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Protection (Massive Attack album)

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Protection
Studio album by
Massive Attack
Released26 September 1994 (1994-09-26)
Recorded1993–1994
Studio
  • Wild Bunch (London)
  • Massive Attack (Bristol)
  • Antenna (Bristol)
GenreTrip hop
Length48:57
Label
  • Wild Bunch
  • Circa
Producer
Massive Attack chronology
Blue Lines
(1991) 		Protection
(1994) 		No Protection
(1995)
Singles from Protection
  1. "Sly"
    Released: 17 October 1994 (1994-10-17)
  2. "Protection"
    Released: 9 January 1995 (1995-01-09)
  3. "Karmacoma"
    Released: 20 March 1995 (1995-03-20)

Protection is the second studio album by English electronic music group Massive Attack, released on 26 September 1994 by Wild Bunch Records and Circa. DJ Mad Professor remixed the album in 1995 under the name No Protection.

Composition

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Like most of Massive Attack's albums, the music often defies categorisation, ranging from R&B (title track and "Sly") to hip hop/rap ("Karmacoma" and "Eurochild") to reggae-tinged synth-pop ("Spying Glass") to classical-influenced electronica instrumentals ("Weather Storm" and "Heat Miser"). The album follows Blue Lines structurally, to the point that the font used on the cover of the album is the same, Helvetica Heavy Italic. The album cover also nods to Blue Lines, revealing a futuristic, impenetrable wall behind a mostly-burned version of this previous album's artwork—implying that the depicted "flammable gas" had been ignited.

Tricky again appeared on the album, rapping on the tracks "Karmacoma" (whose video was directed by Jonathan Glazer, and which featured a sample from The KLF's "Dream Time in Lake Jackson" at the 2:00-minute mark) and "Eurochild" (which featured samples from Startled Insects' "Cheetah" and Liquid Liquid's "Lock Groove (In)").

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Consumer GuideA−[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
The Guardian[4]
Knoxville News Sentinel[5]
NME8/10[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Select5/5[9]
Tom Hull – on the WebA−[10]
Vox8/10[11]

Paul Evans of Rolling Stone wrote, "Cool, sexy stuff, it smoothly fuses dub, club and soul, grounding its grace in sampled hip-hop beats."[7]

In 2011, Rolling Stone ranked Protection at number 51 on its list of the "100 Best Albums of the Nineties".[12] The album is also listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[13]

As of February 2010, the album had sold 292,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[14]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Protection"
7:51
2."Karmacoma"
5:16
3."Three"
3:49
4."Weather Storm"
4:59
5."Spying Glass"
5:20
6."Better Things"
4:13
7."Eurochild"
  • Vowles
  • Del Naja
  • Marshall
  • Tricky
  • Norfolk
  • Locke
5:11
8."Sly"
5:24
9."Heat Miser"
3:39
10."Light My Fire" (live)The Doors3:15
Total length:48:57

Sample credits

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Personnel

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Musicians

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Technical

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  • Nellee Hooper – production, mixing (all tracks); mix engineering (track 10)
  • Massive Attack – production, mixing
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mix engineering (tracks 1–8)
  • Jim Abbiss – mix engineering (track 9)
  • Jeremy "Jim Bob" Wheatley – additional engineering
  • Al Stone – additional engineering
  • Mike Marsh – mastering

Artwork

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  • Massive Attack, Michael-Nash Assoc. – artwork
  • Matthew Donaldson, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Eddie Monsoon – photography

Charts

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1994–2001 chart performance for Protection
Chart (1994–2001) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 15
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] 21
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] 47
Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 46
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[19] 49
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] 76
European Albums (Music & Media)[21] 21
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[22] 33
French Albums (SNEP)[23] 24
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 63
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 9
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[26] 37
Scottish Albums (OCC)[27] 12
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[28] 14
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 29
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 4
UK Dance Albums (OCC)[31] 1
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[32] 1
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[33] 19
2019 weekly chart performance for Protection
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Greek Albums (IFPI)[34] 8
2020 chart performance for Protection
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[35] 44

Certifications

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Certifications for Protection
Region Certification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[36] Gold 100,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[37] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[38] Gold 7,500^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[39] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[41] 2× Platinum 653,864[40]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[42] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Bush, John. "Protection – Massive Attack". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Massive Attack: Protection". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Massive Attack". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (30 September 1994). "CD of the week: Massive Attack". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Campbell, Chuck (3 February 1995). "Stone Roses Might Need Some Pruning". Knoxville News Sentinel.
  6. ^ Kessler, Ted (24 September 1994). "Support for All". NME. p. 49.
  7. ^ a b Evans, Paul (6 April 1995). "Massive Attack: Protection". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  8. ^ Kot, Greg (2004). "Massive Attack". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 517–18. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. ^ Hall, Matt (October 1994). "Dub Wiser". Select. No. 52. p. 103.
  10. ^ Hull, Tom. "Grade List: Massive Attack". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  11. ^ Martin, Gavin (October 1994). "Direct hit". Vox. No. 128.
  12. ^ "100 Best Albums of the '90s – Massive Attack, 'Protection'". Rolling Stone. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  13. ^ Dimery, Robert, ed. (2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  14. ^ Sexton, Paul (19 February 2010). "Massive Attack Prove New Album Was Worth The Wait". Billboard. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Massive Attack – Protection". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Massive Attack – Protection" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  17. ^ "Ultratop.be – Massive Attack – Protection" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  18. ^ "Ultratop.be – Massive Attack – Protection" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  19. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 7956". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  20. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Massive Attack – Protection" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  21. ^ "European Top 100 Albums". Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 42. 15 October 1994. p. 23. OCLC 29800226.
  22. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Massive Attack". Sisältää hitin – Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish) (2nd ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 163. ISBN 978-952-7460-01-6.
  23. ^ "Lescharts.com – Massive Attack – Protection". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  24. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Massive Attack – Protection" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  25. ^ "Charts.nz – Massive Attack – Protection". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  26. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Massive Attack – Protection". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  27. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  28. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Massive Attack – Protection". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  29. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Massive Attack – Protection". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  30. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  31. ^ "Dance Albums". Music Week. 8 October 1994. p. 26. ISSN 0265-1548.
  32. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  33. ^ "Massive Attack Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  34. ^ "Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Combined) – Week: 47/2019". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  35. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  36. ^ "French album certifications – Massive Attack – Protection" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 29 June 1998.
  37. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Massive Attack – Protection" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 22 October 2012. Enter Protection in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2000 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  38. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Massive Attack – Protection". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  39. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Protection')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  40. ^ Garner, George (4 February 2021). "Round Hill Music acquires catalogue of two founding members of Massive Attack". Music Week. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  41. ^ "British album certifications – Massive Attack – Protection/No Protection". British Phonographic Industry. 22 July 2013.
  42. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2004". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
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