Artist: Massive Attack
Title: Special Cases
Date: March 14, 2005
So how could 100th Window possibly compare to this mammoth of a recording, especially with only 3D (Robert Del Naja) present in the production studio? Grudgingly at first, but with more fervor on each listen, I am recognizing that although something may have been lost by the loss of the other members, 3D has been able to explore his own ideas more thoroughly, resulting in a dark, symphonic album that is every bit as worthy of the Massive Attack moniker as Mezzanine was. While the overtly political “A Prayer For England” was the first track from this album that really captured my heart (perhaps you may remember the “Let not another child be slain” motto on my AIM profile for a while?), I have come to greatly enjoy almost all the songs on this album. “Special Cases” bears no special trait apart from its distinctive beginning, as it contains the darkly sultry singing that characterizes most of Massive Attack’s best works (”Protection”, “Teardrop”, etc.); it is simply my current favorite track.
When I first heard the most recent album by Massive Attack (a “group” that now has only 1 member left), I was very skeptical how it could possibly match up to their previous Mezzanine. As far as I was concerned, that album was virtually untouchable, with it’s 1-2-3-4 knockout punch of opening tracks, “Angel” (featured heavily in various soundtracks, including that for Snatch and Pi), “Risingson”, “Teardrop”, and “Inertia Creeps”, and a generally strong and unified album throughout (the track “Dissolved Girl” was supposedly played in The Matrix, but I must confess that despite my 10-odd viewings of that film, I don’t recall where).
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