Massive Attack • Collected
Virgin Records V3017
Three 33-RPM 180 g LPs
Eighteen months or so ago I was in my local friendly audio dealer, The Hifi Attic, for a social visit as much as anything. Some music was playing in the background on CD, so I didn’t pay it much heed. Then I heard a familiar heart-like drum beat and piano bass chords, and it only took me a couple of seconds to recognise the music as being the main theme to TV’s medical drama, House (a show I like and whose music I also like). I asked Lyle, the store’s owner, for the name of the track and artist: it turns out the track was Teardrop from (in this particular instance) Massive Attack’s 14-track compilation album, Collected. Teardrop was originally from Massive Attack’s third album, Mezzanine.
I didn’t think a new “pop” record would be available on vinyl, so Collected has the dubious distinction of being one of only a couple of CDs I’ve bought in the last decade. Fast forward a year or so, and I spot Collected—on vinyl—on another friend’s shelf, so I set about looking for a copy (I prefer to buy my records new if at all possible; although one can find some otherwise unobtainable music by buying used, I prefer not to rely on sellers’ sometimes dubious rating schemes, unless I can inspect the record personally prior to purchase). A couple of months ago, I finally found a new copy and bought it.
The music’s genre is trip hop, which I must admit isn’t usually my cup of tea. The aforementioned Teardrop aside, I personally would relegate the album to the “background music” pile, but as I say in another review: it really doesn’t matter what I think! All that matters is whether you like the music!
From a sound quality point of view, the album is a typical well-polished record (fortunately, without being overly compressed). The fact that the album is spread out over six sides no doubt helps here, and I am glad that Virgin chose this route rather the obvious, sound quality-limiting alternative. At the very least, this album is worth a listen.