Massive Attack's Debut Getting New Remix, Remaster for November Release

Massive Attack’s Debut Getting New Remix, Remaster for November Release

The debut LP from trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack is about to get a bit more massive in the U.K. this year, with a remixed, remastered deluxe edition due in November.

Blue Lines, originally released in 1991, was a watershed moment for British dance music. Before “trip-hop” was an actual subgenre repeated in music magazines, the Bristol-based trio of Robert “3D” Del Naja, Grant “Daddy G” Marshall and Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles helped forge its sonic identity as Massive Attack. As members of Bristol’s “Wild Bunch” scene with luminaries like rapper Adrian “Tricky” Thaws and DJ/producer/remixer Nellee Hooper, Massive Attack rebelled against the acid house style of dance music that was big at the time with a downtempo, hip-hop and electronica-influenced soundscape.

The results were huge. The album, as well as singles “Unfinished Sympathy” and “Safe from Harm,” all peaked within the Top 25 of the British charts. The group’s increased exposure led to a long, healthy career toward the forefront of modern dance music, collaborating with Madonna, Sinead O’Connor, Neneh Cherry, Damon Albarn and countless others. (Vowles left the group in 2000, leaving Del Naja and Marshall a duo whose latest album, Heligoland, was released in 2009.)

Virgin/EMI are releasing a new edition of Blue Lines on CD that’s entirely remastered and newly remixed from the original tapes. There’s also a deluxe edition forthcoming that pairs the new CD remaster/remix with the same program on double-vinyl and in hi-res, 96K/24-bit audio on DVD. The set also comes with a replica of the original 18″ x 24″ promotional poster for the album, all in a specially screen-printed mailer that replicates the style in which the original album sleeve was printed. (A smaller screen-printed mailer will encase the single-disc edition, as well.)

Both packages hit U.K. shops on November 19, and U.S. stores get it as a domestic title one day later. Hit the jump for pre-order links!

Blue Lines: Deluxe Edition (originally released as Wild Bunch/Circa LP WBRCD 1 (U.K.), 1991 – reissued Virgin/EMI CD and CD/DVD/vinyl box set, 2012)

Safe from Harm
One Love
Blue Lines
Be Thankful for What You’ve Got
Five Man Army
Unfinished Sympathy
Daydreaming
Lately
Hymn of the Big Wheel

Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

0 thoughts on “Massive Attack’s Debut Getting New Remix, Remaster for November Release”

Daniel
September 23, 2012 at 1:26 pm

Blues Lines is one of the best albums from the ’90s. It’s so diverse and just sonic candy to the ears. I can’t wait to hear the remix and reissue!

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