The Depths · All albums

Blue Lines

Massive Attack · 1991

• Scores: Noise 1, Unease 1, Complexity 1 (each 1 to 5)
• Genre: Electronic, Trip-hop
• Mood: smoky, nocturnal, languid
• Sound: slow breakbeats, sampled soul and dub, multiple guest vocalists, bass-heavy

Blue Lines is Massive Attack's debut album, recorded in 1990 and 1991 at studios in Bristol and London, with Shara Nelson and Horace Andy on vocals and Wil Malone arranging the strings on "Unfinished Sympathy". It joins hip-hop breakbeats, sampling and rapping to dub, soul and reggae at slow tempos, from about 90 bpm down to 67. Some of the songs date back to the group's Wild Bunch sound-system days. It was released on 8 April 1991 and is generally regarded as the first trip hop album.

Track list

1. Safe from Harm (5:18)
2. One Love (4:48)
3. Blue Lines (4:21)
4. Be Thankful for What You've Got (4:09)
5. Five Man Army (6:04)
6. Unfinished Sympathy (5:08)
7. Daydreaming (4:14)
8. Lately (4:26)
9. Hymn of the Big Wheel (6:36)