n.
Either of two blue lines running across an ice-hockey rink, usually 60 feet from each goal, and dividing the rink into defensive, neutral, and offensive zones.
blueline
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Dictionary:
blue·line or blue line (blū'līn')  |
| Medical Dictionary: blue line |
n.
A bluish line along a border of the gums resulting from chronic lead poisoning.
| Veterinary Dictionary: blue line |
An undulating line between the superficial layer of an articular cartilage and its deeper mineralized layer. Called also tidemark.
| Album Review: Blue Lines |
- Artist: Massive Attack
- Rating:
- Release Date: August 06, 1991
- Total Time: 45:02
- Genre: Electronica
Review
The first masterpiece of what was only termed trip-hop much later, Blue Lines filtered American hip-hop through the lens of British club culture, a stylish, nocturnal sense of scene that encompassed music from rare groove to dub to dance. The album balances dark, diva-led club jams along the lines of Soul II Soul with some of the best British rap (vocals and production) heard up to that point, occasionally on the same track. The opener "Safe From Harm" is the best example, with diva vocalist Shara Nelson trading off lines with the group's own monotone (yet effective) rapping. Even more than hip-hop or dance, however, dub is the big touchstone on Blue Lines. Most of the productions aren't quite as earthy as you'd expect, but the influence is palpable in the atmospherics of the songs, like the faraway electric piano on "One Love" (with beautiful vocals from the near-legendary Horace Andy). One track, "Five Man Army," makes the dub inspiration explicit, with a clattering percussion line, moderate reverb on the guitar and drums, and Andy's exquisite falsetto flitting over the chorus. Blue Lines isn't all darkness, either -- "Be Thankful for What You've Got" is quite close to the smooth soul tune conjured by its title, and "Unfinished Sympathy" -- the group's first classic production -- is a tremendously moving fusion of up-tempo hip-hop and dancefloor jam with slow-moving, syrupy strings. Flaunting both their range and their tremendously evocative productions, Massive Attack recorded one of the best dance albums of all time. ~ John Bush, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Safe from Harm (Lyrics) | Shara Nelson, |
Massive Attack | (5:16) |
| One Love (Lyrics) | Massive Attack | (4:48) | |
| Blue Lines | James Brown, |
Massive Attack | (4:21) |
| Be Thankful for What You Got (Lyrics) | William DeVaughn | Massive Attack | (4:09) |
| Five Man Army | Massive Attack | (6:04) | |
| Unfinished Sympathy (Lyrics) | Shara Nelson, |
Massive Attack | (5:08) |
| Daydreaming (Lyrics) | Wally Badarou, |
Massive Attack | (4:14) |
| Lately (Lyrics) | Shara Nelson, |
Massive Attack | (4:26) |
| Hymn of the Big Wheel (Lyrics) | Horace Andy, Neneh Cherry, |
Massive Attack | (6:36) |
Credits
Massive Attack (Vocals), Massive Attack (Producer), Massive Attack (Main Performer), Horace Andy (Vocals),| Wikipedia: Blue Lines |
| Blue Lines | ||||
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| Studio album by Massive Attack | ||||
| Released | 8 April 1991 (UK) 6 August 1991 (US) |
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| Recorded | 1990, Bristol and London | |||
| Genre | Trip hop, soul | |||
| Length | 45:02 | |||
| Label | Virgin Records, Circa | |||
| Producer | Massive Attack, Cameron McVey, Jonny Dollar | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
| Massive Attack chronology | ||||
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Blue Lines is the debut album by British electronica group Massive Attack, released on 8 April 1991 (see 1991 in music) by Virgin Records.
