Mezzanine (album)

Untitled

Mezzanine is the title of the third full-length album from Bristol-based trip-hop innovators Massive Attack. Released in 1998, it marked the moment when the dark undercurrents which had always been present in the collective's music came to the fore.

Hailed by many critics as an artistic success, the overwhelming mood of the album is one of murky oppression; the only respites are the pretty second single "Teardrop" and the chilled-out instrumental "Exchange". Discordant rock guitars feature on several tracks, allegedly against the wishes of founding member Andrew Vowles (aka Mushroom), who left the band shortly after Mezzanine's release, citing creative differences. Mezzanine features the talents of long-time Massive Attack collaborator Horace Andy, along with guest vocalists such as Elizabeth Fraser.

The entire album was provided on Massive Attack's website for legal download many months before it was released on CD. Many successful artists have since done the same, notably Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and The Smashing Pumpkins's Machina II. It was also one of the first major uses of the MP3 compression system by a commercial organisation.

"Teardrop" has recently seen use (albeit heavily edited) as the theme song of FOX's television series House.

"Exchange" is based on a sample from Quincy Jones's cover of Summer in the City.

"Angel" was featured in the 1999 film Go.

Track listing

1. "Angel" (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Hinds) – 6:18
2. "Risingson" (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Reed/Seeger) – 4:58
3. "Teardrop" (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles - performed by Elizabeth Fraser) – 5:29
4. "Inertia Creeps" (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles) – 5:56
5. "Exchange" (Hilliard/Garson) – 4:11
6. "Dissolved Girl" (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Sara Jay/Schwartz) – 6:07
7. "Man Next Door" (Holt/Smith/Tolhurst/Dempsey) – 5:55
8. "Black Milk" (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Fraser) – 6:20
9. "Mezzanine" (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles) – 5:54
10. "Group Four" (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Fraser) – 8:13
11. "(Exchange)" (Hilliard/Garson) – 4:14

Use in other media

Several songs from this album have been featured in major motion pictures; the opening track, "Angel," is featured in the films Snatch (directed by Guy Ritchie), Go (directed by Doug Liman), Flight of the Phoenix, Pi (directed by Darren Aronofsky), Stay (directed by Marc Foster), and Firewall (directed by Richard Loncrane). It was featured in the fourth season finale of television series The West Wing, and part of the track is used as the theme music for another American television series, 24. The third track, "Teardrop," has been featured in multiple TV series. An instrumental passage from the song is the opening theme for House (although versions of the program aired in other countries, such as the UK, use a generic snippet of music that only resembles "Teardrop"). "Teardrop" was also used in the television series La Femme Nikita in the late 90s; in a 2006 episode ("Sanctuary") of the television series Cold Case, in which the piece signifies a flashback to 1998; and on Prison Break, in the episode aired May 1, 2006, titled "Tonight." The fourth track, "Inertia Creeps" is used in the film Stigmata and in the pilot episode of the TV series Numb3rs. The fifth track, "Exchange" was featured twice in the hit documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys", although it did not appear on the soundtrack. The sixth track, "Dissolved Girl" was featured in the films The Matrix and The Jackal. The Japanese release of Mezzanine featured an additional track, "Superpredators," which was also used as the opening theme to the film The Jackal.

Personnel

• Neil Davidge - Producer, Arrangements, Programming, Keyboards, Samples
• Robert Del Naja - Vocals, Art Direction, Design
• Horace Andy, Elizabeth Fraser, Sara Jay, Grant Marshall - Vocals
• Angelo Bruschini - Guitars
• John Harris, Bob Locke, Winston Blisset - Bass Guitars
• Andy Gangadeen - Drums
• Dave Jenkins, Michael Timothy - Additional Keyboards
• Jan Kybert - ProTools
• Lee Shepherd - Engineer
• Mark "Spike" Stent - Mixing
• Jan Kybert, P-Dub - Mixing
• Tim Young
• Nick Knight - Photography
• Tom Hingston, - Art Direction, Design