Oh god, this song...

For song & album requests and to support my channel and musical projects, please consider joining my Patreon (I can't monetize my videos): / iximusic 🙌 You can also commission me to analyze your original music or do a piano cover. 🎹 And I teach private & group lessons, do film/video game scoring, and music transcriptions 🎶 TIPS: www.buymeacoffee.com/iximusic 💄
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🙏 SPECIAL THANKS to my amazing Patrons, without whom these videos would not be possible!

[@iximusic]

For song & album requests and to support my channel and musical projects, please consider joining my Patreon (I can't monetize my videos): www.patreon.com/iximusic 🙌 You can also commission me to analyze your original music or do a piano cover. 🎹 And I teach private & group lessons, do film/video game scoring, and music transcriptions 🎶 TIPS: www.buymeacoffee.com/iximusic 💄Many of you asked about Portishead - check out this Dummy listening party free on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/portishead-party-62816321

[@romainroger734]

"Closer to the 100th window ..." take care 😉! Great song like many others from MA ...

[@CalumCarlyle]

21:50 "trip hop" is probably the genre you want, for this kind of thing.

[@RussJohnsConnects]

Trip hop love it

[@covox7074]

I would love to see your take on Still Life by Gazelle Twin

[@MtLeboMP]

MA's "Angel" underneath Jason Statham's monologue in Snatch is ...as another posted... one of the best uses of this 1998 track in a soundtrack (27 other times collectively in film, tv, and commercials, and/or events).

[@briandavidgregory]

This whole album is just amazing

[@hilmarkoerner2603]

wanted to write the same! I remember this was on continuous play for weeks when I discovered it. Mesmerizing! Oh god, the nuances in every little sound....It's creeping on you ... my favorite on the album is 'Man Next Door'

[@palpytine]

As are all their albums. Most especially the tracks with guest female vocalists.

[@James-J-J-J]

Massive Attack are amazing. Love them!

[@rabbithole1227]

@@palpytineyes… RIP Sinead O’Connor. What Your Soul Sings is one of my favorites.

[@weedanwine]

Yup Incredible

[@otdewiljes]

Before 'Netflix and chill' there was 'Mezzanine and chill'.

[@MyNameIsBucket]

And Enigma before that...

[@jackbadger3976]

there was never any chill...

[@rideitalia]

“Chill”, like an animal…

[@gcolombelli]

Portishead live at roseland is a great one also.

[@rip0v]

iykyk

[@theshakyproject2971]

This album and Portishead's Dummy are what turned me on to Trip-Hop. I first heard Teardrop on a Pure Moods compilation CD. Then Sour Times in the film, Killing Time. I didn't know what that sound was called, but I needed to ingest all of it. From there, it was Bjork, Sneaker Pimps, Tricky, DJ Shadow, Morcheeba, Hooverphonic, Goldfrapp, etc. I couldn't get enough.

[@JDsHouseofHobbies]

YES!!!

[@EdgyNumber1]

A pair of interesting compilations you should check out, 'Fused' and 'Wired' featuring not just trip-hop but a lot of break beat music that was going on about that time. There was heck of a lot of fusion in different types of music back in the mid-late 90's.

[@cliffhughes6010]

I'm a child of the 1960s who grew up with The Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks, Hendrix, Led Zep, Motown etc. But the 1990s with Massive Attack and the other bands you mention, not forgetting Radiohead, is the only era that compares.

[@EdgyNumber1]

@@cliffhughes6010 Honestly, there was just so much going on in the 1990's particularly in the UK where everyone was just mixing everything up and creating new genres and subgenres, whether it was rock based, electronic based... or a mixture of the two. The music you describe of your youth is awesome too, some great names in there. Of the early Motown stuff I was always addicted to the tunes with the heavy use of that gorgeous detuned (upwards) bass guitar they used in a lot of their recordings.

[@albertrobles2498]

I also had that Pure Moods cd.

[@bobseashols517]

This album is 28 YEARS OLD yet seems just as good today.

[@JH-lo9ut]

Can you give me something as good as this, but made in the last decade? (This is both a rhetorical question and and actual request.)

[@bobseashols517]

@@JH-lo9ut Tool.