Blue Lines is generally considered the first trip hop album,[1] although the term was not coined until years later. The album was a success in the United Kingdom, reaching #13 in the albums chart; sales were limited elsewhere. A fusion of electronic music, hip hop, dub music, '70s soul music and reggae, the album established Massive Attack as one of the most innovative British bands of the 1990s and the founder of trip hop's Bristol Sound.[2] Music critic Simon Reynolds stated 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."[3] The group also drew inspiration from concept albums in various genres by artists such as Pink Floyd, Public Image Ltd., Herbie Hancock and Isaac Hayes.[3]
Blue Lines featured breakbeats, sampling, and rapping on a number of tracks, but the design of the album differed from traditional hip hop. Massive Attack approached the American-born hip hop movement from an underground British perspective, as well as incorporating live instruments into the mixes. It features the vocals of Shara Nelson and Horace Andy, along with the rapping of Tricky Kid. Blue Lines proved to be popular in the club scene, as well as on college radio stations.[4]
Daddy G said about the making of the album:
| “ | We were lazy Bristol twats. It was Neneh Cherry who kicked our arses and got us in the studio. We recorded a lot at her house, in her baby's room. It stank for months and eventually we found a dirty nappy behind a radiator. I was still DJing, but what we were trying to do was create dance music for the head, rather than the feet. I think it's our freshest album, we were at our strongest then.[5] | ” |
Contents |
Critical acclaim
In 1997, Blue Lines was named the 21st "greatest album of all time" in a "Music of the Millennium" poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998, Q readers placed it at number 58 in its list of the "100 Greatest Albums Ever", and in 2000, the album was voted at number 9 in the magazine's poll of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". In 2003, the album was ranked number 395 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Stuart Bailie of BBC Northern Ireland stated that, "It was soul music. But it had bold, symphonic arrangements. It featured samples of the Mahavishnu Orchestra going 'hey, hey hey, hey.' It had funky breaks and an emotional power that was hard to figure. It sounded anxious and lost. But there was a grandeur in the music also. People who came across the record became obsessed, spinning it endlessly."[6]
The track "Unfinished Sympathy" has received high accolades, frequently described as one of the best songs of all time. It was nominated for a BRIT Award as best single of 1991. It also appeared on the soundtrack for the 1993 Sharon Stone film Sliver.[2] According to BBC.co.uk: "More than a decade after its release it remains one of the most moving pieces of dance music ever, able to soften hearts and excite minds just as keenly as a ballad by Bacharach or a melody by McCartney."[7]
Track listing
| # | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Safe from Harm" | Marshall, Vowles, Del Naja, Nelson, Cobham, McLaughlin | 5:18 |
| 2. | "One Love" | Marshall, Vowles, Del Naja, Andy, C.J. Williams, Cobham, Wolinski | 4:48 |
| 3. | "Blue Lines" | Marshall, Vowles, Del Naja, Thaws, Bennett, Brown, Carlton, Geurin, Sample, Scott | 4:21 |
| 4. | "Be Thankful for What You've Got" | DeVaughn | 4:09 |
| 5. | "Five Man Army" | Marshall, Vowles, Del Naja, Thaws, Williams | 6:04 |
| 6. | "Unfinished Sympathy" | Marshall, Vowles, Del Naja, Nelson, J. Sharp | 5:08 |
| 7. | "Daydreaming" | Marshall, Vowles, Del Naja, Nelson, Thaws, Badarou | 4:14 |
| 8. | "Lately" | Marshall, Vowles, Del Naja, Nelson, G. Redmond, L. Brownlee, J. Simon, F.E. Simon | 4:26 |
| 9. | "Hymn of the Big Wheel" | Marshall, Vowles, Del Naja, Andy, Cherry | 6:36 |
Credits
- All tracks produced and mixed by Massive Attack, Cameron McVey and Jonny Dollar.
