Showing posts with label Massive Attack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Massive Attack. Show all posts

Saturday, September 14, 2024

The Top 25 Electronica Albums of All Time

Electronica:

The Top 25 Albums

This is Dave’s Music Database’s take on the top electronica albums of all time. This list is the result of an aggregate of 16 best-of lists focused on electronica albums. Links will take you to more detailed pages about the album at DavesMusicDatabase.com.

Check out other best-of-genre/category lists here.

1. Massive Attack Blue Lines (1991)
2. DJ Shadow Endtroducing… (1996)
3. Portishead Dummy (1994)
4. Moby Play (1999)
5. The Orb Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (1991)

6. Tricky Maxinquaye (1995)
7. Leftfield Leftism (1995)
8. The Prodigy The Fat of the Land (1997)
9. Orbital Orbital 2 (aka “The Brown Album”) (1993)
10. Underworld Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1993)

11. Daft Punk Homework (1997)
12. Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole (1997)
13. Primal Scream Screamadelica (1991)
14. Global Communication 76:14 (1997)
15. Fatboy Slim You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby (1998)

16. Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (compilation: 1985-92, released 1992)
17. Happy Mondays Pills ‘N’ Thrills and Bellyaches (1990)
18. Depeche Mode Violator (1990)
19. Air Moon Safari (1998)
20. The Prodigy Music for the Jilted Generation (1994)

21. Massive Attack Mezzanine (1998)
22. The Chemical Brothers Exit Planet Dust (1995)
23. Kraftwerk Computerwelt (Computer World) (1981)
24. The KLF Chill Out (1990)
25. New Order Substance (compilation: 1981-87, released 1987)

Resources and Related Links:

First posted 11/29/2011; last updated 9/14/2024.

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Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Q Magazine: Top 200 Songs

Q Magazine:

Top 200 Songs

Q is a British music magazine which premiered in 1986 and ceased publication in 2020. Over the years, they published numerous best-of lists. Below is an exclusive Dave’s Music Database list in which sixteen different lists (sources at bottom of page) from Q have been consolidated into an aggregate list.

Click here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations.

Spotify Podcast:

Check out Dave’s Music Database podcast: Q Magazine: The Best Songs of All Time based on this list. It debuts November 2, 2021 at 7pm CST. Tune in every Tuesday at 7pm for a new episode based on the lists at Dave’s Music Database.

1. New Order “Blue Monday” (1983)
2. Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991)
3. Sex Pistols “God Save the Queen” (1977)
4. The La’s “There She Goes” (1988)
5. The Jam “Going Underground” (1980)
6. The Specials “Ghost Town” (1981)
7. Prodigy “Firestarter” (1996)
8. Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975)
9. Oasis “Live Forever” (1994)
10. Massive Attack “Unfinished Sympathy” (1991)

11. Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (1980)
12. Pulp “Common People” (1995)
13. The Undertones “Teenage Kicks” (1978)
14. The Verve “Bitter Sweet Symphony” (1997)
15. The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” (1967)
16. Blur “Song 2” (1997)
17. Stone Roses “Fools Gold” (1989)
18. Robbie Williams “Angels” (1997)
19. Underworld “Born Slippy” (1995)
20. Donna Summer “I Feel Love” (1977)

21. Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler & Joe Perry “Walk This Way” (1986)
22. Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
23. The Who “My Generation” (1965)
24. Black Sabbath “Paranoid” (1970)
25. The Kinks “You Really Got Me” (1964)
26. David Bowie “Heroes” (1977)
27. The Smiths “How Soon Is Now?” (1984)
28. U2 “One” (1992)
29. The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” (1966)
30. Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (1988)

31. Radiohead “Creep” (1993)
32. Kate Bush “Wuthering Heights” (1978)
33. The Smiths “This Charming Man” (1983)
34. Motörhead “Ace of Spaces” (1980)
35. M/A/R/R/S “Pump Up the Volume” (1987)
36. Bruce Springsteen “Born to Run” (1975)
37. Coldplay “The Scientist” (2002)
38. Prince “Kiss” (1986)
39. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five “The Message” (1982)
40. The Beatles “She Loves You” (1963)

41. The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965)
42. Soft Cell “Tainted Love” (1981)
43. Madonna “Into the Groove” (1985)
44. Oasis “Wonderwall” (1995)
45. Eminem with Dido “Stan” (2000)
46. Bob Marley & the Wailers “No Woman, No Cry” (1974)
47. The Beach Boys “God Only Knows” (1966)
48. The Stone Roses “I Am the Resurrection” (1989)
49. Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Relax” (1983)
50. Soul II Soul “Back to Life (How Ever Do You Want Me)” (1989)

51. Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” (1971)
52. 10cc “I’m Not in Love” (1975)
53. Michael Jackson “Billie Jean” (1982)
54. Depeche Mode “Personal Jesus” (1989)
55. Lonnie Donegan “Rock Island Line” (1956)
56. Public Enemy “Rebel Without a Pause” (1987)
57. The Clash “London Calling” (1979)
58. John Lennon “Imagine” (1971)
59. Slade “Cum on Feel the Noize” (1973)
60. Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” (1977)

61. Cornershop “Brimful of Asha” (1997)
62. The Ronettes “Be My Baby” (1963)
63. The Beatles “A Day in the Life” (1967)
64. Marvin Gaye “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968)
65. The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” (1967)
66. Happy Mondays “Step On” (1990)
67. Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the U.K.” (1976)
68. N.W.A. “Fuck tha Police” (1989)
69. David Bowie “Life on Mars?” (1973)
70. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “All Along the Watchtower” (1968)

71. Tubeway Army “Are Friends Electric?” (1979)
72. Manic Street Preachers “Motorcycle Emptiness” (1992)
73. The MC5 “Kick Out the Jams” (1969)
74. The Smiths “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” (1992)
75. Manic Street Preachers “A Design for Life” (1996)
76. R.E.M. “Everybody Hurts” (1993)
77. Radiohead “Paranoid Android” (1997)
78. Eagles “Hotel California” (1977)
79. The Police “Every Breath You Take” (1983)
80. U2 “Where the Streets Have No Name” (1987)

81. Rage Against the Machine “Killing in the Name” (1992)
82. Metallica “Enter Sandman” (1991)
83. Elvis Presley “Suspicious Minds” (1969)
84. The Rolling Stones “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (1968)
85. Little Richard “Tutti Frutti” (1955)
86. Elvis Presley “That's All Right, Mama” (1954)
87. Roxy Music “Virginia Plain” (1972)
88. Eminem “My Name Is…” (1999)
89. Pet Shop Boys “West End Girls” (1985)
90. T-Rex “Get It On (Bang a Gong)” (1971)

91. The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows” (1966)
92. Madonna “Like a Prayer” (1989)
93. Kaiser Chiefs “I Predict a Riot” (2004)
94. The Jam “A Town Called Malice” (1982)
95. Dexy’s Midnight Runners “Come on Eileen” (1982)
96. The Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter” (1968)
97. Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On” (1971)
98. Supergrass “Alright” (1995)
99. OutKast “Hey Ya!” (2003)
100. Streets “Dry Your Eyes” (2004)

101. The Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil” (1968)
102. Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott “Get Ur Freak On” (2001)
103. Beyoncé with Jay-Z “Crazy in Love” (2003)
104. Led Zeppelin “Kashmir” (1975)
105. The Strokes “Last Nite” (2001)
106. Otis Redding “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” (1968)
107. Marvin Gaye “Sexual Healing” (1982)
108. The Beatles “Something” (1969)
109. Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg “Je T'Aime (Moi Non Plus)” (1969)
110. The Byrds “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)

111. Van Halen “Jump” (1983)
112. Kraftwerk “Autobahn” (1974)
113. The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army” (2003)
114. Blur “This Is a Low” (1995)
115. Cliff Richard & the Drifers “Move It” (1958)
116. Stevie Wonder “Superstition” (1972)
117. The Waterboys “The Whole of the Moon” (1985)
118. U2 “With or Without You” (1987)
119. Iggy Pop “Lust for Life” (1977)
120. So Solid Crew “21 Seconds” (2001)

121. Abba “Dancing Queen” (1976)
122. This Mortal Coil “Song to the Siren” (1982)
123. AC/DC “Whole Lotta Rosie” (1977)
124. R.E.M. “Losing My Religion” (1991)
125. The Monkees “Last Train to Clarksville” (1966)
126. House of Pain “Jump Around” (1992)
127. Madness “Baggy Trousers” (1980)
128. Billie Holiday “Strange Fruit” (1939)
129. The Jackson 5 “I Want You Back” (1969)
130. Lou Reed “Walk on the Wild Side” (1972)

131. Big Star “September Gurls” (1974)
132. The Beastie Boys “You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party” (1986)
133. Prince “Sign ‘O’ the Times” (1987)
134. Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” (1976)
135. Jefferson Airplane “White Rabbit” (1967)
136. The Small Faces “Itchycoo Park” (1967)
137. The Beatles “In My Life” (1968)
138. Kylie Minogue “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” (2001)
139. The Beatles “Paperback Writer” (1966)
140. Cream “Sunshine of Your Love” (1968)

