Mezzanine (album)

Mezzanine
Studio album by Massive Attack
Released 20 April 1998 (1998-04-20)
Recorded 1997–98
Studio Massive Attack, Christchurch Studios
(Bristol, England)
Genre
Length 63:29
Label
Producer
Massive Attack chronology
Protection
(1994)		 Mezzanine
(1998)		 100th Window
(2003)
Singles from Mezzanine
  1. "Risingson"
    Released: 4 August 1997
  2. "Teardrop"
    Released: 27 April 1998
  3. "Angel"
    Released: 13 July 1998
  4. "Inertia Creeps"
    Released: 17 November 1998

Mezzanine is the third studio album by English trip hop group Massive Attack, released on 20 April 1998 by Virgin Records. It was the first album to be produced by Neil Davidge, along with the group. The entire album was provided on their website for legal download many months before the physical release was announced, one of the first major uses of the MP3 format by a commercial organisation.

Mezzanine topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, becoming the band's most commercially successful album to date. It saw the band expanding their trip hop sound to electronica stylings,[1] with diverse influences from rock, hip hop and dub genres.[3]

Background

The production of Mezzanine was a stressful process, with tensions arising within the group. The album was meant to be released in December 1997, but was delayed by four months, with Del Naja spending most of the time in the studio "making tracks, tearing them apart, f***ing [sic] them up, panicking, then starting again."[4]

Mezzanine was a pretty sketchy album in terms of the way we worked, because the band, as reported a lot at that time, were not getting on. So I'd be in the studio working with one of the members and someone else would come in, then the person I had been working with would leave and I'd have to change the track I was working on because they didn't want to work on that track, they wanted to work on something different. Sometimes I'd be working on perhaps four different tracks in one day, which was a pretty messy way to work.

“
”

– Neil Davidge in an interview with Sound on Sound.[5]

The album's working title was Damaged Goods, which was the name of the Gang of Four's 1978 debut single.[6]

"Teardrop" became the opening theme to the American medical drama television series House, which ran on Fox from 2004 to 2012.

Composition

Musically, Mezzanine is a major departure from the jazzy and laidback sound of the first two albums, Blue Lines and Protection, invoking the dark undercurrents which had always been present in the collective's music. The album's textured and deep tone relies heavily on abstract and ambient sounds, as demonstrated in the song "Angel" among others.

Similar to their previous albums, several songs use one or more samples, ranging from Isaac Hayes to The Cure. In 1998, Manfred Mann sued Massive Attack for unauthorised use of a sample of the song "Tribute" from Manfred Mann's Earth Band's eponymous 1972 album, used on "Black Milk".[7] The song has subsequently appeared as "Black Melt" on later releases and at live performances, with the sample removed.

Mezzanine marked the parting of band member Andrew Vowles, due to creative conflicts. Horace Andy, a well-known reggae artist, also performed several spots on the album.[8]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Drowned in Sound10/10[10]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[11]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[2]
NME8/10[12]
Pitchfork Media8.1/10[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[15]
Uncut[16]
Vox[17]

Mezzanine entered the UK Albums Chart at number one,[18] and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 4 September 1998 and then double platinum on 22 July 2013.[19] However, it failed to share the same success in North America, peaking at number 60 on the Billboard 200[20] and number 51 on the Canadian Albums Chart.[21]

The album received significant critical acclaim, who praised the collective's new sound. Rolling Stone's Barney Hoskyns, although praising the album, pointed to its flaws: "Sometimes rhythm and texture are explored at the expense of memorable tunes, and the absence of the bizarre Tricky [...] only highlights the flat, monotonous rapping of the group's 3-D."[14] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a two-star honorable mention rating and selected "Risingson" and "Man Next Door" as highlights.[22]

John Bush of AllMusic also had positive words for the album's song "Inertia Creeps", saying it "could well be the highlight, another feature for just the core threesome. With eerie atmospherics, fuzz-tone guitars, and a wealth of effects, the song could well be the best production from the best team of producers the electronic world had ever seen."[9]

Years after the album was released, it was placed on several best-of lists in the UK and the United States. In 2000, Q magazine placed Mezzanine at number 15 on its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 412 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[23] In 2013, it was placed at 215 on NME's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[1]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Angel"  
 6:18
2. "Risingson"  
 4:58
3. "Teardrop"  
 5:29
4. "Inertia Creeps"  
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
 5:56
5. "Exchange"  
 4:11
6. "Dissolved Girl"  
 6:07
7. "Man Next Door"  John Holt 5:55
8. "Black Milk"  
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
  • Fraser
 6:20
9. "Mezzanine"  
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
 5:54
10. "Group Four"  
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
  • Fraser
 8:13
11. "(Exchange)"  
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Vowles
  • Hinds
  • Hilliard
  • Garson
 4:08
Sampling credits

Personnel

Other personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1998) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[25] 1
Austrian Albums Chart[26] 3
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[27] 4
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[28] 14
Canadian Albums Chart[21] 51
Danish Albums Chart[29] 14
Dutch Albums Chart[30] 17
European Top 100 Albums[31] 1
Finnish Albums Chart[32] 4
French Albums Chart[33] 3
German Albums Chart[34] 6
Hungarian Albums Chart[35] 14
Irish Albums Chart[36] 1
Italian Albums Chart[36] 3
Japanese Albums Chart[37] 72
New Zealand Albums Chart[38] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[39] 2
Scottish Albums Chart[40] 2
Swedish Albums Chart[41] 4
Swiss Albums Chart[42] 6
UK Albums Chart[18] 1
US Billboard 200[20] 60

Year-end charts

Chart (1998) Position
Australian Albums Chart[43] 53
Austrian Albums Chart[44] 27
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[45] 41
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[46] 100
Dutch Albums Chart[47] 75
French Albums Chart[48] 46
German Albums Chart[49] 34
Italian Albums Chart[50] 59
New Zealand Albums Chart[51] 10
UK Albums Chart[52] 40

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[53] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[54] Gold 25,000x
Belgium (BEA)[55] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[56] Gold 50,000^
France (SNEP)[57] 2× Gold 243,000[58]
Germany (BVMI)[59] Gold 250,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[60] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[61] Gold 25,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[62] Platinum 50,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] 2× Platinum 600,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[63] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 300–201". NME. Time Inc. UK. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 Mirkin, Steven (15 May 1998). "Mezzanine". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  3. ↑ Mueller, Gavin (1 September 2003). "Massive Attack – Mezzanine – Review". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  4. ↑ Hanson, Amy. "Risingson - Massive Attack". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Humberstone, Nigel (April 2003). "Massive Attack – Neil Davidge: Recording 100th Window". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "Red Lines: Bristol, England". red-lines.co.uk.
  7. ↑ "Manfred Mann Sues Massive Attack". MTV News. Viacom. 30 December 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Horace Andy Bio - Horace Andy Career". MTV Artists.
  9. 1 2 Bush, John. "Mezzanine – Massive Attack". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  10. ↑ Narin, Cihan (1 April 2001). "Album Review: Mezzanine Attack – Mezzanine". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  11. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
  12. ↑ Cameron, Keith (18 April 1998). "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  13. ↑ DiCrescenzo, Brent (1 May 1998). "Massive Attack: Mezzanine". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  14. 1 2 Hoskyns, Barney (28 May 1998). "Massive Attack: Mezzanine". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  15. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
  16. ↑ "Floored genius". Uncut (11). April 1998.
  17. ↑ Crysell, Andy (May 1998). "The Next Level". Vox (91).
  18. 1 2 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 26 April – 2 May 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  19. 1 2 "British album certifications – Massive Attack – Mezzanine". British Phonographic Industry. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2015. Enter Mezzanine in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  20. 1 2 "Massive Attack Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  21. 1 2 "Top 100 CDs". RPM 67 (7). 11 May 1998. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  22. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Massive Attack: Mezzanine". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  23. ↑ "412) Mezzanine". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. 1 November 2003. Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  24. ↑ メザニーン [Mezzanine] (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  25. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  26. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  27. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  28. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  29. ↑ "Massive Attack / Mezzanine". TOP20.dk. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  30. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  31. ↑ "Hits of the World". Billboard 110 (21): 63. 23 May 1998. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  32. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  33. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  34. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  35. ↑ "Top 40 album-, DVD- és válogatáslemez-lista – 1998. 20. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  36. 1 2 "Hits of the World". Billboard 110 (19): 58–59. 9 May 1998. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  37. ↑ マッシヴ・アタックのアルバム売り上げランキング [Massive Attack album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  38. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  39. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  40. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 26 April – 2 May 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  41. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  42. ↑ "Massive Attack – Mezzanine". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  43. ↑ "ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 1998". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  44. ↑ "Jahreshitparade Alben 1998" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  45. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1998 – Albums" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  46. ↑ "Rapports Annuels 1998 – Albums" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  47. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1998" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  48. ↑ "Classement Albums – année 1998" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  49. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1998" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  50. ↑ "Gli album più venduti del 1998" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  51. ↑ "Top Selling Albums of 1998". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  52. ↑ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1998". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  53. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1998 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  54. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Massive Attack – Mezzanine" (in German). IFPI Austria. 31 May 2001. Retrieved 10 January 2013. Enter Massive Attack in the field Interpret. Enter Mezzanine in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  55. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2004". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. 4 September 2004. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  56. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Massive Attack – Mezzanine". Music Canada. 15 September 1998. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  57. ↑ "Certifications Albums Double Or – année 1999" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 22 December 1999. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  58. ↑ "Les Albums Double Or" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  59. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Massive Attack; 'Mezzanine')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  60. ↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Massive Attack – Mezzanine". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. 25 October 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  61. ↑ "Trofeer" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  62. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Massive Attack; 'Mezzanine')". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  63. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2004". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
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