I will readily admit that I am not a huge fan of trip-hop music. To me, I just find a lot of it very depressing to listen to and I also thought that in order to appreciate this musical genre, you have to be really high on some drug. This is one of the many reasons why I was skeptical of my older brother's recommendation of the album, Mezzanine by Massive Attack. My brother has similar musical tastes to mine, but I still was unsure whether I would like this one. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me, so I purchased it, trusting my brother's love for the band and this album. Boy, was I ever wrong in doubting my brother!

The band comprises of Grant Marshall (Daddy G), Robert del Naja (3-D) and Andrew Vowles (Mushroom), a trio from Bristol, England. These guys sample and compose all sorts of different riffs and Marshall and del Naja also contribute with vocals in songs in the album. However, as is usually the case with most of their albums, they borrowed singers from other bands to contribute with some vocals. In this album, Horace Andy from Everything But the Girl, Elizabeth Fraser from the Cocteau Twins and Sara Jay are vocalists in various songs in this album. With so many different vocalists, they each add something different to each song in this album.

The first song, Angel, starts off with a looped, hypnotic bass riff that fades in from nothing. The bass riff is simple (only using two notes), but is extremely catchy and it immediately pulls the listener into the song. After this riff is repeated a few times, some drum sampling comes in, providing a typical 4/4 beat throughout the song. While this happens, synthesizers are used to create a mixture of eerie, mysterious sounds before Horace Andy's voice comes in with the lines "you are my angel/come from way above/to bring me love", which then introduces the second drum beat, which is a lot heavier than the first drum beat. Although the song is very dark in its tone, the lyrics of the song are essentially describing what an angel is. The mysterious, eerie sounds throughout the song add a mystical feel to the song, which is what one immediately thinks when thinking about angels. After the second verse is sung, a little two-note guitar lick and the repetition of "love you" from Andy bring the song into its interlude, which introduces a lone heavy, distorted guitar strumming out power chords over the same bass line and same two drum samples before it returns back to the lone bass and two drum samples with Andy singing the first verse again. After this, the guitar comes back in with its power chords, while a series of strange keyboard sounds accompany it, which then leads back to what the song was at the beginning: the lone bass line and the first drum sample. The changes from loud to soft are done perfectly in this song, with the subtle changes representing the good and bad nature of the angels (remember, the devils were angels before). The guitar riff represents the fall of the angels and when the guitar comes in, you have the feeling that everything is breaking loose. I like this "breakout", because it is such a change from the tranquil beginning. The song is a great song filled in with some excellent sampling from the trio and Andy's pleasant singing voice and this is a great way to begin any album, especially this one.

The second song, Risingson, begins with eerie keyboard noises before a simple looped bass riff sets in. After this riff is repeated a few times, a powerful drum beat sets in and the riff is repeated a few more times. The song is a perfect example of what trip-hop is, with a mixture of rap from Robert del Naja and Grant Marshall. Along with the rap are a mixture of mysterious voices in the background singing in harmony and these voices fade-in and out throughout the song. Also, there is a lot of sampling used in this song with a mixture of percussional beats (high-hat tapping with the occasional hit of a cymbal and a heavy 4/4 drum beat), an uneasy keyboard melody that is supposed to create the disorienting underground party feeling and the band succeed in doing this. This song is also a perfect example of top-class trip-hop because del Naja's and Marshall's lyrics are essentially describing a typical party scene. This song is one of the best songs on this album and its not hard to see why this is the case.

Teardrop is a change from the first two songs, since this song is a lot lighter than the previous songs. The song starts off with a light, simple drum beat, which allows a nice, ascending guitar riff to fade in and it echoes, filling the atmosphere with an air of mystery, but at the same time, remaining very, very serene. The piano contributes by hitting some full-sounding chords, which meshes in perfectly with the guitar and the drums. Then comes the best part of the song: Liz Fraser's wonderful voice. Her voice is as heavenly a voice as you will ever hear. Her vocal range is simply amazing. The vocals are clear and the song's message is simple. It is about love and Fraser's delivery of the lyrics are as direct as you can get with the song's lyrics starting off by saying "love, love is a verb/love is a doing word". The song remains pleasant throughout and as I said, its a nice change from the dark, heavy material that starts off the album (Fraser's voice certainly helps in changing the mood).

Inertia Creeps is one of my personal favorites of this album, which is mainly due to the heavy influence of Indian music throughout the song. The echoes of an electric guitar fade in to the beginning of the song before an explosion of sounds, led by a sitar, chime in with the song's frantic, main riff. Soon after, a range of Indian percussion instruments add to the song's oriental feel. After these instruments are used, a pulsating bass line is used to drive the song with some hard-thumping drums in the background. The Indian influence shows the band's diversity in their music and I have always loved diversity in music. They use the sitar and Indian percussion to great effect in this song. It is del Naja who sings this song in a raspy, whisper of a voice. This song is about the act of making love, which is better known as sex. The song starts off with del Naja singing "recollect me darling raise me to your lips/two undernourished egos four rotating hips" and ends with "and she comes/say she comes/say she comes/says she comes/say she comes". The act of sex is frantic, as shown by the fast-moving tempo of the song and I think the term "inertia creeps" is supposed to describe the fear of slowing down when in the act of sex. The use of different synthesizer melodies in minor keys in different parts of the song add more to the overall atmosphere of the song. The oriental nature of the song is one of the factors that cause me to constantly listen to this song over and over again.

