You guys are amazing! Your suggestions and engagement keep me going. Since music is copyrighted, this is a fan-funded channel. To leave a suggestion or comment, you can visit my Buy Me a Coffee link: studio.buymeacoffee.com/dashboard, or check out additional content and contact me directly on Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/poloreacts
I love the whole LP. Found it by listening to the following... OMG Top 5 Audiophile Albums with Steven Wilson - The Prog Report. 29:51 Seeds of love 37:52 Massive Attack
If you like Portishead, you'll love Hooverphonic: 2wicky, eden, battersea, mad about you, this strange effect, and club montepulciano. The band Zero 7: in the waiting line, destiny. Singer Esthero: heaven sent, breath from another (this one is particularly amazing), half a world away, every day is a holiday. MORCHEEBA (badass band, all their music is good): blaze away, the sea, aqualung, rome wasn't built in a day.
Agree. I found it through the following interview... OMG! great insights... Top 5 Audiophile Albums with Steven Wilson - The Prog Report. 29:51 Seeds of love 37:52 Massive Attack
I was a nerdy kid at boarding school. Me and my friends lived on the Mezzanine floor of our boarding school, and were nicknamed the Mezzanine Massive. We f**ked about drinking and playing FIFA late at night. Some guy in another house started writing a silly newsletter about the school, so we wrote our own newspaper. We printed 100 copies and send it out, and became famous in the school. Some guy took his copy to the school library, and used his entire annual photocopying allowance to make more and more copies. It flooded the school. Nobody knew who wrote it. And then one of our distributers was beaten up to reveal that it was us... Badasses... It was the summer of 1998, and "Angel" by Massive Attack was in Adidas' advert on TV in the lead-up to the World Cup. With DEL PIERO, ZIDANE, and BECKHAM. The whole of the "Mezzanine" album by Massive Attack comes out, and became our anthem. It was so so cool. And all of a sudden, us dweebs, us misfits, us inbetweeners... pumping out Massive Attack, whilst we wrote a magazine that nearly got us expelled... WE became cool. We ruled the f@@@ng school. That album, "Mezzanine", is so massive in my life. The sleeve art, with it's metal and beetle, is so so iconic. Stark harsh black and white, and the CD inside - bright vivid fluorescent orange with no artwork - so startling. I've DJed in lots of countries. And tracks from this album have been played in unusual bars across the world, by me, as a result. i bought the anniversary album, with remixes, and that CD sits in my collection. My original CD is at the Ship, the legendary music pub in Soho, London, where it's still played to mesmerised ears. In a heavy metal/rock pub with massive music history. Hendrix, Bowie, the Who, Sex Pistols, Iron Maiden, the Animals, Motorhead - they all drank at the Ship... They all left their legend at the pub, and so I've added Massive Attack to the mix. I'm so happy to leave my original 1998 CD in a place with so much history. The album means a lot to me, and thinking that today's teenage staff at that pub will find and play that album, in the pub that I f*****ing love... it gives me a wonderful shiver...
I’m 47 and it’s very hard to explain to the younger generation what the 90’s was like. Rave , jungle , D&B , indie , trip hop, rock and pop music . I remember when jungle and d&b did NOT exist , seems insane 😂😂
@@Me-ri2kethe 90s was a collision of music genres. Digital production techniques were good enough to build complex tracks, but you still had to be an accomplished instrument musician to get the most out of it. Everyone talks about how the 60s was a great decade for music, but for me the 90s was WILD - people respected the music that had gone before but still wanted to be original.
Polo, Elizabeth Fraser is singing this song. One of the most mesmerizing, beautiful, intoxicating, unusual, haunting and gifted voices I’ve ever heard in my life. She’s the singer of the band, Cocteau Twins (no longer together), which is a group you should most *definitely* check out.
First met them in 86/87 when we were all just UK Graffiti writers….. Down to earth talented guys before they were ever Massive Attack (and still are, grounded AF)…… Love, love, love Massive Attack, one of the best bands to ever come outta UK IMO… 🙏
Unfinished Sympathy, protection, karma coma, safe from harm, and pretty much anything off the albums, Blue Lines, Protection, then Mezzanine. Even the songs on Protection and Blue Lines that no-one ever discusses are worth listening to on headphones in the dark. By the way, Massive Attack treat video as an art form too, so their music videos are extraordinary. You can get those on a separate collectors’ disc but theyre all on the internet now anyway (with the possible exception of Be Thankful, he he).
Massive Attack, Portishead, and Tricky: how great it was to experience something unique after the 1980s. Great music of the '70s, then mainly an abomination of the '80s, and such rare miracles later. Hearing all of them live. Yes, I am that old, but it was great luck experiencing great music (including apex of the jazz) - you can hardly find comparable today.
I love Cocteau Twins. Elizabeth Fraser did guest vocals for this track after hearing her ex-boyfriend , singer Jeff Buckley, was drown in the Mississippi river. Her first top twenty hit was a cover of Jeff's dad's song about drowning, Song To The Siren (as this Mortal Coil)
I was so lucky to have them play on mine and my husbands Anniversary. We flew to Dublin from Edinburgh then saw them in Glasgow Scotland. I grew up in the US and this band is another so very close to my soul. The fact they played on our anniversary week and it was the twenty fifth anniversary of their stellar album Mezzanine! Every song on the album is stellar! This is also the theme to the show "House" if you remember the long running tv series.