141. Dinosaur Jr. “Freak Scene” (1988)
142. Britney Spears “Baby One More Time” (1998)
143. The Tornadoes “Telstar” (1962)
144. Franz Ferdinand “Take Me Out” (2004)
145. The Temptations “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” (1972)
146. Blur “Parklife” (1994)
147. Foo Fighters “Monkey Wrench” (1997)
148. U2 “Sunday Bloody Sunday” (1983)
149. Dizzee Rascal “Fix Up Look Sharp” (2003)
150. Ike & Tina Turner “River Deep, Mountain High” (1966)

151. Link Wray & His Men “Rumble” (1958)
152. The Beatles “Help!” (1965)
153. The Clash “White Riot” (1977)
154. Primal Scream “Loaded” (1990)
155. Wayne Smith “Under Me Sleng Teng” (1985)
156. Deep Purple “Smoke on the Water” (1973)
157. Radiohead “Fake Plastic Trees” (1995)
158. Desmond Dekker & the Aces “The Israelites” (1969)
159. Led Zeppelin “Rock and Roll” (1971)
160. Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel “White Lines (Don’t Do It)” (1983)

161. Coldplay “Yellow” (2000)
162. The Strokes “Hard to Explain” (2001)
163. Oasis “Champagne Supernova” (1996)
164. Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (1971)
165. Derek & the Dominos “Layla” (1971)
166. Rhythim Is Rhythim “Strings of Life” (1987)
167. Jeff Buckley “Hallelujah” (1994)
168. Baddiel & Skinner & Lightning Seeds “Three Lions” (1996)
169. Fairport Convention “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?” (1969)
170. James Brown “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine)” (1970)

171. Bill Haley & the Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954)
172. The Shadows “Apache” (1960)
173. The Who “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (1971)
174. The Beatles “Hey Jude” (1968)
175. Pink Floyd “Comfortably Numb”
176. Amy Winehouse “Rehab” (2006)
177. The Beatles “Let It Be” (1970)
178. Oasis “Don’t Look Back in Anger” (1995)
179. Billy Bragg “A New England” (1983)
180. The Specials “Gangsters” (1979)

181. Arctic Monkeys “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor” (2005)
182. The Troggs “Wild Thing” (1966)
183. Morrissey “Everyday Is Like Sunday” (1988)
184. Spice Girls “Wannabe” (1996)
185. Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Two Tribes” (1984)
186. Radiohead “Karma Police” (1997)
187. Ray Charles “What’d I Say” (1959)
188. Guns N’ Roses “Paradise City” (1987)
189. The Verve “The Drugs Don’t Work” (1997)
190. The Jam “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” (1978)

191. The Smiths “The Queen Is Dead” (1986)
192. The Beatles “Penny Lane” (1967)
193. David Bowie “Starman” (1972)
194. Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” (2006)
195. Elton John “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Gonna Be a Long Time)” (1972)
196. Elvis Costello “I Don’t Want to Go to Chelsea” (1978)
197. The Pixies “Debaser” (1989)
198. Culture Club “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” (1982)
199. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Purple Haze” (1967)
200. Keane “Everybody’s Changing” (2004)

Resources/Related Links:

  • Dave’s Music Database: “Lists from other publications and/or organizations”

  • Readers’ poll (2/99).
    Top 100 songs of all-time according to Q readers.

  • The 50 Most Exciting Tunes Ever (1/02).

  • 100 Songs That Changed the World (1/03).

  • 1001 Best Songs Ever (1/04).
    Don’t know details of how list was compiled.

  • The Music That Changed the World (2004).
    3 special editions in January (covering 1954-69), February (covering 1970-1979), and March 2004 (covering 1980-2004). Each featured a top 20 album list and a top 20 song list.

  • 1010 Songs You Must Own! (9/04).
    Multiple unranked lists for one-hit wonders, air guitar, duets, short & to the point, epics, instrumentals, cover versions, ballads, remixes, best of the 21st century so far, Getting Wasted: 60 Songs for the Tired & Emotional, Chilling Out: 60 Songs to Soothe the Furrowed Brow, Girls & Boys: 60 Songs for Love’s Little Ups & Downs, On the Move: 60 Songs to Soundtrack the Open Road, On a Downer: 60 Songs for Long Dark Night of the Soul, and The Perfect 10. Finally, there are celebrity lists from Dave Grohl, ?estlove, Basement Jaxx, Jeremy Vine, Travis Barker, Lucinda Williams, Beenie Man, Tim Westwood, Tim Rice, and Katie Melua.