[@iximusic]

I have a few recs! Kiasmos (self titled), Om Unit - Threads, SOHN - Rennen, MADANII & LLUCID - Sober, Deftones - Ohms, Metric - Art of Doubt

[@scaberouswretch3673]

It’s 26 years. Album was released on 20th April 1998.

[@sickenideon]

Yeah it's from 1998 so will be 26y in a few

[@spyrule]

Legitimately, one of the best single albums ever made. pure sound scape

[@stopmikeandjim3196]

This album is the audio equivalent of Vantablack. It's so dark it seems to suck the light out of the room

[@pulykamell]

Your second sentence is exactly how I’ve been describing this album since I first heard it.

[@good_king_guitarman1334]

Listen to it in the dark, then it becomes an experience.

Nah, the equivalent of Vantablack is The Black Hit Of Space. It didn't just go to number one, it went into minus figures. ;-)

[@d3j4v00]

I dig the poetry of your sentence but i can't perceive it as dark at all. It's so warm and full and uplifting, like being the golden yolk of an egg.

[@Panda_man..]

@@d3j4v00 i think it’s so wonderful that people can look at the same piece of work and take/ feel very different ideas and emotions.

[@leaningtower73]

The whole Mezzanine is for me one of the best albums of all times along with Sergent Pepper's, Dark Side of the Moon, Nevermind, Violator, Ok Computer. What a masterpiece that blends electronic music, soul, dark industrial, trip hop, new age!

[@danielhenderson3753]

Agree!

[@echambers1112]

That is a hell of a list.

[@JimmySchwietert]

Add Air's Moon Safari. Brilliant album

[@neobscura]

Reading this makes me happy because that's how I feel about it but I never voiced it in fear of being judged "are you serious now ?".

[@basslightyeah]

Hell yes! The final minutes of Group Four are such a phenomenal full circle moment, similar to Eclipse on Dark Side of the Moon

[@chimpana]

I was at university in Bristol when this was released. Same time Banksy was starting to put his stuff all over town, and Portishead were doing their thing. Great music scene in the city at the time.

[@IanMcCausland]

same time as Banksy eh?... maybe the same ? 🙂

[@shortsightedfarseer4350]

Same for me. Friend had a really good hi-fi setup, I remember driving into town to buy this when it came out and going back to his to listen to it. We just looked at each other with our jaws on the floor when this kicked in.

[@bsmith6646]

​@@IanMcCauslandha!

[@r7coo]

Don't forget Roni Size

[@bsmith6646]

@@r7coo yes! And DJ Krust. Great jungle / drum n Bass has come out of Bristol

[@benedictnothing]

The singer is Horace Andy, a proper roots reggae guy from back in the 60s who works a lot with Massive Attack and plays live with them, and weirdly this song is a cover/rework of one of his old songs. You should hear his original (You Are My Angel); it's great but feels weird when this is the version you're most familiar with.

[@danielhenderson3753]

Whoa, thanks for the background! So that's two reggae covers on this album.

[@benedictnothing]

@@danielhenderson3753 Ah yes! Man Mext Door?

[@danielhenderson3753]

@@benedictnothing yep!

[@tendrel_sound]

i always thought it was a chick

[@Anonymous-lw1zy]

OMG! kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIvJin93irOspKc

[@HelderP83]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how you start a video.

[@mleg7104]

Exactly! - Thanks to Ixi for the uninterrupted run from start to finish, that allows us to fully appreciate this glorious track. Obligatory!

[@SaumBodhi]

Yes

[@crow-dont-know]

This will often flag the video for copyright violation, so you have to be careful

[@emulus4000]

@@crow-dont-know She literally put in the description that due to copyright laws, she can't make money from the video. She knows what she's doing

[@thumper1747]

Wasn’t this used in Snatch?

[@rw9207]

28 years young and still punches as hard as the day it hit like a chilled out freight train!

[@MrArchie800]

No no no!! Was that really 28 yrs? Fuuuuuuuuuuuu#k!!!!!!!!

[@gabrielhunter3351]

Seriously!! ?It can't be....😱 Hahaha

[@rw9207]

@@gabrielhunter3351 Yes f***ing seriously! lol

[@marijnr]

2024-1998=26

[@rw9207]

@@marijnr Thanks for the correction, Captain Pedantic. I'm sure this will change the outlook to my entire day.... or the 10 seconds why I type this.