Another tune along this trans portal type tune is Moby's "Porcelain" from a movie The Beach, hard not to close your eyes and be transported right there. Love your work. Happy New Year as well from Aotearoa, New Zealand
Protection was the first one that really hooked me. I first heard it after a couple of beers and a spliff on late night music tv back in the 90s and was instantly transported! To this day it's still an absolute moment, i remember it fondly.
Their debut album, Blue Lines, is borderline flawless. I know everyone will recommend Unfinished Sympathy (video, shot in one take, is a must!) but also check out Live with Me.
Moved from Ireland to Holland in the 90s Just for half a year ,I brought this album, Bjorks first album, The best of Rolling stones ,and I can go back in time listening,remembering smells, noises thebitter cold great time to be alive
The way I heard it, the song is about Jeff Buckley, a friend of Elizabeth Fraser who drowned not long before they recorded it. If you haven't heard his cover of Hallelujah yet, it's pretty widely regarded as the best. The man was a genius.
I requested this one because of the Portishead reaction and you saying that there was a masculine/feminine contrast to it or something like that, which reminded me of a similar contrast in some Massive Attack songs. The lyrics are by Liz on guest vocals as others mentioned. They touch on love, beauty, and loss. There's also kind of a mysterious story about them, that she was recording the song in the studio and was thinking about an ex, Jeff Buckley (another unbelievable musician), and reading letters from him. She had already written the words, but before recording the song, she learned that Buckley had just died by drowning, so the vocals are full of that grief. At least that's one version of the story. Anyway, thank you! You say you're not musically inclined but I find your reactions deep and I always get something new out of them, even though I've heard songs like this 100 times.
The same year this came out my daughter was born, France won the World Cup, and we moved abroad for work. Saw Massive Attack live on the Mezzanine21 European tour, 21 years later (with my daughter and my wife). Soundtrack of my life
@@primateboogaloo No. It's a cover of an original written by Tim Buckley, Jeff's amazingly talented father, back in 1968. This Mortal Coil recorded it many years before she met Jeff Buckley.
@noother964 "Fraser wrote the song's lyrics, inspired by the works of French philosopher Gaston Bachelard.[3] While recording the song in 1997, she found out that Jeff Buckley, with whom she had formerly been involved in a relationship, had disappeared-later discovered to have drowned. In 2009, she said, "That was so weird ... I'd got letters out and I was thinking about him. That song's kind of about him-that's how it feels to me anyway".["
hypnotic it definitely is, really beautiful singing too. It's been covered a lot, a personal favorite cover of mine is José Gonzalez's version where he absolutely pounds this on acoustic.
@@xxillicitxx I just did today, it's very good! To me it amplifies the vibes of the Massive Attack original but Jose Gonzalez is entirely different. Both very good, in their own ways.
I first heard this with my partner, the mother of my children, while the middle aged mantle we'd subconsciously aquired was being gently melted away by our first MDMA. We were 38, thinking and behaving like we were 50. We'd lost who we were... Teardrop started, and as the words "Love, love is a verb. Love is a doing word..." rolled into us we made eye contact. Suddenly we saw each other as the people we were inside the callouses of suburban life. She 16, me 18, so full of love fir each other. (I have huge, salty tears falling on my 'phone writing this...) That night was a revelation. It stays to this day. I'm 60 now but I'm still reaping the gifts that she, this track and MDMA unlocked that night. It still brings those feelings to the fore every time I hear it. Thank you! ☮️
Mdma can be a wonderfull tool to rediscover yourself and others. It helped me to kick off a crack addiction. It showed me how incredibly dumb I was. 15 years clean from crack now and still using mdma ones a year for fun.
@@You-are-a-Basdard Oh! And bloody well done mate! Proud of you! I call cocaine one of the "empty" psychoactives. There's nothing to be learnt from it. Whereas the entactogens teach by showing. That there's a better way to be, that love is real, valuable & important. That deep, take your breath away, connections can be made by using the empathy MDMA awakens in you. It's real too. Not like the alcohol driven "No, no! I mean it! I really love you mate!" it's more like when Joni sings "I remember one night you told me, that love was touching souls." That's what empathogens give you, that one glance, that eye contact, that stops your breath in your chest as you realise you're looking deep inside another and when a moment of such profound love, empathy and openness is shared how could you not take that with you and hold onto that moment for eternity. It's like when women give birth, mum & the baby are drenched in oxytocin. They have eyes only for each other. MDMA triggers oxytocin release, and I think that's at the heart of the MDMA experience... 😎☮️
Massive Attack came out of the Bristol trip hop scene in the late '80s, formed by Robert Del Naja (3D), Grant Marshall (Daddy G), Andrew Vowles (Mushroom), and Adrian Thaws (Tricky). Tricky left to start his own career in the early '90s and Mushroom left the band in '99. 3D and Daddy G have continued as Massive Attack, sometimes providing their own vocals on their albums (most of them by 3D), but are also known for working with other great singers on their albums, including Sinead O'Connor, Tracey Thorn from Everything But The Girl, legendary reggae singer Horace Andy, and Elizabeth Fraser from dreampop pioneers Cocteau Twins. She provides vocals on this track, which is from Massive Attack's 1997 best selling album Mezzanine. For Cocteau Twins fans, it was a revelation. The band had recently broken up, devastating their devoted fan base. So having Fraser sing a handful of songs with Massive Attack gave the fans some hope. The fact that she's also singing almost intelligible lyrics ("love, love is a verb; love is a doing word") after years of obscuring her lyrics and making them unintelligible was huge. This song was a major moment in Massive Attack's and Cocteau Twins fans' history. It's a personal favorite and this whole album, as well as the rest of Massive Attack's catalogue, is worth checking out.
