Heligoland
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LP / Format
Full Credits
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Critic Reviews
100
Better than almost anyone else in this amorphous field of treated sound, Massive Attack create something almost organic, with a physical sense of beating hearts and ticking minds. The centre of the album constantly shifts, as a new song comes into focus. I believe, as with their trio of Nineties classics, we’ll still be listening to this in decades to come.
3y
85
Less a depiction of the surrounding apocalypse, Heligoland is more a reflection of the anxieties within.
13y
82
It still warms the blood to hear those trip-hop synths roll on the slow-burning "Flat of the Blade" (with some acid loops thrown in for good measure), but Massive Attack's arsenal has expanded and the resulting onslaught is nothing short of brilliant.
10y
80
Trip-hop legends return from the wilderness and find form.
6mo
80
Listening to the array of styles, from the Jim O'Rourke-like folk of "Psyche", laced with Martina Topley-Bird's cosmic incantation, to "Splitting The Atom"'s opiated rocksteady or Hope Sandoval's dusky ballad, "Paradise Circus", it's conceivable Del Naja and Marshall needed every minute of those years to concoct such alluring material.
10y
80
Their fissiparous approach to their work as an ensemble appears to be paying dividends once more.
10y
80
Returning from a six-year long wilderness of soundtrack work and greatest hits, ‘Heligoland’ sees the duo back at the top of their game.
11y
80
Through it all, Massive Attack are more menacing than midnight in the darklands. Welcome back--you've been missed terribly.
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1y
80
The haunting horns under Horace Andy's vocal on "Girl I Love You" and mind-tickling thump of closer "Atlas Air" are pure genius from the minds of Grantley Marshall and Robert Del Naja: creepy and danceable.
11y
80
Heligoland burns slowly; songs like the Damon Albarn penned Saturday Come Slow and dubby closer Atlas Air take precious time to unfurl. Then again, it just wouldn’t be Massive Attack if you didn’t have to work for it, and the rewards are here if you're willing.
12y
80
Musically the elements that define them remain – the scattered beats, the eerie, claustrophobic atmosphere, a slightly sleepy, almost trippy feel – but the songs here are their most consistent in years.
15y
70
This certainly isn't the Massive Attack that floated the smoothest British house of the early '90s, and more surprisingly, it's also not the Massive Attack that created dense, immersive trip-hop during the '90s and early 2000s.
15y
67
Haunting vocals by TV On The Radio's Tunde Adebimpe and Mazzy's Star's Hope Sandoval calm the jitters here, but the crew have gotten comfy just tripping out, but they sometimes forget the hooks.
10y
65
The album's dusty beats, pointed electronics, and cinematic feel are pleasantly familiar, at best they recall the band's past glory rather than pushing forward their legacy.
10y
60
Six songs into a characterless album, one on which ambience takes precedence over tunes, 3D and Daddy G unveil three stunning numbers that compare with anything in their back catalogue.
8y
60
Compared to the radical thrill of Portishead's equally long-gestated "Third," there's a sense Del Naja and Marshall are still feeling their way back.
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3y
60
Fans who have spent the better part of a decade jonesing for exactly this kind of fix will surely appreciate the effort, but for the less dependent, the songs here offer little that the band hasn't already done better.
11y
60
[The album] sees the reunited Grand "Daddy G" Marshalll abnd Robert "3D" Del Naja proving they can still corner the market in atmospheric glooom, even if their era-defining days have passed.
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3y
60
Overall, though ‘Heligoland’ is a puzzling and frustrating listen. Some good tracks can’t hide the fact that this is the stuff of an identity crisis.
15y
60
The music is strikingly less dense than before, though the production is as meticulous and measured as ever, but it’s also so deliberately bleak, so obvious in its intent to be capital-I Important, it all but dares you to turn your back and chuckle.
15y
60
Sure, it's a logical progression from 100th Window, but because their progressions are neither commonsense nor predictable, it's difficult to predict how it will hold up in terms of posterity.
15y
60
Although much of Heligoland suggests that Massive Attack might finally have burned out, the glowing embers of what they once had can still be glimpsed providing a light in the dark.
15y
50
The undercurrent of menace and sadness that defined Massive Attack's best music is largely absent, replaced with a drowsy, half-formed gloom that, if anything, suggests resignation instead of dread.
15y
50
[These marquee name guests] might be the source to what is wrong with Heglioland. Usually, Massive mainstays, 3D and Daddy G, are able to bring something previously not experienced out of their collaborators. This time, nothing is connecting.
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1y
40
When you listen to these gloomy trip-hop jams after their best work of the 90s, the results are underwhelming.
10y
With Daddy G rejoining and making Massive Attack more than Del Naja trying to survive the group alone, Heligoland is the closest the group could get to capturing the magic of their inception two decades later - likely never to be attempted again in the album form, now eleven years removed from this release. Although it is largely not held to the same standard as their highest marks, Heligoland is a more than efficient closing to the pioneers from Bristol.
Much of the success of the album lies ... read more
What a feast: One of my favourite British bands from the 90s and 00s collaborates with some other favourite artists of mine as TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, Elbow's Guy Garvey or Blur's Damon Albarn, not to forget Hope Sandoval and Martina Topley-Bird. And the outcome convinces. Massive Attack's music changes, but in a successful way. The mix of back to the roots and a fitting with British house and electronic music results in a subtle, of course still trip hop based, styl4. True to ... read more
A much different vibe than Mezzanine or Blue Lines. This album explores a lot of themes around anxiety which makes this a pretty interesting listening experience. I definitely appreciate that approach but aside from "Paradise Circus", there weren't many other standouts for me.
whilst not as good as blue lines or mezzanine it is still a great album with standouts like, "Pray For Rain", "Paradise Circus" and my favorite "Girl I love You" but some of the other songs just fall a bit flat and that is why it is not quite Massive Attack's peak but still definetly worth a listen with songs to return to.
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Track List
| 1 | Pray For Rain 6:44 feat. Tunde Adebimpe | 86 |
| 2 | Babel 5:20 feat. Martina Topley-Bird | 82 |
| 3 | Splitting The Atom 5:17 feat. Horace Andy | 83 |
| 4 | Girl I Love You 5:27 feat. Horace Andy | 87 |
| 5 | Psyche 3:25 feat. Martina Topley-Bird | 81 |
| 6 | Flat Of The Blade 5:30 feat. Guy Garvey | 76 |
| 7 | Paradise Circus 4:58 feat. Hope Sandoval | 90 |
| 8 | Rush Minute 4:51 | 79 |
| 9 | Saturday Come Slow 3:44 feat. Damon Albarn | 82 |
| 10 | Atlas Air 7:49 | 88 |
Total Length: 53 minutes
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5d
way more rock than the tags make it seem like. In fact, i'd say it's just as much rock as electronica