Exchange is the only instrumental in this album and is probably the most relaxing song of the album. The song uses a melodic bass line to carry the song through, being backed up by on-beat, high-pitched piano chords and a typical snare-drum beat. A heavier snare drum beat and bass melody (same as the one throughout the song, except an octave lower) are soon added to the mix, but the song is still relaxing, despite the addition of a heavier beat. The song uses a combination of sustained high and low-pitch synthesizer noises and melodies add more to the simplistic composition of the song. This song shows how Massive Attack use synthesizer melodies to such great effect. There may be 2 or 3 different melodies being played at once, but they all fit together perfectly. However, the bass line can be a bit repetitive and I also found the ending to be abrupt and poorly mixed. Despite that, the relaxing nature of the song will draw you in.

Dissolved Girl, the next track of the album, begins with a looped reversed synthesizer melody fading in. A guitar plays in the background and soon a complex bass line sets into the song. Soon the guitar's complex melody is merely reduced to two notes with the bass line still playing with Sara Jay's voice soon entering in. There is a touch of depression in her voice as this song is about the feelings of a girl disillusioned with life. The dissonance between the guitar melody and bass line in the song represents this confusion and general negativity that Jay is portraying in this song. A series of sustained keyboard noises, heavy drum beats, distorted electric guitar and distorted synthesizer noises are used in the song's brilliant, although dissonant, interlude section. The mixture of the heavy, distorted sections and soft sections portray the song's overall negative feeling to the song.

Horace Andy gets to shine with his vocals in the song, Man Next Door. The song begins with a mixture of drum samples, which brings in a simple, driving bass line, heavier drum beats and sustained synthesizer noises. Andy's reggae-influenced voice is soulful and he has a very wide vocal range. His voice is perfectly suited to this song about an abusive neighbor. The guitar takes a prominent role in this song, playing an integral role in the song's interlude part. The synthesizers do not play a big a part as usual in this song, but are used to great effect in this song. The song fades out with a diversity of instruments used to great effect.

The next song, Black Milk, begins with a soft, high-pitched piano riff before the drums come in with the bass. This song is also sung by Elizabeth Fraser and as I have said in this review, her voice is one of the most serene and beautiful voices I have ever heard. Her voice reverberates throughout the song with the high-pitch noises from various instruments like the piano and synthesizers in the background. The bass provides a simple line that is looped throughout the song. In this song, Fraser does some "scat" singing and her singing in this song is reminiscent of the song, Great Gig in the Sky by Pink Floyd. I have no idea what this song is about, but the song is beautiful for the instrumentation and Fraser's voice, just like Great Gig in the Sky is appreciated for its instrumentation and vocals.

Mezzanine, the title track, begins with some eerie keyboard noises, which makes a smooth transition into a nice bass line and drum beat. A nice guitar melody is played in the background while Robert del Naja and Grant Marshall sing the song. The dreariness in their voices is perfect for this song. To me, the song is about a couple falling apart, which describes the song's downbeat, dreary nature. The song is full of sampling of different bass lines, synthesizer sounds and dreary vocal echoes, which fits in with the downbeat feel of the song. This song is basically a fine example of classic trip-hop.

The next track, Group Four, begins with eerie keyboard noises, different drum beats and an offbeat bass line. These move as a coherent unit before Robert del Naja's and Elizabeth Fraser's enter into the song. The vocals are used effectively in this song, using the "answer-and-response" technique between the two vocalists. The use of phrases such as "my sixth sense peacefully place on my breath" and "my ears know that my eyes are closed" basically shows that this song is about being in a state of subconsciousness. The contrast in del Naja's whispery singing voice and Fraser's loud, high-pitched voice attempts to get the listener to experience the subconsciousness. The two different voices definitely do create that feeling and the use of scattered piano melodies, deliberately misplaced synthesizer sounds, drum beats, distorted/delayed guitar riffs and hypnotic bass lines create this feeling of being in a state of semi-consciousness and the band do a good job of it. You really feel disoriented because of this, but despite the fact it does this, you still have the urge to listen to Fraser's beautiful voice and the overall instrumentation. I also really like the way the song slows down slightly at the end, as this represents bringing the listener back into the conscious state, which basically brings an end to the little adventure the band put you through with this song.

Like the previous song of the same name, (Exchange), uses the same bass lines, synthesizer noises and keyboard licks that were used in the song earlier in the album and the two songs are approximately the same length. The only difference here is that this version of the song features Horace Andy on the vocals. As I said in the earlier song, Man Next Door, his soulful vocals are always wonderful to hear. This song is essentially about how you see a person on the outside, but never see him from the inside, which is reiterated by lines like "you see a man's face/but you don't see his heart" and "you see a man's face/but you'll never know his thoughts". The song is very, very relaxing, as are Andy's vocals and his voice eventually fades out of the song, as does the bass line and keyboards. All that is left by the song's end are the lone sounds of the synthesizers, which the band used to such great effect throughout this album and these lone sounds end a phenomenal album.

I regret ever thinking that this album would not be as good as I thought it would be. This album is simply brilliant and the sampling done by the band is flawless. The album is dark and depressing and many people will dislike the album because of its dark nature. But if you are a fan of trip-hop who does not have this album or want to listen to music that mixes in a diversity of sounds to perfection, this is the album to purchase!

Thanks for reading the review.

Recommended: Yes