My brother went to school with one of the members of massive attack & they did a track for the Euro 96 album on which they give thanks to Bristol City Football Club. They were amazing when they first came out & their music still holds its own today, remember listening to it a lot when I was younger growing up in Bristol lol Great memories
@@spencerluton7721 Blue Lines and Protection are such epic albums. Wish I could claim I went to school with them, but I'm just an Anglophile. I grew up in the US. My only 'claim to fame' is that I went to high school with the guys in Toad the Wet Sprocket. 😆
@ the nearest I can claim to being at school with someone was a footballer who was in the year below me. He went on to play in the class of 92 Manchester United team with David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs etc & was an amazing football player. Sadly he gave it up as he didn’t have the dedication like the others & is now a football coach travelling around schools teach school kids basic skills etc, he is a very humble guy & such an amazing person
One of my favourite artists of all time. Songs like Unfinished Sympathy, Protection, Live With Me, Pray For Rain, Safe From Harm, Angel. All incredible. Hard to go wrong with them to be honest. Such a creative force.
Liz Frazer is the guest vocalist for this. Strongly suggest checking into some Cocteau Twins for more of Liz Frazer. She's a gem, and a Massive asset for this track.
@@cloudtowerphotography815 Well, "Carolyn's Fingers" is the obvious choice, and probably one of the most accessible. Me, I'd prefer something off of Garlands, but I rather liked their Goth phase. Hit the right tones of angst for me at the time.
Massive Attack, the British trip-hop group, is renowned for intertwining music with activism, addressing various social and political issues: • Climate Action: They’ve been vocal about the music industry’s environmental impact. In 2019, co-founder Robert Del Naja commissioned the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research to map the carbon footprint of touring and explore sustainable practices. They’ve also supported climate activists like Extinction Rebellion, performing at protests to raise awareness.  • Human Rights Advocacy: In 2024, Massive Attack canceled a concert in Georgia to protest the government’s crackdown on basic human rights, demonstrating their commitment to civil liberties and freedom of expression.  • Political Statements: Their audiovisual project “Eutopia,” released in 2020, addresses global issues such as climate change, tax havens, and universal basic income, featuring collaborations with academics and artists to advocate for systemic change.  • Anti-War Stance: Del Naja has been critical of UK government policies, particularly opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Alongside musician Damon Albarn, he funded full-page advertisements against the war, highlighting their anti-war advocacy.  • Support for Palestinian Rights: The band has boycotted performances in Israel since 1999, citing opposition to the Israeli government’s policies towards Palestinians. They’ve expressed solidarity with Palestinian refugees and supported related humanitarian efforts.  Through these actions, Massive Attack exemplifies a commitment to leveraging their platform for activism and social change.
Decades ago when this came out there was an art installation and the Edinburgh Fringe. I sat beneath the Castle in the gardens with a massive screen and live sound system. This played on repeat for some length of time. Sat and cried at the video as I loved the song but this was the first time seeing it imagining my wee brother who didn’t last long enough for me to get to the hospital as a kid. Like so much of their work it’s honest and powerful
Brilliant song choice. My other favourite from Massive Attack is Paradise Circus and I think you will really appreciate the unusual rhythm and haunting melody of it.
This and "Black Milk" (same album) are amazing! The fan video for "Black Milk" is great. And, consider "Girl I Love You" from Heligoland, released in 2010. "Girl I Love You" is more up beat and the fan video is well done.
Singer Liz Fraser, ... also singer in the Cocteau Twins and later collaboration with This Mortal Coil singing "Song to the Siren" a Tim Buckley song worth listening to...
I went to a massive attack gig in Liverpool a couple of months ago. One of the best nights of my life, (been a fan since the beginning). There is yt vids of Liz singing this. She has such a pure, emotionally loaded voice. You should check out her live voice over the studio recording. She's incredible.
Massive Attack be like a warm blanket giving you a hug when you most need it. Amazing reactions, love the content. If you are liking this style of music you should check out some bjork or sneaker pimps they have some pretty amazing stuff as well and is in this genre of music. keep on rocking 🤘
The singer here is Elizabeth Fraser, from Cocteau Twins... Massive Attack are known for collaborations with excellent singers. Try their 'Spoils' with Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star. Beautiful song!
Lol, it's not a theme song for an action movie as far as I know, but it Is used for the show House.😅. Surprized TF outta me thr first time I saw my mom watch that show😅!
Hi! I just saw your Portishead reaction and commented... haven't even watched this yet but I'm going to. Just had to ask... please, PLEASE, for the love of the gods... do Angel by this band. Don't even care if you do the video or just the studio version. The song brings out my inner badass and I highly recommend it to all. 💜💜
An amazing band, I love most of their songs, a few suggestions: The spoils, Unfinished sympathy, Protection, Girl I love you, Angel (I think you will probably know this one), Inertia creeps, Black milk
Massive Attack is one of my favorite bands, and Im glad to see you giving them a few minutes of your time. I recommend their cover of William DeVaughn's "Be Thankful for What You Got", "Unfinished Sympathy"(CRAZY vocalist on that one), "Paradise Circus" (starring Hope Sandoval), and my all-time favorite track, "Small Time Shot Away"
This song has the beauty of being “what it means to me”. To me it means something completely different to someone else, it reflects my own personal experience and grief.