[@rld1982]

I always feel like this song is the sound of inevitability

[@theshakyproject2971]

"Goodbye, Mr. Anderson." :)

[@gearoidosullivan356]

It does have a sense of foreboding alight. I love the slow build of the intro. If you're not familiar with it, you should check out FOREST SWORDS - PANIC. it is a bit more upbeat, but also uses that low bass to create an unsettling feeling building up.

[@glacieractivity]

Thank you, my friend. I have been searching for a word for some decades.

[@antdujar]

It’s funny, because “dissolve girl” is in the first matrix movie when neo wakes up from his desk to Morpheus’s message. But this song could easily be Agent Smith’s theme of inevitability 🤘🏽

[@miked1869]

@@theshakyproject2971"my name... is NEO!"

[@wradar]

This song’s pairing with the arson scene in Snatch is A+ musical and cinematic direction. (TBH, the whole soundtrack rocks.)

[@neptunethemystic]

That bassline bleeds all over the drums like the nectar straight from the flower of aphrodiate herself! 🌺

[@Sonsequence]

One of my sound engineering teachers played this to the class and explained that he uses it to test the bass response of any sound system he works with.

[@educostanzo]

This is the album I always pick to test headphones and speakers. The sound is crystal clear, one of my favorite productions ever A ton of dub influence on this one too, with all the weird delays and accents, what makes total sense having Horace Andy on the vocals

[@cyclonasaurusrex1525]

How did I never think of this? Great idea!

[@TheOriginalHairyDave]

Me too. It's been my go to bass tester for 25 years.

[@horseenthusiast1250]

Hey, same! That, or Björk's "All Is Full Of Love" if I'm short for time (amazing range in the version that's got the bassy beat! Between that beat and the shimmering instrumentals, it really tests the high and low end of the speaker's range). Right now they're all telling me that my Victrola record/cd/tape player kinda has shit speakers :( but my new headphones and my shower speaker work great!

[@stevecarter8810]

Yeah, it's like British dub reggae at its core, with elements from rock, indie and hip hop adorning the surface

[@Intermernet]

A couple of other recommendations: Skylined (part 2 of The Narcotic Suite) from Music For The Jilted Generation by The Prodigy is the ultimate bass response test. There's a bass synth that fires every 4 bars from near the beginning of the track. It plays one note that descends rapidly below the threshold of human hearing, and pushes speakers to destruction. Derezzed (Glitch Mob remix) from the Tron Legacy - Reconfigured album. Remixes of Daft Punk's soundtrack to Tron Legacy. It has an amazing frequency distribution with just the right mix of crisp high-end, hard transients and heavy bass to really test any speakers or headphones.

[@aristideau5072]

hands down the 90's really had the best music ever

[@CB-nd9ki]

In this genre I have to agree, early 90's though

[@user-hg3iv5hy3s]

Yes the trip hop bunch was 🔥 Even some acid jazz and early drum n bass

[@user-hg3iv5hy3s]

Oh wait and then the avant- pop and folk was good too Bjork PJ Harvey Jeff Buckley Boards of Canada Tricky Tori Amos (golden Era) Michele NDegeocello

[@vocecaiunocontodomalakoi7541]

@@user-hg3iv5hy3s Also the metal scene, black and death metal expanding, alternative, groove metal with pantera, industrial getting bigger, avant garde acts, neurosis started post metal, sludge and stoner getting bigger than ever, so much great stuff

[@user-hg3iv5hy3s]

Oh how could I forget Pantera!! Now I need to go listen to Planet Caravan

[@Roymunson_]

Horace gets away with limited notes because his delivery flirts with the home location of each note. Sometimes sharp, sometimes flat, sometimes oscillating between both over a single held note. So he may sing "around" 3 notes but the performance uses like a dozen microtones that make it hypnotizing. Always reminded me of a very beautiful Mongolian chant in the way the notes modulate and avoid staying in one place for too long.

[@alejandroprc]

The sound of the baseline building up at the beginning and the first kick, rimshot, and hi-hat…sonic perfection. One of the best song intros IMO.

