Massive Attack vs. Mad Professor

I loved PROTECTION, though only recently did I `get into' Massive Attack. I remember when PROTECTION - the single came out, I liked it a lot, but I was into faster electronic music at the time. So I dismissed it. It wasn't until now that I bought a few Massive Attack records at a used bookstore or 1.00, did I get into the band. I now have all the major albums, and love them dearly. Protection might be my favorite from the band.

I hesitated buying this dub version of the album, simply based on the album cover. Silly I know, but I didn't want to pay for an album that was ugly sounding or too-rap, even though clearly it is a dub album. Foolish me waiting to get it...and alas, bliss. I love it, and listened to it in it's entirety every night this week. I think is my favorite massive Attack...in a way...I just love it. The songs are the same, but dubbed out. Long slow electronic excursions, I can't compare it to anything really. It is brilliant electronic music.

Atmospheric and slow slow lazy, piano rainy days off, smoke machine dancing, slow but not depressing. The album reminds me of so many albums, at one point I thought I was listening to a completely different band. Every once and a while during a listen...I think "who is this?" It's cool stuff.

I grew up listening to new Wave, and then mod and pre goth alternative pot punk. I followed industrial and acid house, deep house, trance, electro, Synthpop and EBM, acid jazz, trip hop laid back ambient music. I like most drum and bass and any kind of experimental music.

So I dismissed Massive Attack even though I liked what I head average enough But like all good bands and albums, each listen reveals something different, and this is that album for me right now. Total ART ROCK before it is anything else. It could be any genre really, jazz, dub, electro, retro, classic.

i might be the only person who has this dub remix album but has never heard the original Massive Attack songs! so, perhaps my feelings on this cd are a bit more free of speculation than the average reviewer...but i love this cd! i'm a fan of dub and i've only got a mild appreciation for Mad Professor's work; but this collection really sees his talents shine and his production values soar to new heights. each cut has a strange sound; stradling old dub ethics with some more modern stylings. the beauty of it is that the warmth of the songs is kept alive and it does not feel like a cold studio effort. well done.

Anything by Massive Attack and anything by Mad Professor is great by me. I love it all but not by itself, but in a mix with other genres.

I really enjoy dub, from the old-school Trojan stuff up through Burning Spear, LKJ, etc., and I have a couple Mad Professor CDs. While sometimes overly busy, both have some fun, interesting stuff. I'd heard that "No Protection" bears little resemblance to "Protection." No problem, I thought, it'll be fun to check out what the Mad Professor brings to the project. Inexplicably, he abandons his usual kitchen-sink approach, and what we get here is dishwater-dull. The first few tracks are enjoyable, melllll-ow ear candy. The rest is aural wallpaper. (The last song is an absolute waste of time, but you'll likely be asleep by then.) Buy this only if you're looking for something to crash to.

"Protection" was Massive Attack`s worst record, but this remix album is even worse, destroying the few interesting moments that the band`s second effort had. Remixer Mad Professor deconstructs the songs and gives them a dub/ reggae-oriented sound, something that`s decent enough during the first two/ three tracks but soon becomes terribly uninspired, repetitive, boring and formulaic.
There are no variations or contrasts in this remixes, the process is always the same and the album seems endless, almost impossible to listen through in one sitting while managing to remain awake. Seriously, this is a major disappointment, and certainly one of the most monotonous, one-dimensional and flat records around.
For fans and completists only.

First of all, the question to be asked is whether one wants to buy this CD as a dub LP or as a supplement to the Massive Attack collection. Lets take the first case. As a dub LP is not bad at all. The original tracks from the PROTECTION LP are enriched with typical tripped out dub sounds, while the singing is downgraded to the second place. In some cases one gets only a glimpse of the lyrics, in short echoing portions. This is not a very ambient dub LP though, it gets difficult to listen at some points if one is not used to hardcore dub. And here comes the second case. Massive Attack funs who might think that through this CD they can enhance their enjoyment of the PROTECTION LP, are wrong. Although the basis is the same, nothing else is. The dub background Massive are using in some of their tracks, is reinforced, twisted and roughed up. No making-love-music in this one, just smokey living rooms, full of silent, head-nodding people and ripped up packs of cigarettes on the floor. If you want to get this CD, do it for the right reasons.