Horace Andy - Living In The Flood

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10th October 1999

04:21

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Written by Robert Del Naja

Produced and Arranged by Clive Hunt

Recording Engineered by Shane Brown, Rohan Dwyer, Kirk Hedge and Alvin Wallace

Mixed by Kevin Metcalfe

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Horace Andy

Doldrums was written as a 'thank you' from 3D to Horace Andy, for inclusion in Horace's 1999 album, which just so happened to be released on Melankolic, Massive Attack's own private record label. It was for Horace's continued involvement with Massive Attack since Blue Lines and was called in as a personal favour when horace was looking for songwriters for his album. He would also happened to get the legendary Joe Strummer, of The Clash to pen a song for the same album, Living In The Flood, which was also called after the album.

Prehaps the only song written by 3D, for him not have a hand in it's production in some way.

Doldrums has never once been played live neither by Massive Attack or Horace Andy.

Horace Andy on 3D's appreaction for Joe Strummer - “3D grew up with Joe Strummer. Joe Strummer is his idol. I didn't know about Joe Strummer. I was still in Jamaica or America [when the Clash was popular]. They brought a Clash song to me. One of the Clash songs, he was singing about the Vietnam War. That's the first time I heard that song. It was so-so, in between on the balance. I liked it to an extent, but I really didn't want to do over a song. So they scrapped it. My management contacted Joe and say if Joe would do a collaberation with me. And Joe was really happy. That's how "Living In The Flood" came about. He sent the rhythm and the lyrics” [www.horaceandy.com - March 2000]

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Tags: kevin metcalfe • shane brown • horace andy • empty vessels • living in the flood

Nocturne Sessions Disk 3: Mixed By Robert (3D) Del Naja

Heard throughout the soundtrack to the film The Uranus Experiment.

12th March 2002

No definite duration time exists, for Inflight Data as the only occurence of it on a record, 3D's Nocture Sessions, is of the song mixed in contiguously into the rest of the songs on the disc creating a single track mixtape compilation , where it impossible to accurately guage the times of any of the songs. Despite this, one can estimate the song to be close to six minutes in length.

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There was no definite credit information ever released for Inflight Data. Assuming that Neil Davidge and Daddy G had no involvement in this song, a good speculative list of credits for this song would read as:

Written by Robert Del Naja

Produced and Mixed by Robert Del Naja

Guitar by Angelo Bruschini

Inflight Data contains no samples, however the version of it on 3D's Nocture Sessions mixes the end of Inflight Data into the beginning of the next song which is Tales Of The Future by Vangelis, which was taken from the 1982 soundtrack to Blade Runner. As 3D's Nocture Sessions is a one track mixtape compilation that blends all the songs into it contiguously, it is hard to tell when one song ends and the next begins, which is what led to some confusion when fans thought Inflight Data sampled the Vangelis song at its end.

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Instrumental

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Liam Howlett from The Prodigy and 3D met some years ago at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan and since then have become good friends, both having a similar method of composing and producing music. As well, as their music senseabilities, the pair also shared an appreciation for more carnal activities - a love of porn. It was 3D's initial idea that they do the soundtrack to a hardcore porn movie, which Liam Howlett readily accepted. The film they would choose would be The Uranus Experiment, a relatively high budget (for a porno!) film which would feature the world's first zero gravity sex scene caught on film. 3D would produce one track for the movie called Inflight Data, while Liam Howlett would name his one Titan.

A common misconception is that 3D and Liam Howlett directly contributed to each other's tracks, when in fact no collaboration actually took place between the two. Soon after 3D and Liam Howlett had finished their soundtrack work separately, they then proceeded in late 1999, to directly work with each other on a new track "No Souvenirs", originally intended for another soundtrack to the 2000 film "The Beach". This new song would have been billed as a Prodigy/Massive Attack collaboration. This "No Souvenirs" song never appeared on "The Beach" soundtrack and has been continously delayed since. As of yet, it has still not been released in its original form. An unauthorized internet leak of a UNKLE/James Lavelle remix did surface of No Souvenirs though in late 2008, which would be of interest to Massive Attack fans, if only to hear 3D's vocals in it.

