Customer Reviews
Bristol music - By: R. Rudge, 15 Jun 2007 
In reference to the review dubbing this a one track album, what album were you listening to???? I am offended by your review!
Yes unfinished sympathy is a truly great song, but is by no means the best on the album! Blue lines is one of the greatest albums ever & every track is a classic!
Sadly, a one-track album - By: music fan, 18 Jan 2007 
The outright winner here is "Unfinished Sympathy", a thing of beauty so superbly crafted & utterly satisfying that, ironically, it makes all the remaining tracks on this album sound dull. Bedazzled & blinded by genius, or just plain ripped off? Whatever the truth is, I'll be inclined to download that one track & spare myself the cost of the album.
A Massive Triumph - By: , 16 Feb 2005 I came to this album very late - 13 years late to be exact - & I'm stillin the honeymoon period with it, playing it constantly. I'm probably about to say the same as everyone else but there's not a duff track here, mainly because of the different styles at play (jazz, hip-hop, dub, dance, bits of soul, the beginnings of trip-hop, tribal beats with 'Hymn of the big wheel' & of course, orchestral music on 'Unfinished Sympathy'). There's a wonderfully sparse, late-night feel on tracks such as 'Blue Lines' & 'Five Man Army' - the way 3D & crew languidly interact with each other on these tracks is awesome - & 'Lately' has such a dreamy, atmospheric quality to it, not forgetting a wicked bassline. Then there's the magnificent 'Unfinished Sympathy', but I don't think I need to go on about the chilling effect it has on my mind, body & soul because that's all old hat really. Not that this album will ever be old hat - I'm pretty sure I'll still be listening to itin another 13 years.
Trip-Hop Heaven - By: , 30 Nov 2004 Firstly, for those of you who are new to Massive Attack, who may have heard "Unfinished Sympathy" & not a lot else & think that "Blue Lines" is an album that continuesin this desperately majestic vein of ambient flamboyance - I suggest you think again.
Chilled out it is - commercial it certainly isn't, but for me that's the beauty of this album - it's one of the genuine trip-hop albums that isn't afraid to be what it is. You won't find it coweringin a halfway house somewhere between commercial big beats & full-scale ambient nonsense noises. This is Trip-hop at its best! The sort of stuff that you'd chill out to after a massive rave, when you're experiencing that coldness & realizing that you'll never be able to get back the night before & the love you felt.
If you're a fan of the genre you must buy it! However, if you're expecting something of a pre-cursor to Chicane's "Far From The Madding Crowd" you will be disappointed!
Influencing the influential. - By: R Jess, 19 Jul 2004 
Although many have spoken of the enormous influence of 'Blue Lines' on modern music, few seem to have taken time to consider the influences that have shaped it (something the band has expressley donein the liner notes to the album). One of the major influences on the opening tracks 'Safe from Harm' & 'One Love' is Headhunters-era Herbie Hancock. The funky extended groove & the distant electric piano are classic jazz fusion sounds.
Massive attack perform their own form of fusionin harnessing Shara Nelson's wonderful soul-feuled vocals with the emerging sounds of British hip-hop. You can even hear the influence of Marvin Gaye on a track like 'Be Thankful For What You've Got'; or the sound of late 70's New York on 'Lately' (a time & place of obvious influence, as mention of the movie 'Taxi Driver'in the liner notes attests to).
Dub is also of major importance to the sound of 'Blue Lines', something the young Tricky uses to full effect on '5 Man Army'. Don't forget another of MA's name dropping influence, PIL. Jah Wobble's dub-heavy bass echos round the rhythm of 'Safe From Harm'. Horace Andy's vocals are just as powerful as Nelson's even if they come from a different musical genre. He gives huge emotion to the pop sensibility of 'Hymn Of The Big Wheel' & the contrast of his yearning vocal against the nocturnal background of 'One Love' is an original sound not lost on Moby.
The only thing I have to take a star off for is the dreadful monotone rappingin an English accent, which might have sounded radicalin '91, but has become mildly irritatingin 2004.
