BLUE LINES
MASSIVE ATTACK
ON ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL DEBUT ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, THE BRISTOLIAN SOUNDSYSTEM RIPPED UP THE RULEBOOK FOR THE SAMPLE-HEAVY BLUE LINES AND LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK ON BRITISH MUSIC
STEVE HARNELL
L-R: Andrew Vowles (Mushroom), Shara Nelson and Robert Del Naja (3D)
Mick Hutson/Redferns/Getty
Massive Attack’s Daddy G captured the essence of Blue Lines perfectly when he summed up their game-changing album as “dance music for the head, rather than the feet.” One of the all-time great debut LPs, its nine tracks would become the set text of trip-hop and act as a soulful counterpoint to the dominant grunge scene of the early 90s.
Emerging from Bristol’s Wild Bunch crew, Massive Attack joined Soul II Soul in bringing soundsystem culture to the mainstream. In an early interview with the NME Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja explained: “We haven’t really got a line-up.