Inflight Data has never once been played live

Liam Howlett on both his and 3D's involvement in The Uranus Experiment - "Rob (3D) was asked to do it and he asked if I'd be into doing something as well, so we kind of swapped ideas. I don't think of them (Inflight Data and Titan) as finished tracks, really. They're kind of raw, just ideas" [http://www.geocities.com/mindblow_/ - February 2000]

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Tags: tales of the future • liam howlett • blade runner • porn soundtrack • uranus experiment

Inertia Creeps (Single Release)

The links below will take you either to the Collector section of MASSIVEATTACK.IE, or to an external website - either amazon.com or discogs.com, where you can find out more about all the the album (s)/release (s) that this particular Massive Attack song appears on.

Singles 90/98

19th October 1998

04:52

Instrumental - An instrumental mix of Reflection, exactly the same as the original mix sans vocals. Included only on the vinyl release, both retail and promo.

Written by Robert Del Naja, Neil Davidge and John Harris

Produced and Arranged by Robert Del Naja and Neil Davidge

Mixed by Andy Bradfield

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Robert Del Naja

At the midpoint durng the 1998 tour, there was a seven week rest period, were Massive Attack could recuperate for the second leg of the 1998 tour. While Daddy G and Mushroom rested, 3D did not spend too much time on his laurels and quickly got back, after a week's break into the Massive Attack studios in Bristol, UK and along with Neil Davidge worked on a song that had been brewing in mind for sometime now during the first half of the 1998 tour. This song would end up becoming Reflection, a post-punk inspired track with a vicious beat with vocals from 3D, making it somewhat of a accompanying track to the other 3D sung song on Mezzanine, which was Inertia Creeps (which it would become packaged as a b-side to). In the same period of time 3D and Neil Davidge would also accomplish remix assignments on tracks for the Manic Street Preachers (If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next) and U.N.K.L.E (Rabbit In Your Headlights).

Reflection marks an important milestone in some way for Massive Attack. It was the first Massive Attack song completed that did not feature Daddy G nor Mushroom in any capacity, being the brainchild of 3D with help from Neil Davidge, who had gotten his first co-writer credit on a Massive Attack song. Before this he had only recieved production and arranging credits officially on Massive Attack releases. It was this working partnership of 3D and Neil Davidge who would go on to be the creative force behind the band for the majority of the bands material for the next decade nearly with the soon to be departure of Mushroom and the near absense in the studio of Daddy G for the next several years.

John Harris who had played bass guitar on the album Mezzanine recieved a co-writer credit also on the song for performing the same function of providing bass guitar as he did on the album, on Reflection. This would mark his last input into Massive Attack material, as he left to concentrate his talents on his own band Sunna, who were signed to Massive Attack's own private record label Melankolic.

Relection was played at a few dates during the second half of the 1998 tour, making it a very rare live performance. The first time it was played was at the Valby Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark on 2nd November 1998. It has never been played since the 1998 tour.

3D on Reflection - "It's just me and Neil [Davidge]. It’s a quick track. It's almost a sister track to Inertia Creeps. It's very simple, but its got a nice vibe to it. It's like Public Image if I was to compare it, which I shouldn't do really.” [Innerviews.org – September 1998]

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Tags: inertia creeps • neil davidge • mezzanine • instrumental • andy bradfield

Mezzanine

The links below will take you either to the Collector section of MASSIVEATTACK.IE, or to an external website - either amazon.com or discogs.com, where you can find out more about all the the album (s)/release (s) that this particular Massive Attack song appears on.