  • 50 Greatest British Tracks (10/04).

  • Ultimate Music Collection (4/05).
    Multiple lists of essential albums and tracks by genre (rock, pop, punk/new wave, rap, country, blues, soul, metal, reggae, jazz, folk, electronic, and indie). Also had five essential artists (The Beatles, Madonna, Bob Dylan, U2, and Velvet Underground) with one album choice each and selected songs. Finally, the collection is rounded out with tracks selected by musicians Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, Brandon Flowers of the Killers, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and Johnny Borrell of Razorlight. Finally, there was a list of the basics one should be sure to have.

  • Best of the ‘80s (8/06).
    A list of the 40 best albums and 40 best tracks.

  • The 100 Greatest Songs Ever (10/06).
    Top 100 songs of all-time according to Q readers.

  • Top 20 Albums and Singles of the Lifetime of Q Magazine (20 Years) (11/06; issue 244)

  • 50 Years of Great British Music (3/08).
    Chronological listing with 10 tracks and 10 albums for each decade (no album list for the ‘50s).

  • 50 Ultimate British Songs (4/11).
    Top 50 ranked list with commentary. As chosen by songwriters, singers, & readers.

  • 156 Most Influential Records of All Time (4/19).
    A list of albums and songs.

First posted 4/14/2011; last updated 11/2/2021.

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Friday, November 30, 2007

The Guardian – Top 100 Albums

The Guardian:

The Top 100 Albums

The Guardian is a UK newspaper which has published a few best-of lists over the years. Below are their top 100 albums, as determined by aggregating five album-focused lists published from 1997 to 2007. See links to those lists at bottom of page.

Check out other publications and organizations’ best-of album lists here.

1. The Stone Roses The Stone Roses (1989)
2. Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
3. Radiohead The Bends (1995)
4. Marvin Gaye What’s Going On (1971)
5. The Jimi Hendrix Experience Are You Experienced? (1967)
6. Massive Attack Blue Lines (1991)
7. Patti Smith Horses (1975)
8. Primal Scream Screamadelica (1991)
9. John Coltrane A Love Supreme (1965)
10. The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

11. Nirvana Nevermind (1991)
12. David Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
13. The Beach Boys Pet Sounds (1966)
14. Velvet Underground & Nico Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
15. The Clash London Calling (1979)
16. Joni Mitchell Blue (1971)
17. Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
18. Frank Sinatra Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! (1956)
19. Miles Davis Kind of Blue (1959)
20. Oasis Definitely Maybe (1994)

21. Michael Jackson Thriller (1982)
22. Bruce Springsteen Born to Run (1975)
23. Talking Heads Fear of Music (1979)
24. Jeff Buckley Grace (1994)
25. Fleetwood Mac Rumours (1977)
26. The Doors The Doors (1967)
27. Kate Bush Hounds of Love (1985)
28. Pulp Different Class (1995)
29. Joy Division Closer (1980)
30. Paul Simon Graceland (1986)

31. Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
32. Dexy’s Midnight Runners Searching for the Young Soul Rebels (1980)
33. The Beatles Revolver (1966)
34. The Beatles The Beatles (aka “The White Album”) (1968)
35. Oasis (What’s the Story) Morning Glory (1995)
36. R.E.M. Automatic for the People (1992)
37. The Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977)
38. The Smiths The Queen Is Dead (1986)
39. U2 The Joshua Tree (1987)
40. Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill (1995)

41. The Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street (1972)
42. Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks (1975)
43. The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed (1969)
44. Lou Reed Transformer (1972)
45. The Stooges Raw Power (1973)
46. Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
47. The Pixies Doolittle (1989)
48. The Smiths The Smiths (1984)
49. John Lennon Imagine (1971)
50. Neil Young After the Gold Rush (1970)

51. Prince Sign ‘O’ the Times (1987)
52. Aretha Franklin I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967)
53. Portishead Dummy (1994)
54. Spice Girls Spice (1996)
55. Blur Parklife (1994)
56. Michael Jackson Off the Wall (1979)
57. Nick Drake Five Leaves Left (1969)
58. James Brown Live at the Apollo Volume 1 (live, 1962)
59. Ramones Ramones (1976)
60. Björk Debut (1993)

61. Augustus Pablo King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (1976)
62. U2 Achtung Baby (1991)
63. Love Forever Changes (1967)
64. Television Marquee Moon (1977)
65. Various artists (Bee Gees et al) Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack, 1977)
66. Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell (1977)
67. Rod Stewart Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)
68. The Strokes Is This It (2001)
69. De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
70. The Verve A Northern Soul (1995)

