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| ![Heligoland [+digital booklet]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QGx-0sFvL._SL500_.jpg) | Artist: Massive Attack
Label: Virgin UK
Category: Digital Music Album
Buy New: £5.99
as of 30/7/2010 14:32 BST details
Seller: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Rating:  57 reviews
Sales Rank: 1829
Genre: pop-music
Media: MP3 Download
Running Time: 3178 Minutes
ASIN: B0035RN3RC
Publication Date: February 9, 2010
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 57
 Big fan is disappointed April 22, 2010
G. Bradley (Scotland)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
First time I heard this, I immediately liked half of it (songs 1-4 and song 10) and disliked the other half. This is my usual reaction to new Massive Attack until it grows on me, when I eventually love all of it. So far so good.
However after a dozen plays, rather than grow on me as usual, the opposite has occurred. I soon started to dislike most of what I had previously liked (songs 3 and 10 are the exceptions and remain likeable), and really really hate the rest.
Every song here has the feeling that something big and wonderful is about to happen, but then it just doesn't, and the next song rolls in with the same empty promise. The songs go nowhere and become extremely tedious once familiarity creeps in.
Easily Massive Attack's worst offering. And by a long chalk. Like many people (according to Amazon) I picked up the new Groove Armada CD at the same time as this. The best advice I can give you is pick that up instead (it's simply amazing), and give this a big miss.
HERR April 21, 2010
LynchFan (UK)
When first hearing this album, i was left wandering if the boys Massive still had the clout that gave us the greatness of 'Unfinished Sympathy', and my first reaction was a dissapointing no. Loved everything between 100th window; that being the 'Collected' album, the 'Bullet Boy' soundtrack-sadly never released, only on MP3. The brilliant instrumental stylings of 'Danny The Dog'. So, going back to Heligoland-Although i did prefer the original speculated title 'Weather Underground'- it just didn't have that power to draw you in like their previous albums had. I know Robert Del Naja and crew are much older, but it just did not feel like them. The vibe was lost somehow. then after a few hearings i came to realise how strong the tracks were becoming. ' Pray For Rain' with its dulcet piano tones to ambient beat finale, i began to realise their genius. They are changing at a rapid rate throught he entire presentation of the album. like most of us who follwed their trajected path throughout the 90's. Standout tracks include the aforementioned 'Pray For Rain', 'Splitting The Atom'(co-written with the ever busy Damon Albarn) who contributes to other tracks on the album. 'Girl I Love you' with regular alumni Horace Andy, and the stunning 'Psyche' with Martina topley-Bird on vocal, although i heard this track takes alternate shapes on different pressings of the album. If you are new to the Massive experience it would be a good place to start, but i would urge you to back track to the genius of their wonder years. Robert Del Naja and Neil Davidge are pioneers in sound design and hopefully will not give us another 7 year gap between albums.
 OOOHH GODDDD ! April 18, 2010
DJ Raz (inna da u.k)
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I so far have not been able to get past two tracks of this album without getting all gloomy & depressed !
Talented ? Well yes ,very but i just can't stand it. Boring ? Well yes .
I've always found them to be a bit odd despite all the bigging up they get but now....No, Can't do it, can't listen to this depressing gloomy drivel.
Most unfortunate !
 A slow burner in a land of its own April 17, 2010
Joseph Augustine (Cambridge, UK)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
To offer a comparision with Radiohead's recent 'In Rainbows' for its renaissance factor would not be far off the mark, and having grown up with Massive Attack and listened to all their albums, this one pleasantly surprised me.. and in the best possible way a classic album can..it rapidly grows on you and earworms its way into your day with lots of worming space to spare. Robert Del Naja has swallowed the Nick Drake melancholy tune book and given it an experimental electronic flare that is sometimes equalled but never surpassed in UK music IMHO, and this album still has an overall cutting edge, which is remarkable for a band that has been around since 1988. Therefore luke warm reviews coming from across the pond (e.g. Pitchfork 5/10) are even more puzzling to me - the juicy discordant middle-eight break in 'Girl I Love You' and very addictive base line of 'Psyche' are worth the entrance fee alone :)) A slow burner for sure and, if like me, you were slightly under-awed by '100th Window', Heligoland should not disappoint!
Hell Ego Land April 14, 2010
Dean Courtney (London)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Massive Attack are unfortunate. Their very name evokes memories of the unforgettable Blue Lines, now almost 20, and specifically the wonderful Unfinished Symphony, complete with its classic and highly regarded video promo. One gets the impression that this level of success is acts as a sword of Damocles over the band, having to constantly try to exceed their previous glories. Heligoland came as Massive Attack's first record in 7 years, and as such the weight of expectation was huge.
The album opens in appropriately dark style: Pray for Rain features Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio) using a hypnotic vocal over a deep bass line and dramatic piano to elevate a quietly dark song into one of joy, and almost hope. This leads the album onto a couple of performances each from veteran Massive Attack collaborator Horace Andy and Martina Topley-Bird (who guested on Tricky's seminal LP Maxinquaye at the height of Trip-Hop in the 90s) who provides vocal on the superbly ghost-like Psyche. This fells like a band who have mastered their art, by recognising what was previously successful but also bringing their distinctive style into a new musical era. The music contains all classic Massive Attack hallmarks, dirty bass lines , heavy and incessant percussion, and delightfully haunting lyric provided from relevant vocalists.
The album flows quite comfortably until it reaches its midpoint - Flat Of The Blade. In what can only be described as a bizarre choice, Guy Garvey (Elbow) lends his vocal to a song which seems devoid of any point or reason, just a incoherent set of noises with a mismatched vocal which results in a song that seems to struggle under it's own concept, which itself is rather uncertain. That the song has existed in several different forms before finally appearing here suggests that nobody can quite work it out, or what to do with it.
Next is the lead single Paradise Circus, performed by American shoegaze artist Hope Sandoval allows you to get sucked into an almost dreamlike trance, full of strings and a vocal performed with an almost childlike innocence. This seems to be the perfect and obvious choice to lure unsuspecting people back into Massive Attack's musical vision.
Rush Minute with its hurried, almost panicky percussion leads to Saturday Come Slow, a masterpiece in melancholy (Damon Albarn's desperately vocal wails `Do You Love Me?' to form the songs chorus) but a song that never feels morose. Finally comes Atlas Air, a 7 minute Del Naja closer, which instantly evokes memories of Antistar, by far one of the strongest tracks from 100th Window.
It feels like we find Massive Attack in a good place, having resolved issues about musical direction, they appear to have released a solid body of work, which upon a few listens allays any initial fears that it is merely a stoner album (although there is definitely a smoky haze running throughout). There is enough in this album to constantly engage, and it stands up to many a repeated listen. This is definitely not another Blue Lines however, but then again, why would you expect a band to chase glories from 20 years ago?
Showing reviews 6-10 of 57
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