Teardrop comes from the album Mezzanine which u have to hear. I love Massive attack, have for 30yrs (God I feel old!) since Blue Lines and Protection. You have to go back and work thru. You won’t be able to tell what she’s singing- you’ll need the lyrics! It’s just how she delivers.. v ethereal. I just love their work. And it really can vary. Unfinished Sympathy is a HUGE song from them. Xx
You've now got two out of the three top Trip-Hop acts, and the third is Tricky, who is absolutely brilliant. Tricky made the most amazing cover/complete reinterpretation of Public Enemy's Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos, just called "Black Steel" which I highly recommend. It's possibly my favorite track of his. Love your reactions!
The Downtempo, & Trip-Hop Genres out of Bristol starting with Massive got me through the 90's. The flipside of Neo-Soul, it simply like groove trance, this song is so very spellbinding & a quintessential representation of the overall Downtempo 90's sound! PORTISHEAD is another outstanding group in this style
One of the best sounding concerts I've ever been to. Massive Attack - Protection Massive Attack - Angel Massive Attack - Girl I Love You Massive Attack - A Prayer For England Massive Attack - Five Man Army Massive Attack - Better Things Massive Attack w/ Azekel - Ritual Spirit
Protection is truly my favorite album by them and one of my favorites of the 90s. Every song is amazing. Three, Sly, Karmacoma, Spying Glass, Eurochild, Better Things, Protection - IMO their best. I think you'd dig any of those tunes.
If you like these vocals, you'd probably like Goodbye, by the Sundays, another ethereal, floating vocal carried along by a strong melody, Harriet Wheeler just has one of those voices....
You guys are amazing! Your suggestions and engagement keep me going. Since music is copyrighted, this is a fan-funded channel. To leave a suggestion or comment, you can visit my Buy Me a Coffee link: studio.buymeacoffee.com/dashboard, or check out additional content and contact me directly on Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/poloreacts
I love the whole LP. Found it by listening to the following... OMG
Top 5 Audiophile Albums with Steven Wilson - The Prog Report.
29:51 Seeds of love
37:52 Massive Attack
Try Tricky Overcome. He used to be in Massive Attack. Its got a fantastic haunting tune through it.
If you like Portishead, you'll love Hooverphonic: 2wicky, eden, battersea, mad about you, this strange effect, and club montepulciano. The band Zero 7: in the waiting line, destiny. Singer Esthero: heaven sent, breath from another (this one is particularly amazing), half a world away, every day is a holiday. MORCHEEBA (badass band, all their music is good): blaze away, the sea, aqualung, rome wasn't built in a day.
The bass drum is the babys heartbeat.
Listen to Protection. The full album. Class. All the way through.
The entire Mezzanine album is amazing, nothing quite like it. Massive Attack is great
Agree. I found it through the following interview... OMG! great insights...
Top 5 Audiophile Albums with Steven Wilson - The Prog Report.
29:51 Seeds of love
37:52 Massive Attack
I was a nerdy kid at boarding school.
Me and my friends lived on the Mezzanine floor of our boarding school, and were nicknamed the Mezzanine Massive. We f**ked about drinking and playing FIFA late at night. Some guy in another house started writing a silly newsletter about the school, so we wrote our own newspaper. We printed 100 copies and send it out, and became famous in the school.
Some guy took his copy to the school library, and used his entire annual photocopying allowance to make more and more copies.
It flooded the school.
Nobody knew who wrote it.
And then one of our distributers was beaten up to reveal that it was us...
Badasses...
It was the summer of 1998, and "Angel" by Massive Attack was in Adidas' advert on TV in the lead-up to the World Cup. With DEL PIERO, ZIDANE, and BECKHAM.
The whole of the "Mezzanine" album by Massive Attack comes out, and became our anthem.
It was so so cool.
And all of a sudden, us dweebs, us misfits, us inbetweeners... pumping out Massive Attack, whilst we wrote a magazine that nearly got us expelled... WE became cool.
We ruled the f@@@ng school.
That album, "Mezzanine", is so massive in my life.
The sleeve art, with it's metal and beetle, is so so iconic.
Stark harsh black and white, and the CD inside - bright vivid fluorescent orange with no artwork - so startling.
I've DJed in lots of countries. And tracks from this album have been played in unusual bars across the world, by me, as a result.
i bought the anniversary album, with remixes, and that CD sits in my collection.
My original CD is at the Ship, the legendary music pub in Soho, London, where it's still played to mesmerised ears. In a heavy metal/rock pub with massive music history. Hendrix, Bowie, the Who, Sex Pistols, Iron Maiden, the Animals, Motorhead - they all drank at the Ship...
They all left their legend at the pub, and so I've added Massive Attack to the mix.
I'm so happy to leave my original 1998 CD in a place with so much history.
The album means a lot to me, and thinking that today's teenage staff at that pub will find and play that album, in the pub that I f*****ing love... it gives me a wonderful shiver...
... And this album introduced me to the magic of HORACE ANDY.
Still got it, still play it.❤
Since it was released, its been one of my top-ten albums. Liz Fraser's voice on Teardrops is just sublime.
I’m British , turned 50 last year . Massive attack are burnt in to my DNA 🧬, one of the best British bands of the last 35 years . 🙏 🫡 🇬🇧.
I’m 47 and it’s very hard to explain to the younger generation what the 90’s was like.
Rave , jungle , D&B , indie , trip hop, rock and pop music .
I remember when jungle and d&b did NOT exist , seems insane 😂😂
@@Me-ri2keI know what you mean mate , what a time to be alive. Tricky and Portishead were amazing as well .
Am turning 60 this yr this song and all Massive Attacks hits take me straight back to my 20's
@@Me-ri2kethe 90s was a collision of music genres. Digital production techniques were good enough to build complex tracks, but you still had to be an accomplished instrument musician to get the most out of it. Everyone talks about how the 60s was a great decade for music, but for me the 90s was WILD - people respected the music that had gone before but still wanted to be original.
First Portishead and now Massive Attack! You have yourself a new subscriber.
The two best albums of the 90's...
Needs to do Tricky to complete the set lol
Angel by Massive Attack will blow your mind 🤯
Yes!
Yes!
One of my all-time favourites.
Or black milk.
@@mattdamon9326black milk is a belter.
First Portishead, and now Massive Attack... you're tapped straight into my teenage years. Hats off to you, good Sir!
Love from the UK 💜 🇬🇧 -x-
They tapped into us in New Zealand too ❤❤
You should also check out Tricky, he was with massive attack at the beginning, and his first solo album was amazing
Maxine Quaye 🎉
@@NeilD1 Hell Around the Corner and Suffocated Love
Evolution Revolution Love is a banger, and I think Tricky put that one out I wanna say ...after he appeared in the Fifth Element.
@ Oh Yeah that’s a great tune
Tricky is very influential... "Black Steel" is incredible.
Polo, Elizabeth Fraser is singing this song. One of the most mesmerizing, beautiful, intoxicating, unusual, haunting and gifted voices I’ve ever heard in my life. She’s the singer of the band, Cocteau Twins (no longer together), which is a group you should most *definitely* check out.
She also wrote the lyrics
Cocteau Twins kinda shoe gaze before there was shoe gaze... love Heaven or Las Vega...
yep and not beth gibbons like many think
The Cocteau Twins are absolutely avant garde. Expressive vocals using an imaginary language, no joke. I love them but not for everyone.
Yes, please listen to 'Wax and Wane', essential Cocteau Twins
Portishead and Massive Attack barely a week apart, great stuff! More of both please! Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack is another classic ✌️
You mentioned that it sounds like it could be a theme song - the TV show House used the intro of this song as its theme song.
First met them in 86/87 when we were all just UK Graffiti writers….. Down to earth talented guys before they were ever Massive Attack (and still are, grounded AF)…… Love, love, love Massive Attack, one of the best bands to ever come outta UK IMO… 🙏
Unfinished Sympathy, protection, karma coma, safe from harm, and pretty much anything off the albums, Blue Lines, Protection, then Mezzanine. Even the songs on Protection and Blue Lines that no-one ever discusses are worth listening to on headphones in the dark.
By the way, Massive Attack treat video as an art form too, so their music videos are extraordinary. You can get those on a separate collectors’ disc but theyre all on the internet now anyway (with the possible exception of Be Thankful, he he).
yeah in the dark with a few beers or a wee smoke,,,,
Yes, absolutely agree - the first 3 are sublime.
Massive Attack, Portishead, and Tricky: how great it was to experience something unique after the 1980s. Great music of the '70s, then mainly an abomination of the '80s, and such rare miracles later. Hearing all of them live. Yes, I am that old, but it was great luck experiencing great music (including apex of the jazz) - you can hardly find comparable today.
I love Cocteau Twins. Elizabeth Fraser did guest vocals for this track after hearing her ex-boyfriend , singer Jeff Buckley, was drown in the Mississippi river. Her first top twenty hit was a cover of Jeff's dad's song about drowning, Song To The Siren (as this Mortal Coil)
Wow! Did not know that. Song to the siren was unlike anything I heard before in my life at the time. Always wondered about the meaning of it.
I was so lucky to have them play on mine and my husbands Anniversary. We flew to Dublin from Edinburgh then saw them in Glasgow Scotland. I grew up in the US and this band is another so very close to my soul. The fact they played on our anniversary week and it was the twenty fifth anniversary of their stellar album Mezzanine! Every song on the album is stellar! This is also the theme to the show "House" if you remember the long running tv series.
Funny you say this should be a thing song.
This song was used for the theme song to the tv series "House"
I guess I'm old, because I was surprised no one else had mentioned House yet!
@@SlodWick LOL - same
That's House M.D. - he didn't go to medical school for nothing 😂
Another tune along this trans portal type tune is Moby's "Porcelain" from a movie The Beach, hard not to close your eyes and be transported right there. Love your work.
Happy New Year as well from Aotearoa, New Zealand
"Angel" and "Protection". Thanks Polo. Been watching you for 2 years.
Protection was the first one that really hooked me. I first heard it after a couple of beers and a spliff on late night music tv back in the 90s and was instantly transported! To this day it's still an absolute moment, i remember it fondly.
Their debut album, Blue Lines, is borderline flawless. I know everyone will recommend Unfinished Sympathy (video, shot in one take, is a must!) but also check out Live with Me.
Imagine if you will, being at a club with this song in the background while you enjoy a drink with your besties. Memories
Moved from Ireland to Holland in the 90s Just for half a year ,I brought this album, Bjorks first album, The best of Rolling stones ,and I can go back in time listening,remembering smells, noises thebitter cold great time to be alive
Elizabeth Fraser's haunting voice has lived rent free in my head for DECADES
The way I heard it, the song is about Jeff Buckley, a friend of Elizabeth Fraser who drowned not long before they recorded it. If you haven't heard his cover of Hallelujah yet, it's pretty widely regarded as the best. The man was a genius.