71. The Human League Dare! (1981)
72. Tricky Maxinquaye (1995)
73. Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
74. Prefab Sprout Steve McQueen (aka “Two Wheels Good”) (1985)
75. Radiohead OK Computer (1997)
76. Van Morrison Astral Weeks (1968)
77. The Beatles Abbey Road (1969)
78. Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
79. Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde (1966)
80. David Bowie Hunky Dory (1971)

81. The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland (1968)
82. Simon & Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
83. The Band The Band (1969)
84. The Prodigy Fat of the Land (1997)
85. The Verve Urban Hymns (1997)
86. Kraftwerk Trans-Europa Express (Trans Europe Express) (1977)
87. Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
88. Queen A Night at the Opera (1975)
89. Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
90. The Clash The Clash (1977)

91. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band Trout Mask Replica (1969)
92. Bob Marley & the Wailers Exodus (1977)
93. Dire Straits Brothers in Arms (1985)
94. The Jam All Mod Cons (1978)
95. Bob Marley & the Wailers Legend (compilation: 1973-83, released 1984)
96. Dusty Springfield Dusty in Memphis (1969)
97. Happy Mondays Pills ‘N’ Thrills and Bellyaches (1990)
98. Joy Division Unknown Pleasures (1979)
99. The Specials The Specials (1979)
100. Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin II (1969)

Resources and Related Links:

First posted 11/30/2007; last updated 3/12/2024.

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Friday, December 31, 1999

The Top Albums of the 1990s

1990-1999:

Top 100 Albums

These are the top albums from 1990-1999 according to Dave’s Music Database, which factors in sales, chart data, awards, album ratings, and appearances on best-of lists. Compilations, archival recordings, and reissues are not factored into this list.

You can check out the top albums of all time or for other decades by clicking here.

  1. Nirvana Nevermind (1991)
  2. Radiohead OK Computer (1997)
  3. R.E.M. Automatic for the People (1992)
  4. Pearl Jam Ten (1991)
  5. Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill (1995)
  6. Oasis (What’s the Story) Morning Glory (1995)
  7. U2 Achtung Baby (1991)
  8. Metallica Metallica (aka “The Black Album”) (1991)
  9. Jeff Buckley Grace (1994)
  10. Radiohead The Bends (1995)

  11. Green Day Green Day Dookie (1994)
  12. Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
  13. Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
  14. Shania Twain Come on Over (1997)
  15. Various Artists (Whitney Houston et al) The Bodyguard (soundtrack, 1992)
  16. Beck Odelay (1996)
  17. Oasis Definitely Maybe (1994)
  18. Massive Attack Blue Lines (1991)
  19. Nirvana In Utero (1993)
  20. Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream (1993)

  21. Portishead Dummy (1994)
  22. R.E.M. Out of Time (1991)
  23. Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
  24. The Verve Urban Hymns (1997)
  25. Dr. Dre The Chronic (1992)
  26. Santana Supernatural (1999)
  27. Michael Jackson Dangerous (1991)
  28. Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral (1994)
  29. Blur Parklife (1994)
  30. Depeche Mode Violator (1990)

  31. My Bloody Valentine Loveless (1991)
  32. Soundgarden Superunknown (1994)
  33. Primal Scream Screamadelica (1991)
  34. Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (1992)
  35. Pulp Different Class (1995)
  36. Moby Play (1999)
  37. Spice Girls Spice (1996)
  38. Mariah Carey Music Box (1993)
  39. M.C. Hammer Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em (1990)
  40. Garth Brooks No Fences (1990)

  41. Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication (1999)
  42. Alice in Chains Dirt (1992)
  43. Pearl Jam Vs. (1993)
  44. Sinéad O’Connor I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (1990)
  45. Madonna Ray of Light (1998)
  46. Tori Amos Little Earthquakes (1992)
  47. Liz Phair Exile in Guyville (1993)
  48. DJ Shadow Endtroducing… (1996)
  49. Fugees The Score (1996)
  50. Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (1990)

  51. Celine Dion Falling into You (1996)
  52. Hootie & the Blowfish Cracked Rear View (1994)
  53. Sheryl Crow Tuesday Night Music Club (1993)
  54. Boyz II Men II
  55. Garth Brooks Ropin’ the Wind (1991)
  56. Live Throwing Copper (1994)
  57. Wu-Tang Clan Enter the Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers) (1993)
  58. James Horner (composer) Titanic (soundtrack, 1997)
  59. Mariah Carey Daydream (1995)
  60. No Doubt Tragic Kingdom (1995)