Angel (Single Release), Singles 90/98, Aural Float Presents Space Night Vol. V (Mad Professor Remix)

20th April 1998

08:13

Mad Professor Remix - A soothing ambient dub mix with a suitable dark edge by habitual Massive Attack remixer, Mad Professor. Included originally on the Angel single release but in a truncated edited form which shaved off what should have been the last three minutes of the remix. Thankfully, these lost three minutes were restored when this remix was included as part of the Singles 90/98 boxset.

Written by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Elizabeth Fraser

Produced by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Neil Davidge

See Mezzanine info section for further credit details by clicking here.

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Elizabeth Fraser and Robert Del Naja

Group Four was certainly a 3D inspired song which was mostly written, with Elizabeth Fraser as his writing partner and Angelo Bruschini providing support, at a recording studio in Cornwall, UK which was well away from the other band members who remained in Bristol. This arrangment allowed the Massive Attack trio to work on their own individual material down in Cornwall without undue interuption and interference from any others, with different bandmembers each going down to Cornwall on their own at a time. 3D, taking charge of Group Four, oversaw not one but two Fraser vocals, sung weeks apart - the earlier one recorded in Bristol, the later one recorded there in Cornwall, and had Neil Davidge stitch an epic, near-Zeppelin finale onto the original frame.

Speculating on why Group Four is called as such, the name could well have a double meaning. Group Four is the name of a security firm in the UK. Considering that 3D has stated that the meaning behind Group Four is of a nightwatchman on duty, then this connection makes some sense. Also Group Four might be a play on words of the the 1970's post-punk band "Gang Of Four", a band that many would say inspire alot of the material on Mezzanine.

Group Four was first played live at the Olympia in Dublin, Ireland on 15th April 1998. For the majority of dates on the 1998/1999 tour, Elizabeth Fraser was not available due to the fact that she was pregnant at the time. She did however put in a memorable appearance at the Royal Albert Hall gig in June 1998. Her vocals on Group Four for this tour, were done instead by Debbie Miller. On the 2003 tour, Liz Fraser was still not present, but now her vocals were substituted with Dot Allison's. The continuation of the tour in 2004, completely ommitted Group Four from the setlist, replacing it with the Redux version of Future Proof as each show's finale. For the 2006 tour, not only would Group Four return, but so would Elizabeth Fraser who would be performing live and singing her vocals for not only Group Four but the other Liz Fraser tracks on Mezzanine, and proceeded to do the whole tour with Massive Attack. Once again (like in 2004), on the 2008 tour, Group Four was dropped to make way for the various new songs that would enter the setlist that year.

Every show that Group Four is apart of the setlist, it is always the last song played as a showstopper finale event. For this the original eight minute length is stretched to 12/13 minutes length, with the extra time devoted to a driving guitar riff which keeps increasing in intensity and loudness until the climax.

3D on writing Group Four along with Elizabeth Fraser - "Your the complete master of your own domain, were the only thing you have to watch is the clock. And when Elizabeth started writing stuff, she was coming from a slightly different angle, but as uniquely as personal, and I think the idea of putting all the parts together is quite a confusing picture, but still quite operatic as well" [Mezzanine Interview Disc - March 1998]

3D on the meaning and recording process behind Group Four - "It's the offer of being a nightwatchman and the idea of not having to deal with anyone else, with your only concern being your shifts or whatever. When we wrote it, Liz would come up with one thing, then I'd do another bit, then she would come back again with something else. It's a very unorthodox way of writing" [Vox Magazine - May 1998]

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Tags: cornwall • neil davidge • elizabeth fraser • mezzanine • mad professor

Mezzanine

The links below will take you either to the Collector section of MASSIVEATTACK.IE, or to an external website - either amazon.com or discogs.com, where you can find out more about all the the album (s)/release (s) that this particular Massive Attack song appears on.

Chilled In The Sun

20th April 1998

05:54

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Written by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall and Andrew Vowles

Produced by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Neil Davidge

See Mezzanine info section for further credit details by clicking here.

Mezzanine uses a sample from the song "Radioactivity" by Kraftwerk. It appears primarily on their 1975 release "Radioactivity". It is not credited officially by Massive Attack.

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Robert Del Naja and Grant Marshall

The title track from the album Mezzanine, went through many changes (roughly about five different varations that differed majorly from each other, none of which have ever been heard) throughout the production and mixing stages of the album. Gradually, Massive Attack became frustrated with the song during the mixing process and settled on the way it sounds now, not ultimately been satisfied with it but being forced to stop working on it. This also makes it probably the last song to be completed for the Mezzanine album.

Mezzanine, the song, was responible for lending it's name to the album, Mezzanine and not the other way around. Typically, Massive Attack have always left the naming of all their albums to the very end. 3D decided to name the album after the song because of the no man's land or twilight zone or even a floor between floors (as the lyrics in the chorus would seem to suggest) the song embodies, which were the same qualities that the album, Mezzanine embodied as a whole come it's completion time.

Mezzanine was first played live at the Olympia in Dublin, Ireland on 15th April 1998. Since then, it has become a near permanent fixture to the live setlist in all subsequent tours. It's live arrangement is typically the same as the regular album version with both 3D and Daddy G (except for when he was absent for some of the North American 2006 tour) performing live vocals.

There is a distinct possibilty that the opening intro song of the 1997 tour was one of the earlier versions of Mezzanine, as indeed it contained a few lyrical lines ("Give me evenings, Give me weekends") that would eventually make their way onto the finalised Mezzanine track.

3D on both the naming and recording process behind Mezzanine - "The track we called Mezzanine [was named] quite a long time ago but it changed shape quite alot over the last six months. In fact, we completely reinvented it about five times, out of frustration" [Mezzanine Interview Disc - March 1998]

3D on the meaning behind Mezzanine - "Slightly confusing when you feel like you're in two places at once, one is an altogether more exotic place and the other is the reality where you struggle to find a grip" [Vox Magazine – May 1998]

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Tags: mezzanine • thicker than mud • kraftwerk • heart made of stone • thicker than water

Mezzanine

The links below will take you either to the Collector section of MASSIVEATTACK.IE, or to an external website - either amazon.com or discogs.com, where you can find out more about all the the album (s)/release (s) that this particular Massive Attack song appears on.

Collected (Special Edition) (Black Melt)

20th April 1998

06:20

Black Melt - As a direct response to Massive Attack being sued for the unauthorised use of a Manfred Mann sample, (which led to a costly out of court settlement with Manfred Mann), 3D took Black Milk and removed the offending sample entirely and from there built an entirely new song based on a more "new wave" sound, with no samples whatsoever and placed Elizabeth Fraser's original vocals on top. This new version is included only on the special edition of Collected. It should also be noted that Black Melt on the special edition of Collected has an unexpected split second gap in sound at the 03:24 minute mark into the song. This is a deliberate gap of sound by Massive Attack for an unknown reason (prehaps just for randomness sake) and not a mass production error on the disc, as what was originally postulated by many fans at first.

Written by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Elizabeth Fraser

Produced by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Neil Davidge

See Mezzanine info section for further credit details by clicking here.

Black Milk uses a sample from the song "Tribute" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. It appears primarily on his 1972 release "Manfred Mann's Earth Band". It is not credited officially by Massive Attack.

Elizabeth Fraser

Black Milk was the second Elizabeth Fraser song to be conceived after Teardrop during the Mezzanine recording sessions at a studio in Cornwall,UK that occurred throughout 1997. It was mostly a Daddy G creation with some input from Mushroom and with production overseen by Neil Davidge. 3D had virtually nothing to do with Black Milk as he was working on his own songs for Mezzanine along with Angelo Bruschini in a separate recording studio in Bristol, UK, at the time. What 3D was unaware of however is that Daddy G had used a sample of an old Manfred Mann track called "Tribute" and had failed to get any sort of sample clearance for it. While Massive Attack had used uncredited samples before in their work, this Manfred Mann sample was a very blatant "rip-off" of the original song sampling 120 bars out of 128 from the original source with the drum pattern, hi-hat and bassline being identical. Both Daddy G and Neil Davidge had convinced 3D that the sample was not noticeable and would go undetected. Unfortunately, for Massive Attack the sample did not go unnoticed as a German fan of Manfred Mann's reported to him towards the end of 1998 of Massive Attack's unauthorised use of his song. This led to him claiming damages of £100,000 from Massive Attack and even trying to get an injunction to stop sales of Mezzanine.

