Massive Attack's history begins when three fellow members of "The Wild Bunch", a group of musicians and DJs, formed a trio in Bristol, UK, in 1988. Andrew Lee Isaac Vowles (known as Mushroom), along with Grantley Evan Marshall (Daddy G) and Robert Del Naja (known as 3D) debuted with the album "Blue Lines", that came out in April of 1991, by Wild Brunch label and Virgin Records. Shara Nelson and Horace Andy were the main vocalists, while it's style is trip hop with hip hop elements and a lot of rapping and breakbeats on some songs. Their first hit was "Unfinished Sympathy", while the band used their current name "Massive Attack", after the release of "Safe from Harm", the third single of the album.
With new vocalist Tracey Thorn, the trio released their second album, "Protection" in 1994 and the remixed version of "No Protection" by Mad Professor gained the "Best Dance Act" Brit Award later. They created their own label in 1995 and after a few soundtrack projects, they began recording their next album "Mezzanine", which came out in April of 1998 and became their bigger success. It reached the top of the UK Albums chart and contains the hit "Teardrop" (it was followed by a video with the characteristic fetus) along with three more songs with Horace Andy.
After a conflict between the members, Daddy G left the trio and the other two recorded "100th Window" which wasn't a big success when it came out in February of 2003. A compilation album named "Collected", came out in 2006 and after their work in a few soundtracks, the trio reunited in order to complete their next album. They toured in the UK and after the "Splitting the Atom" EP, the trio's fifth album named "Heligoland", came out in November of 2009, with Damon Albarn and Hope Sandoval among the vocalists.
The following years were inactive for Massive Attack, until 2013, where Naja stated that they had already working on their next album. In the beginning of 2016, they released "Ritual Sirit", an EP with the participation of Tricky (he had also took part in "Protection"). It contained also collaborations with "Young Fathers", "Azekel" and "Roots Manuva".
Massive Attack have won various awards, including 1 Brit Award and 2 MTV Europe Music Awards for "Best Video" (for Protection" in 1995 and "Teardrop" three years later).
Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack