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Massive Attack finally got it perfect on their third effort "Mezzanine". By ditching the unappealing, whiny and overly opera-like vocals heard in the hit-or-miss albums "Blue Lines" and "Protection", they've now created an amazingly cohesive project that is both dark and memorable. "Mezzanine" both contains the group's best beats and most appealing / melancholy vocal arrangements, and all while being cohesive, all the songs sound different from one another. "Angel" contains amazing, grinding drums and aggressive guitar solos, as heard in other tracks too. "Teardrop" and both versions of "Exchange" (the first without vocals and the latter with vocals) are calmer cuts, and the first contains a very catchy beat on top of an echo-y acoustic guitar arrangement while the latter sounds throwback-ish and out of place, but at the same time, strangely belongs. The second half gets more deep. First with "Man Next Door", which contains the most eclectic, melancholy guitar arrangement. The second, "Black Milk", which is the weirdest, darkest, and most trip-hop / Portishead-like oriented moment on the album. Then the third, the title track, is the final standout, containing an appealing dark synth and drum arrangement. Overall though, the songs that aren't standouts might drag a little when not in a casual listen, but other than that, every single track is intriguing from beginning to end, and ultimately is Massive Attack's best album to date.

RATING- 9 / 10
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Track Picks:

Angel
Risingson
Teardrop
Inertia Creeps
Black Milk
Mezzanine
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(ALBUM PICK)
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