I requested this one because of the Portishead reaction and you saying that there was a masculine/feminine contrast to it or something like that, which reminded me of a similar contrast in some Massive Attack songs. The lyrics are by Liz on guest vocals as others mentioned. They touch on love, beauty, and loss. There's also kind of a mysterious story about them, that she was recording the song in the studio and was thinking about an ex, Jeff Buckley (another unbelievable musician), and reading letters from him. She had already written the words, but before recording the song, she learned that Buckley had just died by drowning, so the vocals are full of that grief. At least that's one version of the story.
Anyway, thank you! You say you're not musically inclined but I find your reactions deep and I always get something new out of them, even though I've heard songs like this 100 times.
Safe From Harm! The way the live drums come in, and the bass line! Fire!
The same year this came out my daughter was born, France won the World Cup, and we moved abroad for work. Saw Massive Attack live on the Mezzanine21 European tour, 21 years later (with my daughter and my wife).
Soundtrack of my life
Starting off the New Year with some Massive Attack? Nice. I've ended many years with this song.
If you like Massive Attack, then you must listen to Angel. Vocals are the legendary Horace Andy
The wonderful, ethereal Elizabeth Fraser. Listen to her sing, Song to the Siren (This Mortal Coil)
She wrote this song about Jeff Buckley, who she once dated
@@primateboogaloo No. It's a cover of an original written by Tim Buckley, Jeff's amazingly talented father, back in 1968. This Mortal Coil recorded it many years before she met Jeff Buckley.
@noother964 "Fraser wrote the song's lyrics, inspired by the works of French philosopher Gaston Bachelard.[3] While recording the song in 1997, she found out that Jeff Buckley, with whom she had formerly been involved in a relationship, had disappeared-later discovered to have drowned. In 2009, she said, "That was so weird ... I'd got letters out and I was thinking about him. That song's kind of about him-that's how it feels to me anyway".["
@@primateboogaloo You are right, absolutely my bad! Somehow I thought you were referring to Song to the Siren.
@@noother964 To be fair, I can see, given the comment that I was replaying to, why you would correct me on that 👍🏻
Can’t honestly say how many times I’ve come in from a hard nights raving, got home, sparked up and chilled out to this. Legendary recording…❤❤❤
Those were the days brother
Same . Miss the 90s. we didn't realise it but we were free
Polo, the vocalist (Liz Fraser) on this track was in another band called Cocteau Twins. Have a listen, they were very different and unique
Describing music is explaining the taste of a colour …the shape of the wind …the feeling within❣️🙏👌
This has given me shivers since 1998 when I was 20 years old. British teenagers were very lucky in the mid 90s - the music was awesome.
hypnotic it definitely is, really beautiful singing too. It's been covered a lot, a personal favorite cover of mine is José Gonzalez's version where he absolutely pounds this on acoustic.
Have you seen Aurora's cover?
@@xxillicitxx I just did today, it's very good! To me it amplifies the vibes of the Massive Attack original but Jose Gonzalez is entirely different. Both very good, in their own ways.
I first heard this with my partner, the mother of my children, while the middle aged mantle we'd subconsciously aquired was being gently melted away by our first MDMA.
We were 38, thinking and behaving like we were 50. We'd lost who we were...
Teardrop started, and as the words "Love, love is a verb. Love is a doing word..." rolled into us we made eye contact.
Suddenly we saw each other as the people we were inside the callouses of suburban life. She 16, me 18, so full of love fir each other.
(I have huge, salty tears falling on my 'phone writing this...)
That night was a revelation. It stays to this day. I'm 60 now but I'm still reaping the gifts that she, this track and MDMA unlocked that night.
It still brings those feelings to the fore every time I hear it.
Thank you! ☮️
Mdma can be a wonderfull tool to rediscover yourself and others. It helped me to kick off a crack addiction. It showed me how incredibly dumb I was. 15 years clean from crack now and still using mdma ones a year for fun.
@@You-are-a-Basdard Oh! And bloody well done mate! Proud of you!
I call cocaine one of the "empty" psychoactives. There's nothing to be learnt from it. Whereas the entactogens teach by showing. That there's a better way to be, that love is real, valuable & important. That deep, take your breath away, connections can be made by using the empathy MDMA awakens in you.
It's real too. Not like the alcohol driven "No, no! I mean it! I really love you mate!" it's more like when Joni sings "I remember one night you told me, that love was touching souls."
That's what empathogens give you, that one glance, that eye contact, that stops your breath in your chest as you realise you're looking deep inside another and when a moment of such profound love, empathy and openness is shared how could you not take that with you and hold onto that moment for eternity.
It's like when women give birth, mum & the baby are drenched in oxytocin. They have eyes only for each other.
MDMA triggers oxytocin release, and I think that's at the heart of the MDMA experience... 😎☮️
Massive Attack came out of the Bristol trip hop scene in the late '80s, formed by Robert Del Naja (3D), Grant Marshall (Daddy G), Andrew Vowles (Mushroom), and Adrian Thaws (Tricky). Tricky left to start his own career in the early '90s and Mushroom left the band in '99. 3D and Daddy G have continued as Massive Attack, sometimes providing their own vocals on their albums (most of them by 3D), but are also known for working with other great singers on their albums, including Sinead O'Connor, Tracey Thorn from Everything But The Girl, legendary reggae singer Horace Andy, and Elizabeth Fraser from dreampop pioneers Cocteau Twins. She provides vocals on this track, which is from Massive Attack's 1997 best selling album Mezzanine. For Cocteau Twins fans, it was a revelation. The band had recently broken up, devastating their devoted fan base. So having Fraser sing a handful of songs with Massive Attack gave the fans some hope. The fact that she's also singing almost intelligible lyrics ("love, love is a verb; love is a doing word") after years of obscuring her lyrics and making them unintelligible was huge. This song was a major moment in Massive Attack's and Cocteau Twins fans' history. It's a personal favorite and this whole album, as well as the rest of Massive Attack's catalogue, is worth checking out.
