Made By Heath Killen » Blue Lines

January 13th, 2010
Discography
Blue Lines—

In the lead-up to their first new album in 7 years (Heligoland: February 8th) I’m going to be taking a look back at the evolution of the music and art of Massive Attack, one of my favourite bands.

Massive Attack formed in Bristol UK in 1988, by Robert Del Naja (3D) Grant Marshall (Daddy-G) and Andrew Vowels (Mushroom). The trio emerged out of the British underground club and art scene, drawn together by a desire to create intelligent dance music that combined elements of hip-hop, soul, dub, reggae and electronica.

Their debut album Blue Lines was released on April 8th 1991 – the same year as Nirvana’s Nevermind, Michael Jackson’s Dangerous, Achtung Baby by U2 and the Use Your Illusions album by Guns N Roses. The album couldn’t have been further away, in both sound and geography, from the movement that was about to explode out of Seattle – grunge. In the same year Nelson Mandella was released from jail, Yugoslavia was dismantled, Germany was re-unified, and while the Cold War ended, the Gulf War began.

Blue Lines is a landmark record, replete with tales of love, loss, city life and the contemplation of our place in the universe. Sonically, Blue Lines finds a middle ground between American hip-hop and European house, ranging from lush, symphonic tracks (Unfinished Sympathy) to urban jams (Blue Lines) and it sounds as fresh today as when it was released.

The sound is warm and deep with a hazy, seductive atmosphere. It contains breakbeats slowed down to glacial speeds, string & horn samples from classic soul tracks, and the the vocals of Shara Nelson, Tricky and reggae legend Horace Andy – who would go on to feature on all future Massive Attack albums.

It’s difficult to find a context for the cover art. It certainly continues the use of the large, centered typography featured on the albums of contempraries such as Neneh Cherry (Raw Like Sushi) & Soul II Soul (Vol II), but there’s something that feels wholly unique about it. The design is built around a motif that has essentially become the bands logo – a red ‘flammable gas’ warning sign. This pictogram is printed on a sandy-brown cardboard backing with the band’s name emblazoned over the top in large, lowercase Helvetica Neue Bold Oblique. Designed by 3D, It’s one of the most iconic covers of the 90′s and one of my personal favourites. It seems to eschew all of the typical cover art indulgences like band photography and stylized illustration. There’s a sense of the utilitarian and the anonymous, the ordinary and disposable. Despite (or because of) this there is beauty to it – in its restraint, style and sophistication.

The single artwork is designed similarly to the cover art, using the same font and featuring more ‘danger’ pictograms edited and remixed by 3D. Note the cover for Unfinished Sympathy features the band credited simply as Massive. The photography has a rawness to it, slightly blurred with hyper-saturated colours. The subjects range from everyday objects like power outlets, toasters, rotary telephones to tightly cropped shots of anatomy, faces, hands and eyes. It’s juxtaposed with graffiti, wild colour combinations and industrial textures. What it results in, is a visceral patchwork of urban life.