From Wikipedia:
Generally considered the first trip hop album, though the term wasn't coined until several years later, Blue Lines was a massive success in the United Kingdom, though sales were limited elsewhere. A fusion of electronic music, hip hop and dub music, the album established Massive Attack as one of the innovative British bands of the 1990s and the founder of trip hop's Bristol Sound. The city of Bristol, consisting of a large working class, became the epicenter of the trip hop movement. The album incorporated sounds of hip-hop, 70s soul music and reggae.
Simon Reynolds writes that the album also marked a change in electronic/dance music, "a shift toward a more interior, meditational sound. The songs on Blue Lines run at "spliff" tempos - from a mellow, moonwalking 90 beats per minute ...down to a positively torpid 67 bpm."[2] The group drew inspiration from concept-albums in various genres by artists such as Pink Floyd, Public Image Ltd., Herbie Hancock and Isaac Hayes.
The album places in the top 100 of numerous British Best Albums Ever lists, and Rolling Stone gives it #395 in their 500 Greatest Albums Ever. It would definitely place higher if it was a product of the U.S.
I also was intrigued at the theme to some British detective show, which turned out to be another one of Massive Attack's biggest hits, Teardrop. Included that for your listening pleasure, as well as a José González cover of the same track which appeared on his latest album 'In Our Nature'. (González's music is also featured in the previous post, in the "Balls" commercial)
Email me if you want the Massive Attack album, or search for it here.
I'll let you in on a little secret, great album to get busy to :)
Downloads
Safe From Harm (off Blue Lines)
Be Thankful for What You've Got (off Blue Lines)
Unfinished Symphony (off Blue Lines)
Teardrop (off Mezzanine)
Teardrop (Jose Gonzalez cover)
Streaming