My brother went to school with one of the members of massive attack & they did a track for the Euro 96 album on which they give thanks to Bristol City Football Club. They were amazing when they first came out & their music still holds its own today, remember listening to it a lot when I was younger growing up in Bristol lol Great memories
@@spencerluton7721 Blue Lines and Protection are such epic albums. Wish I could claim I went to school with them, but I'm just an Anglophile. I grew up in the US. My only 'claim to fame' is that I went to high school with the guys in Toad the Wet Sprocket. 😆
@ the nearest I can claim to being at school with someone was a footballer who was in the year below me. He went on to play in the class of 92 Manchester United team with David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs etc & was an amazing football player. Sadly he gave it up as he didn’t have the dedication like the others & is now a football coach travelling around schools teach school kids basic skills etc, he is a very humble guy & such an amazing person
One of my favourite artists of all time. Songs like Unfinished Sympathy, Protection, Live With Me, Pray For Rain, Safe From Harm, Angel. All incredible. Hard to go wrong with them to be honest. Such a creative force.
The video for this was amazing in the day (still is!). The foetus singing the lyrics is a subtle but amazing touch. Beautiful song.
HNY!
Liz Fraser is a unique vocalist. Her work with Cocteau Twins is phenomenal
Liz Frazer is the guest vocalist for this. Strongly suggest checking into some Cocteau Twins for more of Liz Frazer. She's a gem, and a Massive asset for this track.
I second this. But what song should he listen to?
@@cloudtowerphotography815 Well, "Carolyn's Fingers" is the obvious choice, and probably one of the most accessible. Me, I'd prefer something off of Garlands, but I rather liked their Goth phase. Hit the right tones of angst for me at the time.
@@cloudtowerphotography815 Anything on Heaven or Las Vegas.
Massive Attack, the British trip-hop group, is renowned for intertwining music with activism, addressing various social and political issues:
• Climate Action: They’ve been vocal about the music industry’s environmental impact. In 2019, co-founder Robert Del Naja commissioned the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research to map the carbon footprint of touring and explore sustainable practices. They’ve also supported climate activists like Extinction Rebellion, performing at protests to raise awareness. 
• Human Rights Advocacy: In 2024, Massive Attack canceled a concert in Georgia to protest the government’s crackdown on basic human rights, demonstrating their commitment to civil liberties and freedom of expression. 
• Political Statements: Their audiovisual project “Eutopia,” released in 2020, addresses global issues such as climate change, tax havens, and universal basic income, featuring collaborations with academics and artists to advocate for systemic change. 
• Anti-War Stance: Del Naja has been critical of UK government policies, particularly opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Alongside musician Damon Albarn, he funded full-page advertisements against the war, highlighting their anti-war advocacy. 
• Support for Palestinian Rights: The band has boycotted performances in Israel since 1999, citing opposition to the Israeli government’s policies towards Palestinians. They’ve expressed solidarity with Palestinian refugees and supported related humanitarian efforts. 
Through these actions, Massive Attack exemplifies a commitment to leveraging their platform for activism and social change.
far-left activist wankers... doesnt detract from the genius music tho.
✊️❤
This song was the theme for the TV show “House” too
Decades ago when this came out there was an art installation and the Edinburgh Fringe. I sat beneath the Castle in the gardens with a massive screen and live sound system. This played on repeat for some length of time. Sat and cried at the video as I loved the song but this was the first time seeing it imagining my wee brother who didn’t last long enough for me to get to the hospital as a kid. Like so much of their work it’s honest and powerful
The beat represents the heart beat of the baby.
Such a beautiful song, glad you checked it out!
Tear Drop is a wonderful Massive Attack classic!
One of my all time favourite bands! That mobile in the background absolutely mesmerising. Seems to be moving in rhythm.
Trip hop was such an awesome movement it the UK, timeless chill out music
The 90's was a Very Atmospheric decade i.e. Massive Attack, Portishead, Inigma, Dead Can Dance....
This is such a throwback for me ..😮 still sounds amazing after all this time 💜✌️🇮🇪
Takes me back, Massive Attack, Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil.
Brilliant song choice. My other favourite from Massive Attack is Paradise Circus and I think you will really appreciate the unusual rhythm and haunting melody of it.
Gosh, this takes me back. Loved this at the time, very unique !
Love this song. Unfinished Symphony as a lot of people have already commentated is another must. It was voted song of the decade for the 90's I think.
"
This and "Black Milk" (same album) are amazing! The fan video for "Black Milk" is great. And, consider "Girl I Love You" from Heligoland, released in 2010. "Girl I Love You" is more up beat and the fan video is well done.
Singer Liz Fraser, ... also singer in the Cocteau Twins and later collaboration with This Mortal Coil singing "Song to the Siren" a Tim Buckley song worth listening to...
I have loved this song for so long now, but still get chills everytime💕
Massive Attack has a massive catalog of great music and brillliant videos. Massive Attack is kind of a rabbit hole worth falling into.
Driving at night, light rain, downtown lights reflecting off the asphalt, and this song
I do plenty of driving listening to Massive attack, for photography. Good vibes for sure
The backing track of this song was the main theme from the series HOUSE
This *was* the theme song...for a TV show! They used it for the opening credits of House.
