The amount of times I turned to this album and continued to play it long after first hearing it would be impossible for me to count. This album floored me when I first heard it and still does a little bit now. In fact, I actually forced told myself not to play it for a while cause I was frightened that I would fall out of love with it a little bit. I wanted to really savour this review and it’s no surprise I’ve left one of the best till last.

Generally regarded as Massive Attacks best, listening to this you can certainly hear why. The humble urban aspects of their beginnings on Blue Lines are lessened and replaced by ambitious electronics, creating dreamy soundscapes which completely hypnotise you. The use of dub on this album is fantastic and the bass is some of the most addicting I’ve heard. The production on here is simply flawless and you can tell the band have probably gone over everything with a fine tooth comb. This is a sound of a band who continually have expanded their sound and this is the climax. The whole record just flows so well, it’s such a cohesive set of songs that all perfectly intertwine with each other. Despite perhaps been considered a “chillout” album, this isn’t full of quiet subtlety. There is plenty of that to be found, but it’s balanced with some fantastic musical bombast that blows up in your face as well.

One to savour.

Personal Fave Track: “Teardrop” (such a hard choice!)