[@GavinHewitt]

Most of it comes from the incredible brain of Neil Davidge

[@DaveBloodstream]

Being using this song as an alarm tone on my phone for the past 10 years or so... Doesn't matter how little you have slept, this song never makes me wake up in a bad mood, and the way it builds up is great to not get totally shocked out of slumber. I really recommend it

[@Audio_Simon]

What? Why not "wake me up before you go go" lol 😅

[@r7coo]

It's my ringtone as well 😀

[@horseenthusiast1250]

The whole album is simply AMAZING. I really need to get the cd. It's a weird way to describe it, but this song sounds like liquid velvet to me. Or the comfortable disquiet of being in your pajamas at noon, knowing you're not leaving your little apartment anytime soon, and looking out past the curtains at a foggy day already half-over.

[@realraven2000]

Also check out protection. It will blow your mind.

[@neobscura]

That's a way better description than I came with but that's it. The bass support the whole thing but the drums and all the guitar ambiance just slide over it like texture, very controlled texture. It's a must have imo. It's their best album, the second closest to that feeling is 100th window on SOME tracks, but it doesn't feel as genuine somehow.

[@realraven2000]

@@neobscura 100th window is also amazing, kills me every time. I think a lot is owed to the way Massive Attack uses "clashing" harmonies or modes (on top of having really memorable textures). "What your Soul sings" is the most amazing composition of that decade imho; Sinead O'Connor + Massive is just a killer team all around.

[@neobscura]

@@realraven2000 There are some great songs on it, but I felt like it was just Robert Del Naja flexing. It felt "overworked" for lack of a better word. Idk I'm not good at explaining it but it felt so far away from Mezzanine which was a cohesive, organic masterpiece. To me it boils down to two sentiments: Mezzanine was an oppressive deep sound with expertly placed tickling sound while 100th window felt like something with less soul and an overwhelming amount of "tick and tss". I suck at descriptions I know. Mezzanine was nourishing, 100th was all texture. "Sinead O'Connor + Massive is just a killer team all around." I've to agree on this though, it's one of the few songs on this album to hit the mark.

[@annettecorbett9842]

I love this description! (Especiakly since I am actually in my PJs right now, looking out on a misty mid afternoon)

[@MagnusMFX]

Immediately from the bassline, serotonin kicked in for me

[@NowellValeri]

First time I heard this song my life changed. My girlfriend of the time didn't think Mezzanine was all that great. So I stole her CD and never gave it back. I still have it 😂

[@ChuckWasHere]

R.I.P. Angelo Bruschini. This song would be nothing without his playing.

[@kadinnui2282]

I don't understand how he is not talked about among guitarists. It's nothing complicated, I know, but come on! All his work with MA is just so perfect.

[@ericclemens8420]

Absolutely. Let's pay tribute to Angelo Bruschini who died last year, who "reinvented the electric guitar" in this piece.

[@spamfilter32]

This song is an incredible example of minimalism and how powerful that can be in music.

[@qwqwqwqw99]

I used to play this album a lot for my passengers when i was a lyft driver. Most people didn't care but once in a while someone would really feel it.

[@FelipeBudinich]

That would take me baaaack

[@DeeNimmin]

"It prowls" Perfect.

[@Mfleshwound]

Important to note that they pull all this off live perfectly

[@thorstencotte2822]

…Or sometimes even better.

[@jdblueemerald]

Mezzanine, in my opinion, is one of the best 20 albums of all time. Pure genius at work in it.

[@LikeWhatever]

They tapped into something special when they made this album. Protection is up there for me as well.

[@zazenit]

Also No Protection - Mad Professors dub version is magical

[@Gee-xb7rt]

Have you heard Everything But the Girl"s album from last year, Fuse? It's very good.

[@LikeWhatever]

@@Gee-xb7rt One or two songs, not the whole thing yet. I liked what I heard.

[@Gee-xb7rt]

@@LikeWhatever just on another thread with someone trying to defend Grimes, lol. Don't want to sound mean, or like "kids these days" but I don't get a lot of what passes as music these days.

[@LikeWhatever]

@Gee-xb7rt I don't get a lot of it either. There's good stuff to find but sometimes you have to search for it.

[@KenJustken]

These are my words for this song: Hopeful, ominous , breathy, contentious. You are great.

[@danielhenderson3753]

The major 2nd in the bassline is what I would call "profound". A similar effect as when the sharp 4th hits in the whole note scale. And the bass guitar pulls the attention away from the 2nd note to de-emphasize it. In my experience getting away with those dissonances is all about emphasis and balance. A brilliant choice. The drums are so inspired. I like a nice layered beat. Huge snare and a click resembling a rimshot but even tighter.

