John Morrison's Culture Corner on World Cafe
BRISTOL, UNITED KINGDOM – AUGUST 25: British group Massive Attack performs to a crowd of approximately 10,000 at Queens Square August 25, 2003 in Bristol, United Kingdom. The gig was their first live performance in five years. (Photo by Carl De Souza/Getty Images)
World Cafe
The Culture Corner: How Massive Attack shook up pop culture in 1998
Examining the cultural impact of Massive Attack’s biggest record, “Mezzanine.”
Setlist
Apr
19
Massive Attack
World Cafe
- "Inertia Creeps"
- "Risingson"
- "Angel"
- "Teardrop"
When Massive Attack released their album Mezzanine in 1998, it managed to fit right in the current music landscape and sound like nothing else around.
“Mezzanine arrived at a time when electronic music was ubiquitous in pop culture,” says World Cafe correspondent John Morrison.
The album caught the pop culture wave, and it was Massive Attack’s biggest record. In this session, John discusses what made Mezzanine so special, all of the influences the group pulled together to create it, and the story behind their iconic collaboration with Cocteau Twins‘ Elizabeth Fraser, “Teardrop.”