  61. The Notorious B.I.G. Ready to Die (1994)
  62. Counting Crows August and Everything After (1993)
  63. Hole Live Through This (1994)
  64. Britney Spears …Baby One More Time (1999)
  65. Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion II (1991)
  66. Lucinda Williams Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998)
  67. Bob Dylan Time Out of Mind (1997)
  68. TLC Crazy Sexy Cool (1994)
  69. Pavement Slanted and Enchanted (1992)
  70. A Tribe Called Quest The Low End Theory (1991)

  71. Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion I (1991)
  72. Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
  73. Björk Debut (1993)
  74. PJ Harvey To Bring You My Love (1995)
  75. Snoop Dogg Doggystyle (1993)
  76. Nas Illmatic (1994)
  77. Various Artists Buena Vista Social Club (1997)
  78. Celine Dion Let’s Talk about Love (1997)
  79. The Prodigy The Fat of the Land (1997)
  80. Backstreet Boys Millennium (1999)

  81. Janet Jackson janet. (1993)
  82. Tupac Shakur (2pac) All Eyez on Me (1996)
  83. Weezer Weezer (aka “The Blue Album”) (1994)
  84. Stone Temple Pilots Core (1992)
  85. Dixie Chicks Wide Open Spaces (1998)
  86. Tricky Maxinquaye (1995)
  87. Air Moon Safari (1998)
  88. Elton John/Tim Rice (composers) The Lion King (soundtrack, 1994)
  89. The Offspring Smash (1994)
  90. Pearl Jam Vitalogy (1994)

  91. Dido No Angel (1999)
  92. Eminem The Slim Shady LP (1999)
  93. Ace of Base The Sign (1993)
  94. Shania Twain The Woman in Me (1995)
  95. Natalie Cole Unforgettable…With Love (1991)
  96. Manic Street Preachers The Holy Bible (1994)
  97. Manic Street Preachers Everything Must Go (1996)
  98. Various Artists (Whitney Houston et al) Waiting to Exhale (soundtrack, 1995)
  99. Billy Ray Cyrus Some Gave All (1992)
  100. Sarah McLachlan Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (1993)

Resources and Related Links:

First posted 2/16/2011; last updated 2/6/2026.

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Monday, April 8, 1991

Massive Attack released Blue Lines

Blue Lines

Massive Attack

Released: April 8, 1991

Peak: -- US, 13 UK, -- CN, 69 AU

Sales (in millions): 0.2 US, 0.86 UK, 1.26 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: dance/electronica > trip-hop

Tracks:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts.

  1. Safe from Harm (5/27/91, 25 UK, 28 MR)
  2. One Love
  3. Blue Lines
  4. Be Thankful for What You Got (2/10/92, --)
  5. Five Man Army
  6. Unfinished Sympathy (2/11/91, 13 UK)
  7. Daydreaming (10/15/90, 81 UK)
  8. Lately
  9. Hymn of the Big Wheel (2/10/92, --)

Total Running Time: 45:08

The Players:

  • Robert “3D” Del Naja (graffiti artist)
  • Adrian “Tricky” Thaws (singer/rapper)
  • Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles (musician/composer)
  • Grant “Daddy G” Marshall (DJ)
  • Featured vocalists: Shara Nelson, Horace Andy, Tony Bryan

Rating:

4.170 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings)

Awards:

(Click on award to learn more).

Who Are Massive Attack?

Massive Attack formed in 1988 in Bristol, England. Members Grant Marshall, Robert Del Naja, Andrew Vowles, and Tricky came out of the Wild Bunch, a group of DJs and audio engineers, who started performing in 1982. They were marked by their diversity – “English, West Indian and American musicians whose backgrounds were in hip-hop, reggae, rap, soul, and pop music.” CM

They “adapted the Jamaican tradition of sound systems to British clubs.” CM They were, as a review in the Guardian said, “a collective who did not play any instruments themselves and employed other artists to augment – and in some cases – define their electronically driven sound and vision.” IB-114

Bristol

In the early ‘80s, the “Bristol sound” “fused angular reggae guitars, spacey reverb, and funk bass with the complex percussive polyrhythm and chromatic dexterity more associated with free jazz..” IB-17 Thanks to Massive Attack, this sound became known as trip-hop and suddenly this “unattractive west-coast English port changed music.” CM

As a university town, Bristol sees “a constant influx of young people from throughout the UK, which consistently generates fresh ranks of both audiences and instrumentalists.” IB-15 The University of Bristol “specializes in classical and avant-garde composition and even more arcane medieval forms. The DIY zeal of the punk scene was therefore counterbalanced by virtuosic players and traditional jazz hangs. Even now, a quick walk around Bristol…reveals a high concentration of stores selling instruments and production equipment.” IP-16

