1 2 "Hits of the World". Billboard. 110 (19): 58–59. 9 May 1998. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  43. ↑ マッシヴ・アタックのアルバム売り上げランキング [Massive Attack album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  44. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  45. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  46. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 26 April – 2 May 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  47. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  48. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  49. ↑ "ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 1998". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  50. ↑ "Jahreshitparade Alben 1998" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  51. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1998 – Albums" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  52. ↑ "Rapports Annuels 1998 – Albums" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  53. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1998" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  54. ↑ "Classement Albums – année 1998" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  55. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1998" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  56. ↑ "Gli album più venduti del 1998" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  57. ↑ "Top Selling Albums of 1998". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  58. ↑ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1998". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  59. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1998 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  60. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in German). IFPI Austria. 31 May 2001. Retrieved 10 January 2013. Enter Massive Attack in the field Interpret. Enter Mezzanine in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen. 
  61. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2004". Ultratop. Hung Medien. 4 September 2004. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  62. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Massive Attack – Mezzanine". Music Canada. 15 September 1998. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  63. ↑ "Certifications Albums Double Or – année 1999" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 22 December 1999. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  64. ↑ "Les Albums Double Or" (in French). InfoDisc. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  65. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Massive Attack; 'Mezzanine')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  66. ↑ "Italian album certifications – Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  67. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 10 August 2018. Enter Mezzanine in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  68. ↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Massive Attack – Mezzanine". Recorded Music NZ. 25 October 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  69. ↑ "Trofeer" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  70. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Massive Attack; 'Mezzanine')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
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  72. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2004". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
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