[@CedricJustice]

Oh, hi, Daniel! Also, that bass is detuned to C. That makes it even more profound.

[@blehblehbleh86]

I was going to say the exact same thing.

[@MolloyPolloy]

I saw massive attack perfrom this in the Olympia theater in Dublin the year the album came out. Stunning.

[@scottcollier9178]

The whole album has a sinister, sleazy feel to it. Like a character from a dystopian movie is walking down a back alley late at night and you're waiting for something bad to happen.

[@veerchasm1]

Mezzanine is probably my favorite album from the 90’s

[@rogerbrook9081]

Leftism is THE album form the 90s, though this is a close second

[@CrashTestPilot]

My favorite memory of this is, a bunch of us laying out on the floating dock watching the stars on mushrooms.

[@elmostachojuanoh]

The fact that as a 1st time listener of the piece, you allowed youself and the video to just start with the whole song is very much appreciated, thanks!

[@iximusic]

It was not my first listen, sorry for any confusion! This is an excerpt from a listening party on my Patreon but I'm glad people are enjoying the lack of spoken intro. Maybe I'll do that in future videos!

[@elmostachojuanoh]

@@iximusic Oh sorry for my wording, i meant i appreciate it myself as someone who is actually listening for the first time* Glad you are considering keeping it, since it is great for accesibility and an incentive for viewers to blindly click on any analysis, and it fits with your pacing too!

[@davebox588]

​@@iximusic please, no intro. I always skip through those anyway. Being able to listen to the whole track before the analysis makes this for me the second best analysis I've seen on YT (best was recreating "Clubbed to Death" {Rob Dougan} from scratch.)

[@Ryan_Q3L]

I worked at the Camelot Music store in my local mall.... when this album came out I played it over the loud speakers in the store. I turned it up really loud and when that first high-hat and drum hit, everyone in the store freaked. I was hooked.

[@Heylel444]

That drum track sounds eerily like a slowed down version of Beastie Boys' "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun".

[@Forgottenson3934]

Yes! Which seems to appear later in Leftfield’s track called Life

[@florabee9283]

I was being re-calibrated at a ketamine clinic and they said I had to bring my own music. I chose Mezzanine. I'm healed now

[@seanrichards9569]

Horace Andy recorded a couple of versions of this song in Jamaican studios over the early / mid 70’s then later on I believe he redid it a couple of times. Angel is a phenomenal track, and production spot on, but the vocal performance absolutely REQUIRES understanding the historical context, and I’d humbly argue the best vocal take is the earliest version he did with Bunny Lee, which was also released as various dub plates mixed by the great King Tubby. Production for its era is fantastic and the performance absolutely phenomenal.

[@JD-xo2wz]

This album was the only one that never left the CD changer in the trunk. One of the most pristine recordings ever made.

[@davidellis5141]

Teardrop with Liz Fraser ( Cocteau Twins ) on vocals is as good ! The album is essential 👌

[@miracleofsound]

Love your vids! Mezzanine is one of my favorite albums of all time. Such a thick, dark, beautiful atmosphere from start to finish, a masterpiece :)

[@sharpphilip]

Their Mezzanine anniversary tour not long before Covid blew my mind. 😮 Lots of memories of being a moody 19-year-old with this in my car CD player…

[@seanparker5595]

I saw the OG tour in 1999, or thereabouts, in Australia. Pretty amazing concert.

[@surferdjnj]

So for a while Massive Attack was everywhere but people didn't realize it. The beginning of Inertia Creeps was used in a Victorias Secret ad campaign, Teardrop is the opening credits for House the American TV show with Hugh Lorie, Angel was used in the TV show The West Wing, the episode where Zoe Bartlet gets kidnapped. There were a few more commercials that sampled their music but not remembering right now. Great video choice!!!

[@iximusic]

Dissolved Girl was in The Matrix!

[@pkpmendez3]

And this song was always playing in the episode of West Wing when Zoey Bartlett gets kidnapped. The music was perfect for the scene.