In the end, Massive Attack managed to settle amicably out of court with Manfred Mann, but details of the settlement were never made public. This debacle with sample clearance issues and copyright infringement was among the reasons (both artistic and financial) which would turn Massive Attack away from using samples on their next album 100th Window.

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Black Milk has never been played live. It is speculated that Massive Attack cannot legally play Black Milk in the form it is in on Mezzaine because of the Manfred Mann lawsuit. Its newly remixed version, Black Melt however has become a near permanent fixture of the last few Massive Attack tours with it usually being the third or fourth song played. Black Melt was first played live at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on the 11th March 2003. For the 2003 and 2004 tours Dot Allison would provide substitute vocals for Elizabeth Fraser's absense on these tours. For Elizabeth Fraser's live return for the 2006/2007 tour she was able to do live vocals for Black Melt. It would be dropped for the 2008 tour to make way for new songs being debuted on that particular tour for the first time.

3D on Black Milk - "This is an excursion in Liz's own language, which I'm a big fan of. We usually jam and come up with random stuff, which we then re-record. It's quite exploratory" [Vox Magazine - May 1998]

Daddy G to 3D convincing him that the the Manfred Mann sample was minimal - "A TINY LITTLE PIECE OF ATMOSPHERE" [Official Massive Attack Forum - February 2002]

3D on how Black Melt, the new version of Black Milk compares to the original - "POST IRONIC-LOVE IT MORE THAN ORIGINAL" [Official Massive Attack Forum - May 2002]

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Tags: copyright lawsuit • tribute • elizabeth fraser • manfred mann • mezzanine

Mezzanine

The links below will take you either to the Collector section of MASSIVEATTACK.IE, or to an external website - either amazon.com or discogs.com, where you can find out more about all the the album (s)/release (s) that this particular Massive Attack song appears on.

Man Next Door (Euro Radio Edit)

20th April 1998

05:55

Euro Radio Edit - A truncated version of the song for radio playback for European radio stations. It trims off much of the beginning and end of the song. It might possibly have been used to guage interest of a commercial single release of Man Next Door. Included only on a rare promo CD of Man Next Door.

Written by John Holt

Produced by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Neil Davidge

See Mezzanine info section for further credit details by clicking here.

Man Next Door uses a sample from the song "10.15 Saturday Night" by The Cure. It appears primarily on their 1986 release "Staring At the Sea". It is credited officially by Massive Attack.

Apart from this aforementioned sample, Man Next Door also uses a sample from the song "When The Levee Breaks" by Led Zeppelin. It appears primarily on their 1971 release "Led Zeppelin 4". It is not credited officially by Massive Attack.

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Horace Andy

More than likely, Man Next Door is a product mostly of Daddy G's desire to do a reggae cover. The reggae cover ended up being Jamician reggae singer's John Holt's Man Next Door which had originally been recorded in the 1960's. This song had already previously been covered by the 1970's post-punk band The Slits, who had already turned the original upbeat reggae number into a more down tempo moody tune, which probably inspired Massive Attack, in their own take of the song, moreso than the original John Holt version.

In September 2000, the UK Conservative Party used a snippet of Man Next Door as background music to accompany the entrace of the then party leader William Hague. When Massive Attack were alerted of the use of their own song, which the Conservative party had not asked permission to use, Massive Attack became very indignant not so much with the unauthorised use of their song but moreso on political grounds, as the Conservative party were using it to promote their right wing policies which Massive Attack were not supporters of. Massive Attack threatened legal action against the Conservative party. It is uncertain exactly what happened afterwards, but it appears that no legal action against the Conservative party ever actually took place. For more information on this incident, click here to visit the corresponding entry in the news section.