The Birth of Trip-Hop

Massive Attack’s debut album, Blue Lines, is celebrated as not only “the first trip-hop album” CM but the genre’s “first masterpiece.” AM Mixmag’s Andy Permberton allegedly coined the term while music critic Simon Reynolds said Massive Attack are “widley regarded as the genre’s inventors.” IB-67 It “defined much of the decade to follow,” IB-67 “setting the American hip hop formula to a mossy electronic backdrop.” PM

In simplistic terms, prior to trip-hop if music “had a synth, it was electronic(a) or ‘techno;’ if it had a breakbeat of featured a black producer, it was typically couched as some variant of ‘rap.’” IB-22 Trip-hop was “music that relied on sampling and breakbeats, music that was for and by producers (people who liked record stores) and less for MCs – especially MCs in the American model.” IB-71

Trip-hop however, was more than just a blend of electronica and hip-hop. It also integrated acid house, “classic soul, dub reggae,..and even psychedelic rock.” URB Blue Lines displayed a “wide-ranging palette of influences; a rottedness in diasporic textures and production techniques; a merger of the atmospheric, introspective, and cerebral; and crucially, a subtle but distinct political edge.” IB-4

“Unlike the club music that had come before, Blue Lines was down-tempo with heavy dub grooves that really moved forward but at a languid pace.” CM As Grant Marshall said, “We were trying to…create dance music for the head rather than feet.” IB-6 “This was music that transcended the nightclubs.” CM The sound has been associated with fellow Bristol artist Neneh Cherry as well as British groups Soul II Soul and Portishead.

British Urban Music

Trip-hop was a genre which essentially filtered “American hip-hop through the lens of British club culture.” AM Blue Lines can be viewed “as the beginnings of a truly British form of urban music, one that spoke to the specific contours of black life in England.” IB-128 “Records like Blue Lines did important work precisely because they incorporated styles drawn from Britain’s anti-Conservative punks and black immigrants, and because they carried all of these worlds in the same breath.” IB-130

Relationship to Hip-Hop

In many ways, Blue Lines was “a hip-hop record – it relied on genre-defining techniques such as sampling and scratching. Many of its verses are unmistakably rapped rather than whispered or sung.” IB-77 Grant Marshall said, “in the beginning, the sampler was our main musical instrument…when we first formed Massive Attack, basically we were DJs who went into the studio with our favorite records and created tracks.” IB-112

Music for After the Club

However, while “most hip-hop of the era was made explicitly for blasting from car stereos or banging away at the club, Blue Lines represented a shift toward records made for the lounge or the bedroom,” IB-78 sometimes described as “headphone hip-hop, slowed down moon music for darkened bedroom listening.” IB-65 As Marshall said, “We were making the type of music for after the club. You’ve come home and you’re off your head and you want to relax.” IB-22

The genre’s “dark moodiness…exists in that twilight realm between sleep and waking” RV creating “a stylish, nocturnal sense of scene that encompassed music from rare groove to dub to dance.” AM It “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.” AM

The Songs

Here are thoughts on individual songs.

“Safe from Harm”
“The opener Safe from Harm is the best example” AM of “this new breed of sound and all of the throbbing ecstasy it entails.” RV It features “ghostly whooshes and a dose of reverb, but it paired rasped or whispered stanzas of rhymes with [singer Shara] Nelson’s searing diva hooks.” IB-47 She “lays the vocals over…pulsing beats and balances Tricky Kid’s monotone rap style.” RV Videos for this song and three others from the album “brought both Tricky and Nelson into the limelight, making them the faces of Massive Attack.” IB-113

“One Love”
“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).” AM

It’s a “model of simplicity with its drum machine-beat, barely-there bass throb, and iconic electric piano – purloined from a lengthier Mahavishnu Orchestra workout – which has been looped to sound like a hammered guitar roof.” IB-46 While not complex, “the track was an adept erger of new production techniques and a DJ’s sense of how funk textures might interlock like puzzle pieces.” IB-46 The song “cements an unmistakable psychic tone that elevates Blue Lines beyond the hodge-podge of singles and castoffs that often characterized the hip-hop or dance album format.” IB-33

“Five Man Army”
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.” AM It is “a highpoint of the album and the one most evidently an inheritor of the UK reggae subgenres that prefigure it.” IB-34 In fact, Paste magazine’s Ted Davis calls it “the album’s clear highlight.” PM