[@r7coo]

This was used in a Gillette razor campaign during the football world cup in summer 98 with Beckam on the advert, in the UK at least

[@Luemm3l]

this song is iconic, brings back so many memories, it was in movies, series, video games, but the whole vibe is city at night, you are striving alone through the conrete jungle... there is nothing over UK trip hop, bands like this, Portishead and a lot of others more... just musical magic to me.

[@rikiba851]

Horace Andy was an accomplished Reggae artist in his own right, before Massive Attack employed his voice to such great effect (and I think this was the greatest and most iconic use of his voice). For his own reggae stuff, a favourite of mine was always 'Hey There Woman' from his 'In the Light' record. Definitely worth a listen if you never heard it.

[@Amathene]

Absolutely one of the greatest songs on one of the greatest albums ever.

[@matthiaskoehler1504]

I had the privilege to hear and see this live in Hamburg Germany at 2001 or 2002, I don`t remember. The most impressive Live Act I ever experienced!

[@aldo34]

Big Massive fan since Blue Lines. Sadly Angelo Bruschini who played the guitars on this track passed away late last year. This is a masterclass in tension building and layering.

[@l3eatalphal3eatalpha]

Blue Aeroplanes - And Stones

[@aaronalbores3999]

This was my introduction to Massive Attack, back in the day. I just listened to the intro and i was already hooked. Why is that that i never felt this song as threatening or dark? I just thought of it as mysterious, hypnotic and deep. Very, very, very deep. It steals your attention, then it slowly pumps energy into you with that amazing bass sound and groove, and then it breaks into a new powerful groove forcing you to release that energy by moving your body to the rythm. For me, at least, this is an absolute masterpiece. The grooves, the ambiguity of the scale and the voice, the minimalistic use of the notes of the scale, the sound design, the slow pace in which it evolves and grows from a heartbeat into a heavy song... Few songs can make me feel that way. And the guitar... oh god...

[@djdksf1]

I was lucky enough to catch MA doing their 20-year Mezzanine retrospective tour in SF a few years back. Fantastic band with most if not all the original vocal talent present. This record somehow keeps getting better with age. It's both baroque and intricate while still having a minimalist bearing overall. Just stunning. When it came out I remember playing almost nothing else for weeks (well, maybe a bit of Underworld or Orbital as chasers.)

[@ClownWorld242]

This track paired with the scene in "Snatch" is absolute magic. Every time I listen I see that scene.

[@IanMcCausland]

the mash up of dub and metal it feels like a bomber coming over the horizon to bomb your heart, drop its ordinance and move on.

[@Strafuzz]

Stealth Bomber

[@sadiesadiekistrose4072]

I love the way you listen, feel & breakdown one of my favorite tunes from a favorite album. As a musician and producer myself I greatly appreciate your you!

[@cameronscarth3136]

You always dig out my old faves!!! love hearing your take

[@gonesavage]

One of the best recordings of all time. Thank you ixi.

[@jamestaggart2663]

Everyone who grew up in the 90s had 3 albums on CD, without fail: 1. Fat Boy Slim - You've come along way 2. Prodigy - Fat of the Land 3. Massive Attack - Mezzanine

[@brutalrock927]

4. Beastie Boys - Ill Communication

[@dublplus3332]

Portishead dummy

[@graham8436]

Did anyone else see them perform this album live during the 25th anniversary tour? Unforgettable experience.

[@teodelfuego]

If I were a musician I could only wish a beautiful genius would analyze it in such glowing terms.

[@jonmatthews721]

Took me years to appreciate this album, but probably now in my top 5 albums

[@Narsufin]

Love this breakdown. I remember when this album came out, must be more than 20 years now, and it blew away everyone who heard it.

[@leaningtower73]

It came out on 20th April 1998. Amazing album

[@GizzyDillespee]

That's 26 years ago. In 1986, pop songs from 1960 were classified as "oldies"😂

[@ftlbaby]

@@GizzyDillespee that's what we're doing here: listening to oldies, even if they sound contemporary ; )

[@TheOriginalHairyDave]

If you're interested in something else that feels like some enormous plodding creature, try giving Lustmord's new album, "Much Unseen Is Also Here" a listen. The first track, "Behold A Voice As Thunder" is literally supposed to convey the sense of a titanic being approaching.

