I am 18 and I just discovered Massive Attack this year. I really liked Portishead and Tricky and thought Trip-Hop was a very interesting musical genre. But it was not until I heard Blue Lines I understood what Trip-hop was all about. It's amazing this is from 1991 because it sounds more modern then anything today! The rap anthems, Five man army and Blue lines are amazing in their arrangements and slow motion rapping. This is what trip hop is all about, it's not suppose to be depressing, it's suppose to be relaxing! And boy is Tricky in great form, just from listening to him here in these few songs and the few from Protection, I must say I feel he took his career in the wrong direction, he didn't have to be so dark and brooding...

Overall a timeless masterpeice. It may be forgotten one day, but it's influence will never be.

One of my all time favourite albums and a dance music masterpiece. Groundbreaking in every sense when this album was released. This was the start of the trip hop revolution, that spawned so many great coffee table, lounge albums from the likes of Portishead, Morcheeba, Nightmares on Wax, Ballistic Brothers etc - Massive Attack were the innovators. The album also encompasses fantastic hip hop (Blue Lines), stunning & timeless soul music (Unfinished Sympathy) & an incredible closing song that speaks poignantly about modern day society & the environment (Hymn of the Big Wheel). Stunning & 5 stars!

Just listened to that album again for the first time in about three years. It immediately got me again. A timeless masterpiece that deservedly entered several alltime-best-album-charts. The genre it defined (trip hop) is more or less dead by now, but Blue Lines survived. None of the protagonists (Massive Attack, Tricky, Shara Nelson) managed to reach this level of perfection ever again.

Someone wrote a whole book about John Coltranes "Love Surpreme". I wouldn't be surprised if on day there is a book about Blue Lines.

Massive Attack as a result of the drama, suspense + bs leading up to and as a result of the initial Iraqi brouhaha. Dropped the Attack from their name for that time.
At one time an indespensable must have. Absolutely one of the top influential records of the 90's and spoken of with a smile and a general ahh yes kinda thing. This album has grown a little long in the tooth (technology and so on) sound and sample wise. Still a beautiful album nonethless song wise, so sit back, light one if you got to and listen. This album managed to open up so many ears to such a variety of possibilities on the musical fronts. As well as launched such a cavalcade of careers, and brought light to folks whom time was prepared to forget as a result of the samples, the songs chosen, the guests invited in.
If you don't know about Massive Attack (pity you) or are curious about the roots of (oh man I'm old) trip hop, down tempo, and acid jazz. This is the album historically that represents a crossroads of so many ideas and paths it's not even funny. If the aforementioned sounds get you going, or the soul and funky tip. You'll probably need to acquire this album. Skip most of the rest of their output album wise it's not the goo like this one.

Some CDs are printed with "Massive" rather than "Massive Attack" as this CD was pressed around the time of the early-nineties Gulf conflict; the name "Massive Attack" was deemed too close to the line, and was therefore changed for this release.

A great collaberation of Massive Attacks moody sound with Shara Nelsons haunting vocal.....stand out track - 'Unfinished Symphany', a contender for the geatest dance track of all time.

in my eyes, another genre defining moment of '91. as the deep bass line from "safe from harm" begins the song, and the song is juggled from turntable to turntable, this was something totally different. a very unique album that sparked a new collective of dj's and musicians and how they worked.

Probably the best, certainly the most important , album of the decade, Blue Lines defined the sound of Britain´s carcass after Thatcher had finished with it. Blue Lines was the first representation of a certain kind of syncretic Britishness that would define the island´s music for the next decade.