Line #28 Music/Mezzanine


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cba8fa0c8911c97f3ce9106879247041.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: ''Love you, love you, love you, love you,...'']]
3
4	''Mezzanine'' (1998) is the third album by English trip-hop group Music/MassiveAttack. The album was a major departure from the jazzy and laidback sound of their first two albums, ''Blue Lines'' (1991) and ''Protection'' (1994). The sounds are more DarkerAndEdgier with a shift towards AlternativeRock and {{Ambient}}.
5
6	''Mezzanine'' is Massive Attack's most commercially successful album to date, attributed in part to the success of the singles "Angel" and "Risingson" but especially "Teardrop", used as the theme song for the medical drama show ''Series/{{House}}''. It is listed on both ''Magazine/RollingStone'' and ''NME''[='=]s lists of the 500 greatest albums of all time (#412 and #215, respectively). It was the final album to feature Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles, who split from the band due to CreativeDifferences.
7	----
8	!!Tracklist:
9	# "Angel" (6:19)
10	# "Risingson" (4:58)
11	# "Teardrop" (5:30)
12	# "Inertia Creeps" (5:57)
13	# "Exchange" (4:11)
14	# "Dissolved Girl" (6:06)
15	# "Man Next Door" (5:56)
16	# "Black Milk" (6:21)
17	# "Mezzanine" (5:56)
18	# "Group Four" (8:12)
19	# "Exchange" (4:10)
20	# "Superpredators" (5:16)
21
22	!!Personnel:
23	* Robert Del Naja: vocals, keyboards, samples
24	* Grant Marshall: vocals, keyboards, samples
25	* Andrew Vowles: keyboards, samples
26	* Neil Davidge: keyboards, samples
27	* Horace Andy: vocals
28	* [[Music/CocteauTwins Elizabeth Fraser]]: vocals
29	* Sara Jay: vocals
30	* Angelo Bruschini: guitars
31	* Jon Harris, Bob Locke, Winston Blisset: bass guitar
32	* Andy Gangadeen: drums
33	* Dave Jenkins, Michael Timothy: keyboards
34	* Jan Kybert: Protools
35
36	!!''Trope, trope, ... is a verb''
37	* {{Ambient}}: The music is close to this genre.
38	* AnimalMotifs: A ''Lucanus cervus'' stag beetle is featured on the album cover.
39	* BrokenRecord: "Angel"
40	--> ''Love you, love you, love you, love you, love you, ...''
41	* CoverVersion: "Man Next Door", a cover by John Holt and the Paragons, here performed by Horace Andy.
42	* CreepyMonotone: Del Naja's vocal delivery is extremely dry and deadpan, which only adds on the album's ominous ambiance.
43	* DarkerAndEdgier: The sound and lyrics are far darker compared to their previous albums.
44	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The black-and-white cover.
45	* DigitalPiracyIsOkay: This was the first music album to be released to the public for free on their website.
46	* EpicRocking: All tracks go over the five minute mark, except for "Exchange". The longest track is the 8:12 "Group Four".
47	* GriefSong: "Teardrop". Being that Elizabeth Fraser wrote about her own feelings after learning her friend Music/JeffBuckley had passed away. Gives more of a factor as to why the song's bleak tone is the way it is.
48	* HeartbeatSoundtrack: The bass drums in "Teardrop" are designed to sound like a heartbeat, and conveniently the song is used as the theme song for the medical TV series ''Series/{{House}}''.
49	* {{Instrumentals}}: "Exchange". Later on the album the same track appears again, but with vocals.
50	* IntercourseWithYou: It's more obvious in some songs than in others — the chorus of "Inertia Creeps" is basically just "moving up slowly / she comes," and a prominent line in "Mezzanine" is "don't frown / tastes better on the way back down." Actually, pretty much the only songs on the album that don't have this are "Exchange," "Man Next Door," and maybe "Group Four" depending on one's interpretation.
