No. 395: Blue Lines

Band: Massive Attack
Album: Blue Lines
Why Rolling Stone gets it right:Trip-hop's first real release, "Blue Lines" is seen as a revelation in dance music. Made by filtering American-style hip hop through the prism of soul, "Blue Lines" is amazing. It's not necessarily dance music in the same way we know it, but it remains beautiful.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Let's not get crazy. It's not perfect and I still can't totally wrap my head around it.
Best song: "Unfinished Symphony" is pretty great.
Worst song: "Hymn of the Big Wheel" kind of stinks.
Is it awesome?: Sure.

What is known as "trip hop" is mostly background music to most people and I can see that. I listen to a lot of what is considered background music (post-rock), so I am

And "Blue Lines" is an absolutely brilliant record. Filtering hip hop through downbeat and soul music was unprecedented feat. The

There's a real symphonic quality, not surprisingly, to "Unfinished Symphony." It's lush and pretty. "Be Thankful for What You Got" is a nice little inspirational thing. "Safe from Harm" is a little more danceable. The piano on "One Love" is excellent and the vocals are really pretty. Horace Andy's vocal on "Five Man Army" absolutely makes the song. "Daydreaming" is one of Tricky's first real tracks and is brilliant.

Look, I'm clearly over my head here, writing about this record. I don't know much about trip hop and writing about what is, essentially, R&B slowcore is difficult to do put into coherent wording.

Just trust me. This album is amazing.