Collected - The Best Of Massive Attack : Greatest Hits Reviews

What's amazes me about Massive Attack is that 18 years on, their music still sounds fresh as ever. This quality is exhibited by the rarest of music artists. At the moment, I can only think of Led Zeppelin having that kind of musical catalogue, every album sounds fresh and relevant. Even U2s earliest work sounds a little dated now (though their 90s work still retains this quality). I think this quality comes from being hugely influential, as Massive Attack have been. They didn't need to re-invent themselves every few years, they just did what they did best and the rest of the world paid attention every time (and the same can be said of Led Zeppelin).

Coming to the subject of the review, this collection is an excellent retrospective of Massive Attack's work. The only highlights missing are their non-album collaborations with other artists. It picks fairly evenly from all their albums (Four from Mezzanine and three each from their other studio albums) and adds an excellent new track 'Live with me'. Such is the quality of the material that each of these tracks is a highlight. The most well known track here is probably 'Teardrop' (an edited version of the song is the opening theme to the TV show 'House'). If that's the only song by Massive Attack you've heard, do yourself a favour and pick up the album.

The only gripe I have with this album is the aforementioned collaborations. Having some of those would have made this a true retrospective of their career and not just the music they released in their own albums. I'll mention some here in case anyone wants to check them out:
'I Against I' with Mos Def (from the 'Blade II' OST)
'I Want You' with Madonna (from the 'Something to Remember' collection)
'The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game' with Tracey Thorn (from the 'Batman Forever' OST)

All in all, this is a great introduction to Massive Attack (though missing a few pieces) plus the new song to show that they still have 'it'.

One listen to Collected and you quickly realize just how influential this band was to what is known as trip-hop. Collected is one of those must-have albums for anybody wanting to expand their musical horizons in a specific genre.

All the defining moments of Massive Attack's musical journey are here. Track three "Angel" remains one of my all-time favourite tracks with its dark eerie intro, numb build-up and rousing finale that can rival any great song out there. Song "Unfinished Sympathy" has already received many accolades as being one of the best songs in recent history such as a Top 10 finish in Q Magazine's Best British Song, NME, and the BRITs 25 Song Award categories. Alongside Portishead, you easily hear how Massive Attack has influenced this genre and music in general.

This compilation just flows throughout and represents well what this band has been doing for over 15 years. Although the quintessential Massive Attack album remains Mezzanine for its complete body of work, this compilation is a reference you will use for any dinner as background music or those moments where you want to reflect on things. A definite must!