- Robert "3D" Del Naja: vocals - keyboards
- Grantley "Daddy G" Marshall: vocals
- Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles: keyboards
- "Safe from Harm"
- Shara Nelson: vocals
- Recorded at Coach House, Bristol
- Mixed at Matrix, London
- Mix engineer: Jeremy Allom
- "One Love"
- Horace Andy: vocals
- Recorded at Coach House, Bristol
- Mixed at Konk Studios, London
- Mix engineer: Bryan Chuck New
- "Blue Lines"
- Massive Attack and Tricky: vocals
- Recorded at Eastcote Studios, London
- Engineer: Kevin Petri
- Mix engineer: Jeremy Allom
- Bass guitar: Paul Johnson
- "Be Thankful for What You've Got"
- Tony Bryan: vocals
- Recorded at Cherry Bear Studios
- Mixed at Matrix, London
- Mix engineer: Jeremy Allom
- "Five Man Army"
- Massive Attack, Horace Andy, Tricky, and Claude "Willie Wee" Williams: vocals
- Recorded at Eastcote Studios, London
- Engineer: Kevin Petri
- Mixed at Matrix, London
- Mix engineer: Jeremy Allom
- "Unfinished Sympathy"
- Shara Nelson: vocals
- Recorded at Coach House, Bristol, and Abbey Road Studios, London
- Strings engineer: Hayden
- Mixed at Matrix, London
- Mix engineer: Jeremy Allom
- Strings arranged and conducted by Wil Malone
- Leader: Gavin Wright
- "Daydreaming"
- Massive Attack, Tricky, and Shara Nelson: vocals
- Recorded at Cherry Bear Studios
- Mixed at Konk Studios and Roundhouse, London
- Mix engineer: Jeremy Allom
- "Lately"
- Shara Nelson: vocals
- Recorded and mixed at Coach House, Bristol
- Mix engineer: Bryan Chuck New
- "Hymn of the Big Wheel"
- Horace Andy: vocals
- Neneh Cherry: backing vocals, additional arrangement
- Mikey General: backing vocals
- Recorded at Coach House, Bristol, and Hot Nights, London
- Mixed at Matrix, London
- Mix engineer: Jeremy Allom
Singles
- "Daydreaming" (15 October 1990)
- "Unfinished Sympathy" (11 February 1991)
- "Safe from Harm" (27 May 1991)
- "Hymn of the Big Wheel" / "Be Thankful for What You've Got" (a.k.a. Massive Attack E.P.) (10 February 1992)
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | UK Albums Chart | 10[8] |
| Year | Title | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Daydreaming" | UK Singles Chart | 81[9] |
| 1991 | "Unfinished Sympathy" | UK Singles Chart | 13[10] |
| 1991 | "Safe from Harm" | UK Singles Chart | 25[11] |
| 1991 | "Safe from Harm" | U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 28 |
| 1991 | "Safe from Harm" | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 35 |
| 1991 | "Safe from Harm" | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | 32 |
| 1992 | Massive Attack E.P. | UK Singles Chart | 27[12] |
See also
References
- ^ Guy Garcia (25 October 1998). "Trip-Hop Reinvents Itself to Take on the World". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/25/arts/music-trip-hop-reinvents-itself-to-take-on-the-world.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
- ^ a b Schwartz, Mark. "Planet Rock: Hip Hop Supa National." In The Vibe History of Hip-hop, ed. Alan Light, 361-72. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999.
- ^ a b Reynolds, Simon (1998). Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture. Little, Brown and Co.. ISBN 0415923735.
- ^ Schwartz, Mark. "Planet Rock: Hip Hop Supa National."
- ^ Ben Thompson (20 June 2004). "Blue Lines, Massive Attack". The Observer. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1240048,00.html. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
- ^ BBC Northern Ireland - Blue Lines[dead link]
- ^ BBC.co.uk - Unfinished Sympathy
- ^ "Massive Attack - Blue Lines". ChartStats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=6462. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
- ^ "Massive Attack - Daydreaming". ChartStats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=18222. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
- ^ "Massive - Unfinished Sympathy". ChartStats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=18606. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
- ^ "Massive Attack - Safe From Harm". ChartStats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=18929. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
- ^ "Massive Attack - Massive Attack (EP)". ChartStats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=19577. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
External links
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