[@horseenthusiast1250]

Damn! Just two minutes in and I'm already absolutely digging it. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@Wolvenamsterdam]

I've been a fan of Massive Attack since the first album and this song and album are absolutely mesmerizing! Yet I really just now discovered new things through your reaction. I've seen some videos of you before and your breakdowns are so full of passion for the music and really amazing to watch. Thank you for this ❤I'm a fan!

[@codytaylor942]

Love your album/ song selections, love your insights and expertise. Fine work you do on your channel.

[@klors]

The stairs in my student house used to have wood panel walls that resonated to the bass part and shook the house… loved it, and seeing them gig this album was immense

[@gapster77]

Bristol’s best! Incredible Catalogue of Work 👌🏻

[@AJSTITAN14]

Such a dope record. This was in heavy rotation for us along with Maxinquaye, Portishead, Selected Ambient Works 85-92, Aquemini, everything by Morphine and an endless stream of acid and house techno for the late late nights.

[@fuzexi]

I loved listening to you talk about the music, it’s like an intelligent conversation, deep and refreshing.

[@PianoDentist]

I remember when Blue lines came out - amazing! This album was a good evolution of Massive Attack.

[@neguchi666]

Ixi, you rock! That thing about Horace Andy's voice cracking at the end of phrases is something that I hear a lot of reggae singers do, and I wish I could listen to more of dub/reggae, but the genre is so heavily laden with religiosity that I, personally, have a hard time with it and can barely listen to any. I always thought of this song as a super simple one, which it perhaps technically is -- but it's music, so it being simple makes it not simple at all :D. Maybe I'm nuts or maybe you all know exactly what I mean. Anyway, keep on rocking, Ixi!

[@neguchi666]

I forgot to mention how important I think these breakdowns are, even or especially for seemingly simple songs such as this one! Thank you!

[@bladetj]

One of my favourite tunes. So mysterious, dark and engaging. The production is insanely good. Great take thanks

[@alsosean]

Nicely done video and analysis! I heard this album end to end many, many years ago when I was out playing pool with friends while in university and I was completely blown away by it. Bought the album a few days later. Complex and simple with lots of dramatic space. Just amazing stuff. It’s stayed as one of my favourite albums. Mad love for their work. Cheers!

[@jbjhoosierj7854]

This song always reminds me of the West Wing when Zoe Bartlett gets kidnapped. Sooooo good.

[@HernanSoberon]

for me always gonna be with neo sleeping on his computer seaching for morpheo in the matrix.

[@Danny-wv8ec]

the whole album is something else, Group Four for example is out of this world. Edit: I first heard this song in a pub in Beirut when i was like 18 in the early 2000s, i went up to the DJ and asked which band is this and the next day i bought the album.

[@DanFallon1981]

I recall watching them do group four live and it was just insane. it started with such a loud kick that I first thought was too loud for the song but the last part where it grows it just kept getting faster and faster and the kick just pounded through my head. In the end it was pumping like a DnB song and just bliss and absolute fire. Ever since its been my favourite track of theirs!

[@Danny-wv8ec]

@@DanFallon1981 that’s awesome, i saw them live twice in Lebanon. The first time was in the early 2000s at the Baalbek festival under 2000 year old Roman ruins, i suggest you look up the Baalbek ruins on google, it was quite the experience.

[@pinewavestudio]

This record is a complete masterpiece. I'd love to hear your breakdowns on the rest of the tracks!

[@ja9nge]

Two days ago I stumbled across your channel. And I totally stopped stumbling. Your way of going deep into these compositions and sharing the details is simply transfixing, if I were a tornado I’d stop spinning and simply sit down and listen to you serving these tunes on a plate, beautifully deconstructed. You give me a refreshed interest in re-listening to the masterpieces you decipher. THANK YOU👏

[@mattd8725]

Angels are very ambiguous figures outside of greeting cards and American movies. If you listen to new angels of promise by Bowie, he has his angels delivering some pretty curious messages. "we despise, we are the silent ones, we are the turbulent lovers, we listen to the storm".

[@neobscura]

The beat you're thinking about in the matrix part is Clubbed to Death from Rob Dougan and the style is big beat. Very famous style in the era which has kinda disappeared these days.

[@stevecarter8810]

I always felt this song owed a nod to led Zeppelin's when the levee breaks

[@moog5260]

big in the 90s, kind of the upbeat brother of trip hop

[@neobscura]

@@moog5260 Yup. Both very good and sadly not really that common anymore.