Man Next Door along with a sampling of a few other Mezzanine-bound tracks were first played during the 1997 tour partly to gauge crowd reactions to these newly demoed songs. It's live debut to be exact was at the Royal Dublin Showgrounds in Dublin, Ireland on 21st June 1998. It was a constant feature of both the 1997 tour and the 1998/1999 tours. During the 2003 and 2004 tours it was ommitted entirely. Man Next Door would make its live appearance after a nearly eight year gap during the North American leg of the 2006 tour.

It's live arrangement is typically the same as the regular album version with Horace Andy performing live vocals.

Horace Andy on the previously recorded versions of Angel - "The band only knew the Dennis Brown version. I'm singing them the John Holt version" [Mojo Magazine – July 1998]

3D on why they used The Cure sample in Man Next Door - "I adored The Cure song '10:15 Saturday Night' growing up.  It literally got me in the mood to go out, you know what I mean?" [Primer Magazine - May 2010]

3D on the unauthorised use of Man Next Door during a Conservative Party conference - "We're completely fucked off with The Tories. How dare they use us to promote their bullshit" [Q Magazine - October 2000]

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Tags: staring at the sea • horace andy • the cure • mezzanine • john holt

Mezzanine

The links below will take you either to the Collector section of MASSIVEATTACK.IE, or to an external website - either amazon.com or discogs.com, where you can find out more about all the the album (s)/release (s) that this particular Massive Attack song appears on.

The End Credits of the film "The Jackal" (Endtrack), Long Way Round: Music From The TV Series – OST

20th April 1998

06:07

Endtrack - This is an early demo version of Dissolved Girl which differs significantly in it's arrangement compared to the finished product on Mezzanine. It is also probable that Sara Jay's vocals on this version is from a different vocal take to the regular version. It is featured only during the end credits sequence of the film "The Jackal", a movie which debuted in US cinemas on the 14th November 1997 a full six months before the final version of Dissolved Girl would be released on Mezzanine.

Written by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles, Sara Jay and Matt Schwarz

Produced by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Neil Davidge

See Mezzanine info section for further credit details by clicking here.

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Sara Jay

Sara Jay, the vocalist of Dissolved Girl was a unknown singer from Sheffield who was a discovery of Massive Attack's manager Marc Picken, who believed she would be an ideal addition to the Mezzanine recording sessions. Dissolved Girl was originally conceived and recorded as a early demo version (which would eventually be heard on The Jackal soundtrack) just before the beginning of the 1997 tour. Massive Attack would then proceed to take Sara Jay on tour with them and perform this early demo version of Dissolved Girl as a preview to the forthcoming album Mezzanine which would not be released for nearly another year.

Matt Schwarz who was a guest writer (the only such one on Mezzanine) on Dissolved Girl, went on to become one half of the electronic music duo Deepest Blue who would score many club hits in the UK and abroad in the years to come. It is the only collaboration he has done with Massive Attack.

One of three songs recorded with vocalist Sara Jay, the other two being Wire and an unknown, unreleased song.

The early demo version of Dissolved Girl (also known simply as Endtrack) was played live throughout the duration of the 1997 tour, which was a tour where several other Mezzanine-bound tracks were first debuted live. It's live debut to be exact was at the Royal Dublin Showgrounds,in Dublin,Ireland on 21st June 1997. Sara Jay herself provided vocals for the track on this tour. Sara Jay along with Dissolved Girl have never appeared on a subsequent tour, meaning that the regular version of Dissolved Girl found on Mezzanine has never been played live in that form.