“The song pinpoints a grayscale, marbled smoothness at the heart of Blue Lines.” PM It “features spoken-word verses from The Wild Bunch sound system affiliate Willy Wee” PM “calmly rapping over a dub reggae-laced downtempo beat.” PM The track is “all throbbing, spidery bass, reverb-soaked-up-picks on the guitar syncopated rim clicks and little riffs on something that sounds like a synthesized melodica.” IB-34

“Be Thankful for What You’ve Got”
This is a “lovely, if lesser known, paean to the virtues of gratitude.” IB-72 It “is quite close to the smooth soul tune conjured by its title.” AM “It’s fair to say that the message of this song is precisely the opposite of what was on offer in most American hip-hop.” IB-73

The original version of “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got” was by William DeVaughn in 1974. “It’s languid, funky, with an insistent beat layered in the sumptuous instrumentation so typical of the era’s productions.” IB-75 Rather than just sample a few bars of the song, though, Massive Attack “produced what amounts to a thoughtful cover, but using production techniques suited to the hip-hop era.” IB-73

“Unfinished Sympathy”
This is “the group’s first classic production…a tremendously moving fusion of up-tempo hip-hop and dancefloor jam with slow-moving, syrupy strings.” AM Thi was “an influential, landmark song influencing many subsequent British artists.” CM

Both this and “Safe From Harm” “are chillout classics, driven by undulating basslines, blissful synthesizer pads, and crisp percussion.” PM “Unfinished Sympathy” is “one of the most widely discussed ‘electronic’ singles of the decade and a landmark production.” IB-118 “Many critics, musicians, and casual listeners consider ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ to be the most beautiful ‘dance’ record ever produced.” IB-115

“Daydreaming”
This song “is, in many ways, a rather pure distillation of the Massive sound. Musically, it is built around an iconic beat, and a sample of the first sections of Beninois composer Wally Badarou’s instrumental ‘Mambo’ from 1984. It’s all atmospheric washes of keys and airy piano fills over a loping, expressive puercussion.” IB-54

“Hymn of the Big Wheel”
“By the time Blue Lines comes to a close with the layered orchestrations of Hymn of the Big Wheel, it’s clear Moby, Fatboy Slim, Portishead and Radiohead owe Massive Attack a debt of gratitude.” RV “It isn’t just a visionary soul record; it’s also a better slow-sex album than any other we can name.” VB

Resources:

Related DMDB Pages:

First posted 3/22/2008; last updated 11/19/2024.

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Monday, February 11, 1991

Massive Attack “Unfinished Sympathy” released

Unfinished Sympathy

Massive Attack

Writer(s): Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles, Robert Del Naja, Shara Nelson (see lyrics here)

Released: February 11, 1991

First Charted: February 23, 1991

Peak: 13 UK, 95 AU (Click for codes to singles charts.)

Sales (in millions): 0.4 UK

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 42.0 video, 77.43 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Massive Attack formed in 1988, pioneering “a new style of dance music, commonly termed ‘trip-hop.’” XFM Their debut album, 1991’s Blue Lines, was released “to widespread critical acclaim and has gone on to be hugely influential.” XF The album’s “standout track,” XFM is “Unfinished Sympathy,” which is “recognized as a pioneering song in the development of British dance music.” WK

They released the song as a single in February 1991, although they temporarily scrapped the name Massive Attack in favor of the less controversial “Massive.” The term “massive attack” had been deemed unpatriotic by the BBC in light of the Gulf War and the band risked the song being banned by radio. WK They also didn’t want to be seen as supporting the Gulf War. XFM

It is “one of the most moving pieces of dance music ever written. It begins with a simple slow beat before bursting into life with percussion and strings. Shara Nelson’s vocals define the track, with a wonderfully rich and emotive voice that sounds like it would be more commonly found on a soul track coming out of Detroit rather than a dance track from Bristol.” XFM Lyrically the song “finds Nelson longing for her companion, but wary because she has been hurt before.” SF

The use of a string section and other orchestral elements was considered innovative in the electronic dance genre. SF It was originally played on synthesizers, but band member DJ Mushroom said it “sounded too tacky, so we thought we may as well use real strings. The orchestra definitely changed the feeling of the song, making it heavier and deeper with more feeling.” WK

The video, directed by Baillie Walsh, was one of the first to use a continuous shot following singer Shara Nelson as she walked through a Los Angeles neighborhood oblivious to her surroundings. WK It has been copied many times since, perhaps most notably by The Verve with “Bittersweet Symphony.” XFM

Resources:

  • SF Songfacts
  • WK Wikipedia
  • XFM Mike Walsh (editor) (2010). The XFM Top 1000 Songs of All Time. Elliott & Thompson Limited: London, England. Page 266.

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First posted 10/26/2021.

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