Protection
The second album, with Tracey Thorn, Nicolette and Horace Andy singing, and Tricky rapping on two tracks.
Massive Attack, 1994
- Released
- 26 September 1994
- Recorded
- 1993-94
- Studio
- Wild Bunch Studios, London; Massive Attack and Antenne studios, Bristol; mixed at Olympic Studios, London
- Label
- Wild Bunch / Circa
- Producer
- Nellee Hooper, Massive Attack
- Length
- 48:57
The music ranges from R&B on the title track and Sly to rap on Karmacoma and Eurochild, reggae-tinged synth-pop on Spying Glass, and classical-influenced instrumentals on Weather Storm and Heat Miser. It follows Blue Lines in look as well as sound: the cover keeps the typeface of the earlier sleeve and shows a mostly burned version of its artwork.
Tricky raps on Karmacoma and Eurochild. Weather Storm samples Pieces of a Dream, Better Things samples James Brown's Never Can Say Goodbye, and the closing live Light My Fire samples Young-Holt Unlimited. Rolling Stone's Paul Evans wrote that it "smoothly fuses dub, club and soul". The magazine placed it at number 51 on its 2011 list of the 100 best albums of the nineties. Mad Professor remixed the whole record in 1995 as No Protection.
Track listing
- Protection7:51
- Karmacoma5:16
- Three3:49
- Weather Storm4:59
- Spying Glass5:20
- Better Things4:13
- Eurochild5:11
- Sly5:24
- Heat Miser3:39
- Light My Fire (live)3:15
Personnel
- Tracey Thorn vocals on Protection and Better Things
- Robert Del Naja vocals on Karmacoma and Eurochild
- Adrian Thaws vocals on Karmacoma and Eurochild
- Nicolette vocals on Three and Sly
- Horace Andy vocals on Spying Glass and Light My Fire
- Grant Marshall vocals on Light My Fire
- Craig Armstrong piano on Weather Storm and Heat Miser, arrangement and conducting on Sly
- Chester Kamen guitar on Better Things
- Rob Merrill drums on Heat Miser
- Marius de Vries, Andy Wright, The Insects, Nick Warren programming
- Nellee Hooper production, mixing
- Mark "Spike" Stent mix engineering, tracks 1 to 8
- Jim Abbiss mix engineering, track 9
- Mike Marsh mastering
More from Massive Attack
Blue Lines (1991), Mezzanine (1998), 100th Window (2003), Heligoland (2010)
Sources
- Protection (Massive Attack album), Wikipedia