Despite the above fact, it could be argued that part of Dissolved Girl was played continously throughout the 1998/1999 tour as part of Euro Zero Zero, an alternative version of Eurochild. At the end of the live version of Eurochild played on the 1998/1999 tour, Angelo Bruschini, Massive Attack's guitarist would play a rocking guitar solo that lasted about a minute that is the exact same as the one found on the midpoint of Dissolved Girl.

3D on the meaning behind Dissolved girl - "This was us being with Sara at that particular point. Again, I don't want to dwell on these same dysfunctional relationships, but thats what its about and I think she was going through a similiar thing to what we had been going through herself and that's what the song is about really. It's about how you relate to another person what they expect of you and what you expect of them - the same as Angel really - the idea of what you expect from a woman and power she might have over you" [Mezzanine Interview Disc - March 1998]

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Tags: the jackal • mezzanine • sara jay • the matrix • matt schwarz

Mezzanine

The links below will take you either to the Collector section of MASSIVEATTACK.IE, or to an external website - either amazon.com or discogs.com, where you can find out more about all the the album (s)/release (s) that this particular Massive Attack song appears on.

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20th April 1998

Exchange has a duration of 04:11, while (Exchange) has a duration of 04:11.

Exchange / (Exchange) - The most apparant difference between the two versions is that Exchange is an entirely instrumental affair while (Exchange) is complimented by Horace Andy's vocals as well as an extended fade-out sequence befitting its placement at the end of Mezzanine. They can effectively be seen as two parts of the same song.

There is conflicting information regarding the writing credits for Exchange depending on which version of Mezzanine you examine. The regular edition of Mezzanine lists the writing credits as being Mort Garson and Ben Hilliard while the Limited Edition version of Mezzanine which comes in a special digipak lists the writing credits as being Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles, Mort Garson and Ben Hilliard.

Produced by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Neil Davidge

See Mezzanine info section for further credit details by clicking here.

Exchange uses a sample from the song "Our Day Will Come" by Isaac Hayes. It appears primarily on his 1970 release "... To Be Continued". It is credited officially by Massive Attack.

Apart from this aforementioned sample, Exchange also uses a sample from the song "Summer In The City" by Quincy Jones.It appears primarily on his 1973 release "You've Got It Bad Girl ". It is not credited officially by Massive Attack.

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Horace Andy appears on (Exchange) only. Likewise the lyrics below only apply to (Exchange).

Exchange is prehaps the song that most obviously references Mushroom's talents and involvement than any other track on Mezzanine. The Isaac Hayes sample that Exchange is heavily based on, was once a popular choice for Mushroom to play as part of his DJ sets in the latter days of The Wild Bunch. When it came time however to get copyright clearance for the use of the sample for Exchange, Massive Attack would encounter a problem with obtaining the rights for the Isaac Hayes sample as the two original writers of the song, Mort Garson and Ben Hilliard were at that stage both dead and the wife of one them refused the sample's clearance. Luckily it was discovered afterwards that the sample that Mushroom had choosen from the Isaac Hayes song (which came specfically from its outro) was in fact written by Isaac Hayes and not the original writers. Isaac Hayes would then allow Massive Attack the use of his sample from the outro to the original song. This close call with running into sample clearance issues and possibly being heavily fined for copyright infringement was among the reasons (both artistic and financial) along with the whole Black Milk Manfred Mann sample debacle which would turn Massive Attack away from using samples on their next album 100th Window.

The reprise of Exchange at the end of Mezzanine, (Exchange), ends with what seems to be vinyl scratching noise that slowly fades away into nothingness. Considering that Exchange was almost entirely Mushroom's work this can be seen as a fittng end to Mushroom's contribution to Massive Attack as his departure would soon be immenient within the next year after Mezzanine's release.

Exchange in it's lyrical form i.e (Exchange) was performed during the second half of the 1998 tour at a few select dates with Horace Andy providing vocals. Currently, MASSIVEATTACK.IE is unaware exactly when and where Exchange was played live for its first time or precisely how many dates it was played for.

