Massive Attack – 100th Window (2003)

Most of the hardcore Massive Attack fans value the early albums a lot more than this one, but for me, 100th Window is Massive Attack's best work after Mezzanine. It may be because even though I've always liked the band and have appreciated their great sounds, something has always been missing that would've made this band larger than life. Mezzanine and 100th Window remind me of other bands around the turn of the millennium, such as Radiohead and Air. So, in a technical sense, this album is further away from the purist trip hop scene that made the city of Bristol famous. This album could be better categorised as indie electronica. The sound is very experimental combining hypnotising loops to space sounds and echoey whisper vocals. There are a few visiting artists on this album, including Sinéad O' Connor and Damon Albarn.



I remember being introduced to Massive Attack through a friend of mine who made me a mixed tape of interesting bands around the turn of the millennium. That tape consisted of songs by Massive Attack, Elliott Smith, Super Furry Animals and Grandaddy. All of these bands have since then deserved their place in my most appreciated artists. Although, Massive Attack was never as important to me as the others. I'm sure I had already heard some of the hit songs before on the radio or on music programmes on TV, but I hadn't really paid that much attention to the band before that tape.

Massive Attack really pays attention to the visual image as well. The album cover of a shattering glass human is amazingly beautiful. Also, their music videos are like pieces of modern art. As and example, here's a video for Butterfly Caught. The imagery is like from some modern horror film. The singing man gets a butterfly tattoo on his face little by little during this video. The use of blinking lights is done masterfully.

It's very difficult to mention any individual songs from this album. It's not really an album consisting of singles. It's more of a mood piece as a whole, where amazingly strange sounds create amazing background for relaxation and meditation. As is typical of the trip hop genre, the instruments do not really play melodies and the whole melody is left for the vocals. This makes the music sound menacing and hypnotising.

The album is quite long and it is even longer due to the fact that there's a hidden track in the style of the 90's. In this type of album, I'm not too concerned about the length though, because it's not just a collection of songs.

I really love the bass lines on this album. They are very simple and just do the same loop over and over again, but it really sets the mood for the album. I can picture the bass player just jamming over the same chord over and over again. Even a simple thing like that is fun for the bass player as long as the groove is there.

Massive Attack is among the most important bands of the late 90's and early 00's and this album is one of my favourites from them. This kind of sound has influenced numerous later bands and opened the way for new sound ideas.

Album on Spotify.