51	* NightmareFuelStationAttendant:
52	** If you don't like bugs, you might find the album cover a bit icky.
53	*** [[http://thingd-media-ec2.thefancy.com/default/251456511_131c24298b45.jpg The full picture of the bug]] is probably ickier.
54	** The music video for "Teardrop", with its depiction of an unborn baby drifting through a massive, empty womb, is more than a little disturbing. Especially when the baby start ''singing''.
55	** "Man Next Door"
56	--> ''I've got to get away from here''
57	--> ''This is not a place for me to stay''
58	--> ''I've got to take my family''
59	--> ''We'll find a quiet place''
60	--> ''Hear the pots and pans they fall''
61	--> ''Bang against my wall''
62	--> ''Bang against my wall''
63	--> ''No rest at all''
64	* ObsessionSong: "Angel", of the passive type. The song was originally done by constant collaborator/quasi-band member Horace Andy as a [[TheCoverChangesTheMeaning Reggae love song]], but the harsh, AlternativeRock riffing and pounding drums just illustrate how the instrumental backing can drastically change a song's context.
65	--> ''[[MadnessMantra Loveyouloveyouloveyouloveyouloveyou...]]''
66	* OneManSong: "Man Next Door".
67	* OneWomanSong: "Dissolved Girl".
68	* OneWomanWail: "Teardrop" features vocals by Elizabeth Fraser.
69	* OneWordTitle: "Angel", "Risingson", "Teardrop", "Exchange" and "Mezzanine".
70	* PopCulturalOsmosis: "Teardrop" is recognizable to fans of the TV series ''Series/{{House}}'', because the show uses the song as its intro theme.
71	* ThePowerOfLove:
72	** "Angel"
73	--> ''You are my angel''
74	--> ''Come from way above to bring me love''
75	** "Teardrop"
76	--> ''Love, love is a verb''
77	--> ''Love is a doing word''
78	--> ''Fearless on my breath''
79	--> ''Gentle impulsion''
80	--> ''Shakes me, makes me lighter''
81	--> ''Fearless on my breath''
82	** "Exchange"
83	--> ''Never mix love with hatred''
84	* RecordProducer: Neil Davidge.
85	* {{Sampling}}: The album makes heavy use of samples from the early 1970s.
86	** "Angel" samples "Last Bongo in Belgium" by the Incredible Bongo Band.
87	** "Risingson" samples "I Found A Reason" from Music/VelvetUnderground's ''Music/{{Loaded}}''.
88	** "Teardrop" has a sample of "Sometimes I Cry" by Les [=McCann=].
89	** "Inertia Creeps" samples "Rockwrok" by Ultravox.
90	** "Exchange" samples both "Our Day Will Come" by Music/IsaacHayes and "Summer in the City" by Music/QuincyJones.
91	** "Man Next Door" is built up from samples by "When the Levee Breaks" from Music/LedZeppelin's ''Music/LedZeppelinIV'' and "10:15 Saturday Night" by Music/{{The Cure\|Band}}.
92	** "Black Milk" samples "Tribute" by Music/ManfredMann.
93	** "Mezzanine" samples "Heavy Soul Slinger" by Bernard Purdie.
94	** "Superpredator" samples "Metal Postcard" by Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, but only on the Japanese release.
95	* SayMyName: "Dissolved Girl"
96	--> ''Say, say my name''
97	--> ''I need a little love to ease the pain''
98	* SpecialGuest: Reggae artist Horace Andy performs on "Angel", "Man Next Door" and "(Exchange)", whilst "Teardrop", "Black Milk" and "Group Four" feature [[Music/{{CocteauTwins}} Elizabeth Fraser]] on vocals.
99	* TitleTrack: "Mezzanine".
100	* TitleDrop: "Man Next Door" comes ''very'' close but technically averts it by phrasing the title slightly differently ("there is a man ''that lives'' next door").

Context Music / Mezzanine