3D on Exchange - "Thats one of Mushroom's tracks. A drunken interlude. That feeling when you're gambling when your drunk, all your money's going and there's nothing you can do" [Vox Magazine - May 1998]

Mushroom on Exchange - “That was always one of the records I used to cut up with The Wild Bunch, so I had the label blacked out 'cos I didn't want biters to know what it was. We had to do a bit of research to see who the publisher was. Both the writers are dead now but the wife of one of them said we couldn't use it. Luckily I'd sampled a bit that Isaac Hayes had written into the outro” [Mojo Magazine - July 1998]

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Tags: instrumental • mezzanine • horace andy • mort garson • isaac hayes

Mezzanine

The links below will take you either to the Collector section of MASSIVEATTACK.IE, or to an external website - either amazon.com or discogs.com, where you can find out more about all the the album (s)/release (s) that this particular Massive Attack song appears on.

Inertia Creeps (Single Release), Collected, Singles 90/98, Stigmata - OST, Without Some Help (Alpha Remix)

20th April 1998

05:56

Manic Street Preachers Version - This remix by Welsh working class rockers, the Manic Street Preachers was also their first ever remix for another band. Massive Attack would also repay the favour and simultaneously remix their own song "If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next". Included on all single releases.

Alpha Mix - Melankolic labelmates and fellow Bristolians offer up their own chilled-out remix. Included on all single releases.

Back/Shecomes - This remix is in fact a Mad Professor mix done incognito, probably done as the name Mad Professor was getting to synonymous with Massive Attack remixes, at the time. Included on all single releases.

State Of Bengal Mix - This remix done by British/Asian DJ and producer Sam Zaman who emphasizes even further the middle eastern ethnic sounds contained in the regular version. Included on all single releases.

Radio Edit - A truncated version of the song for radio playback. Trims off the beginning and end of the song. Included only on the promo CD release, until the arrival of the Singles 90/98 Box Set where this edit would be included.

Written by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall and Andrew Vowles

Produced by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Neil Davidge

See Mezzanine info section for further credit details by clicking here.

For the Collected version of the song, additional credits are:

Remastered by Mike Marsh at the Exchange and Tim Young at Metropolis Mastering.

Samples an unknown Turkish/middle eastern song. See the History section of this page for more details.

N/A

Robert Del Naja

After taking a short break in July from the 1997 tour in Turkey, Massive Attack would return to Bristol with cassettes of Turkish music which would be the inspiration for what would eventually become Inertia Creeps. The turkish music was overheard by Massive Attack at a belly dancer club in the Turkish capital Istanbul and the very percausive nature of it piqued 3D's interest immediately. The lyrics for the song had alreay been written several months before and the turkish music backing track would serve as an appropriate musical canvas for his thougths on one of his own personnel dysfunctional relationships he had had in the past.

Inertia Creeps was the fourth and final single released from Mezzanine.

Inertia Creeps was first played live at the Olympia in Dublin, Ireland on 15th April 1998. It is also a perennial favourite of Massive Attack's being on practically every live setlist on every subsequent tour since. It's placement at shows is always towards the end, usually being the fourth or third last song played at each show. On the 2008 tour, Inertia Creeps was moved back slightly to just over the halfway mark at most shows.

3D on the high tempo percussion used on Inertia Creeps - "It was to drive the music forward, so that it went on and on, but the vocals are meant to pull it back a bit and it suggests this kind of stillness thats trying to settle" [Mezzanine Interview Disc - March 1998]

3D on the meaning behind Inertia Creeps - "It was just about a relationship I had been going through. It's about being in a situation but knowing you should be out of it but you're too fucking lazy or weak to leave. And you're dishonest to yourself and dishonest to the other person. You're betraying them everyday and the whole scene feels like it's closing in on you. The idea is a combination of movements propelling yourself forward and pulling yourself back at the same time. That's what the track's, about—a fucked up relationship basically and there it is." [Innerviews.org – September 1998]

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Tags: middle eastern • manic street preachers • alpha • mezzanine • mad professor