It was but it wasn't written as a theme song for anything
One of my favourite songs of all time. When it came out I played it constantly ❤
Portishead, Massive Attack, Tricky, they all come from Bristol and the genre is called Trip Hop.
The song "The Video Life is Precious. I'm 50 now. I remember this song never gets old
I really do love their Marvin Gaye cover of “I want you” with Madonna. Great video as well.❤
I went to a massive attack gig in Liverpool a couple of months ago. One of the best nights of my life, (been a fan since the beginning). There is yt vids of Liz singing this. She has such a pure, emotionally loaded voice. You should check out her live voice over the studio recording. She's incredible.
Massive Attack be like a warm blanket giving you a hug when you most need it. Amazing reactions, love the content. If you are liking this style of music you should check out some bjork or sneaker pimps they have some pretty amazing stuff as well and is in this genre of music. keep on rocking 🤘
The singer here is Elizabeth Fraser, from Cocteau Twins... Massive Attack are known for collaborations with excellent singers. Try their 'Spoils' with Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star. Beautiful song!
Lol, it's not a theme song for an action movie as far as I know, but it Is used for the show House.😅. Surprized TF outta me thr first time I saw my mom watch that show😅!
This song hauntingly beautiful. It’s a perfect song. And also a perfect band.
I grew up in my teens with massive attack, Portishead, tricky so on. Really helped me through alot hard times
I don't know how people now listening to this amazing. This song is so good. I don't know if it's her voice but listening to this calms me down..
I absolutely love Trip-hop! This entire album is a masterpiece.
Hi! I just saw your Portishead reaction and commented... haven't even watched this yet but I'm going to. Just had to ask... please, PLEASE, for the love of the gods... do Angel by this band. Don't even care if you do the video or just the studio version. The song brings out my inner badass and I highly recommend it to all. 💜💜
Another gem.
Woo hoo Massive attack. One of my favourites bands ever!. I’ve subscribed on the understanding you play unfinished symphony by the same group 😀
An amazing band, I love most of their songs, a few suggestions: The spoils, Unfinished sympathy, Protection, Girl I love you, Angel (I think you will probably know this one), Inertia creeps, Black milk
Massive Attack is one of my favorite bands, and Im glad to see you giving them a few minutes of your time. I recommend their cover of William DeVaughn's "Be Thankful for What You Got", "Unfinished Sympathy"(CRAZY vocalist on that one), "Paradise Circus" (starring Hope Sandoval), and my all-time favorite track, "Small Time Shot Away"
Im too poor to buy you a coffee or to support via Patreon, but I do watch all uplaods to the end and upvote them, too.
This song has the beauty of being “what it means to me”. To me it means something completely different to someone else, it reflects my own personal experience and grief.
The first lines of this track are words I have lived by since I first heard the album when it came out. Love is a verb, a doing word.
This is the Trip Hop Genre. So cool.. massive attack, Portishead, Tricky.. as cool today as it was in the 90’s
UNFINISHED SYMPATHY is a must listen!
Trip-Hop is one of the best genres to ever exist. I love this shit so much.
All the best in the New Year
Coming of age in the late 1990's and experiencing the Bristol music scene first hand was a privilege.
Teardrop comes from the album Mezzanine which u have to hear. I love Massive attack, have for 30yrs (God I feel old!) since Blue Lines and Protection.
You have to go back and work thru.
You won’t be able to tell what she’s singing- you’ll need the lyrics! It’s just how she delivers.. v ethereal.
I just love their work. And it really can vary.
Unfinished Sympathy is a HUGE song from them. Xx
I think this may be the greatest song ever written. Just my opinion 🤷♂️
One of the rare channels on here where the music is truly appreciated rather than someone just chasing the clicks/views.
You've now got two out of the three top Trip-Hop acts, and the third is Tricky, who is absolutely brilliant.
Tricky made the most amazing cover/complete reinterpretation of Public Enemy's Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos, just called "Black Steel" which I highly recommend. It's possibly my favorite track of his.
Love your reactions!
The British trip hop band Massive Attack has sold over 13 million copies of their five studio albums worldwide. Let me guess, you liked it.
I had a friend walk down the aisle to this song when she got married.
OMG !!
Lots of great 90s trip-hop to check out.
Funny you said it sounded like title music to a movie, it was used for a medical drama called House a few years back...
Newton Falkner has an Acoustic version all done live 👌🎶✌️❤️🏴.
The Downtempo, & Trip-Hop Genres out of Bristol starting with Massive got me through the 90's. The flipside of Neo-Soul, it simply like groove trance, this song is so very spellbinding & a quintessential representation of the overall Downtempo 90's sound! PORTISHEAD is another outstanding group in this style
Sorry to be the reply guy, but I think you mean Bristol, which isn't in London
One of the best sounding concerts I've ever been to.
Massive Attack - Protection
Massive Attack - Angel
Massive Attack - Girl I Love You
Massive Attack - A Prayer For England
Massive Attack - Five Man Army
Massive Attack - Better Things
Massive Attack w/ Azekel - Ritual Spirit
one of my musical highlights was being able to see these guys live, it was stunning
Protection is truly my favorite album by them and one of my favorites of the 90s. Every song is amazing. Three, Sly, Karmacoma, Spying Glass, Eurochild, Better Things, Protection - IMO their best. I think you'd dig any of those tunes.
If you like these vocals, you'd probably like Goodbye, by the Sundays, another ethereal, floating vocal carried along by a strong melody, Harriet Wheeler just has one of those voices....