Protection (album)

Protection (1994) is Bristol-based trip-hop band Massive Attack's second album.

Untitled

Sound

Protection was featured in the top ten of Rolling Stone magazine's 'Coolest Albums of All Time List,' calling it "great music for when you're driving around a city at 4 am," due to the 'chill out' nature of the album. Like most of Massive Attack's albums, the music often forgets about categorisation, ranging from R&B (title track, Sly) to hip hop/rap (Karmacoma, Eurochild) to reggae-tinged synthpop (Spying Glass) to classical-influenced electronica instrumentals (Weather Storm, Heat Miser).

Paul Evans of Rolling Stone gave the album three and a half of five stars calling it "Cool, sexy stuff, it smoothly fuses dub, club and soul, grounding its grace in sampled hip-hop beats."

It is the second and last Massive Attack album listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

The track "Karmacoma" featured vocals from Tricky, and the video was directed by Jonathan Glazer. The song also features a sample from the track "Dream Time in Lake Jackson" by The KLF, which can be found 2:00 minutes in.

DJ Mad Professor remixed the album in 1995 under the name No Protection.

Track listing

1. "Protection" (Vowles/Del Naja/Marshall/Thorn) – 7:51
2. "Karmacoma" (Vowles/Del Naja/Marshall/Tricky/Norfolk/Locke) – 5:16
3. "Three" (Vowles/Del Naja/Marshall/Hooper/Suwoton) – 3:49
4. "Weather Storm" (Vowles/Del Naja/Marshall/Hooper/Armstrong/Harmon/Napoleon/Lloyd /Murray) – 4:59
5. "Spying Glass" (Vowles/Del Naja/Marshall/Hooper/Andy) – 5:20
6. "Better Things" (Vowles/Del Naja/Marshall/Thorn/Watt/Brown) – 4:13
7. "Eurochild" (Vowles/Del Naja/Marshall/Tricky/Norfolk/Locke) – 5:11
8. "Sly" (Vowles/Del Naja/Marshall/Hooper/Suwoton/Goldman) – 5:24
9. "Heat Miser" (Vowles/Del Naja/Marshall/Hooper/de Vries) – 3:39
10. "Light My Fire" (live) (The Doors Cover) – 3:15