[@smithc21972]

Correct! And I think (I could be totally wrong) it's an interpolation of the funky drummer sample everyone was using in the 90s.

[@soakedbearrd]

I like your descriptions, they are colorful, unique and intuitive.

[@etk1138]

The drum loop that comes in is a sample from the Last Bongo in Belgium by the Incredible Bongo Band. The loop they sampled comes in on the original track about 4mins30ish.

[@99gn99]

Would love to hear your take on Paradise Circus

[@davidellis5141]

With Hope Sandoval on vocals 👍

[@HectorRoldan]

Been listening to this quite a bit lately and usually when I'm not too pleased with people/situations and am needing to pry people away from me or me from them and survive onward.. It's one of those again but thankfully, this series of moments was to have resolve and start a new book of life with better chapters and there's plenty of Massive Attack for that ^_^ Sneaker Pimps on that list as well.

[@praetentious2925]

Like for the sneaker pimps reference

[@bsmith6646]

Saw them live when this came oit at the old London Arena..what a gig, what an album!

[@alastairwinner]

I love the bass line in this song. So simple but with some unique syncopation. The production on all their songs is insane especially listening on headphones. You feels like you are totally emersed and surrounded.

[@neobscura]

This album may be my favorite album ever. I bought it in 1998 and I've been listening to it regularly ever since and I don't feel it aged. I'm not musically educated per say but what has always struck me with this one is how perfectly balanced it feels. Yeah it's super bassy and oppressive, but every element layering over it has its place, they all occupy a space without muddying the song. I know it's super subjective but to me this feels perfect. It's not overly complicated, but it's so well crafted. The bass is so round and massive yet all the drums feel slick and tiny, when I first heard this I thought about the album cover: bugs crawling that's how the drums sound. Anyway, this whole album is comfort music. Dissolved Girl is on the other end of this spectrum but feels very similar somehow.

[@Diptera_Larvae]

Easily my favourite song of all time

[@epob4961]

Great analysis. I haven't listend to this with big headphones on in ages. Glad I did!

[@jonnyclooney]

One of the THE most incredible pieces of music to hear played live.

[@1995ssc]

Massive Attack: How to make a killer song with 2 chords and a 3 note melody...

[@praetentious2925]

That’s what it’s all about, right?! Awesome stuff

[@fromchomleystreet]

It’s a weird psychoacoustic effect, that when you play your imagined bassline (with the minor second), and then switch to the actual bassline (with a major second), both in isolation of any other context, my brain hears you switching from minor to major - despite the fact that no third is being played, and despite the fact that a major second doesn’t imply either major or minor. I guess it’s because flattening ANY note in a scale darkens the tonality, not just the third, and the thing we CALL the major/minor distinction is just the one particular iteration of that phenomenon that specifically pertains to the third.

[@sunilsolanki]

One of the greatest songs of all time. And Ixi. The snare in the beginning is called a Rim Shot. Truly love all your videos. Much respect. Please do a breakdown of this entire album.

[@thesodajerk73]

It's also a little bit like a sidestick. And the fact that it's so dry really makes it stand out.

[@DJJP_]

Drummer here and I'd like to correct: the clicky, snappy sound in the beginning is a rim click or cross stick. A rim shot is the loudest sound possible on a snare drum and is used later in the song when the heavy drums come in. you can google the details if you are curious. Kind regards!

[@tombeluzi]

yup, still got the same goosebumps when listening to this album after 20+ years.

[@righteouswhippingstick]

somehow you always pull from my music collection of favorite stuff... super compliment for us both ❤

[@devilsmap]

I first listened to Mezzanine while reading Neuromancer when the album came out and it made such a great soundtrack for the story. I had never heard of trip hop before then, so I'll forever associate the music with cyberpunk.

[@paulnolan4971]

Zero 7 albums. When it falls and Simple things. Transcendent .

[@antdujar]

Some of the best albums of all time.

[@paulnolan4971]

@@antdujar 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@SoundProtocols]

Please continue to post. Very unique channel! We love the content ❤

[@luthoskendar5255]

Absolutely love this song! Really informative video reviewing the song, thanks for what you do :)

[@danielhenderson3753]

This album sounds like the perfect combination of disparate sounds into a masterpiece. And it has the turbulent backstory that so many of these disparate masterpieces do.