Customer Reviews

Danny the Dog

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is not typical Massive Attack, which is not to say it's bad: far from that. "Danny the Dog", the soundtrack recorded by the band to a Hong Kong-based production by French movie maestro Luc Besson, is a great album, one that definitely exceeds "100th Window" (and also, it must be said, a first time for Besson: where he does not collaborate with longtime musical partner Eric Serra -they haven't worked together since 1999).

For lovers of the "soundtrack genre" (if there is such a thing), this work falls a little to the left of Craig Armstrong (not surprisingly, since he worked with the band in the past). But, with the exception of the more urban tracks, it reminds of the music to "Long Walk Home" by Peter Gabriel too. In general, it comes across more like the music to a Michael Mann movie than one produced by the director of "The Big Blue", "The Professional" or "The Fifth Element".

Having been released in time for the holiday season, this is one great soundtrack to wrap up 2004, and certainly one deserving a special space... good to be disected with headphones, and I particularly at night. Rain, cheese and wine are up to you. The music comes loaded with enough spirits.

After the not-so-well-received "100th Window" this soundtrack comes as a pleasant addition to Massive Attack's awesome discography.

Packed with (predictably)doomy and deliciously dark atmospheres one can only await the film with anticipation. This is seriously good music and naturally one of the better soundtracks released in recent time.

If i've got it correct, Daddy G wasnt involved with this album (allthough he has released a great solo album in Europe just last month). But regardless of who was involved from the M.A crew,"Danny the Dog" has all the tell-tale signs characteristic of all their releases. Dubby doominess and ingenious backup melodies that make all the pieces blend eventually in to create one big soundscape that intimidates.

Massive Attack belong to a very special elite of groups or musicians whose music is impossibly difficult to get tired of.
This soundtrack is definitely an essential must-have for the fans of the group but it will undoubtedly become a trigger force for the group to be discovered by those who have miraculously still not detected them.

in the massive attack-appreciation community there is a sort of disdain for the post-mezzanine massive attack, being as only one of the three original members is present and now there's this neil davidge person too, who we don't think much of.
though 100th window is regarded as a reasonably good album, (not a classic, just reasonably good) that is only grudgingly, as those of us who have listened from the beginning have a hard time acknowledging it as massive.
but if we can forget for a moment the absence of Daddy and Mushroom, and look at massive as the innovative music entity that they always have been, we can also recall a bit of the same attitude with protection after blue lines. and then mezzanine blew us out of the water.
danny the dog is by far no mezzanine.
BUT it is a departure from the previous work of massive
yes, of course partly because it is a soundtrack.
but if you listen to it just as the latest work of massive attack, you will find that they have continued to do what they have always done - which is come at each new album with a drastically different sound.
extremely good mood music. all instrumental being a film score. inspiring to write to, both good to ignore and immerse oneself in.
i like it better than 100th window.
i would count it as one of their classics.
definitely worth picking up.

-clear

I got this cd for Christmas and have not stopped listening to it. I can't fully compare this to Massive's other releases because it's for a movie soundtrack, and it sounds like a soundtrack, the way the tracks are structured. Don't expect vocal cameos and song bridges because there are none. But you can still tell this is Massive Attack post-Protection. Not their best but still intruiging and great for chilling at home or in the car. This is darkly atmostpheric and the tracks tell a story on their on, with a few striking surprises that grab you here and there. You can just imagine what type of scene or action sequence may go on with each track, as the song title may give us a hint of the story in this Jet Li movie. Lets hope the movie is just as go as this soundscape.

When you buy this, don't expect a masterpiece, actually, expect the worst...
It might not be a masterpiece, but it damn good, especially for a soundtrack. Yes, they are no vocals like in all their other albums, but you won't miss them much. The music itself is again outstanding, and schould not be a disappointing. You can easily hear 3D made it, because of the dark atmosphere he likes so much (so do I). It's quit pointless to review all the tracks, so I'm going to keep it short. My favourite tracks are Danny The Dog (brilliant), I Am Home (quit agressive), Atta' Boy (very agressive), Simple Rules (yep, agressive again), Sam (sounds like classic music, very touching), The Dog Obeys (weird, cool sound), Collar Stays On (again interesting sound) and Two Rocks And A Cup Of Water (quit beautiful and touching). You see, I got alot of favourites on this one, all the song (sounds) are great. If you don't mind about the vocals and you like chill-out/great sound, you schould buy this. It's also excellent as background music.

I have not seen the movie this was meant to score, and so I cannot adequately rate this item as a soundtrack, but as an album, this is phenomenal work. From fast paced and nervously jittery songs like 'Atta boy' and 'I Am Home' to the jazzy-bluesy dubbed out beats and puzzling sadness of 'Polaroid Girl','Right Way to Hold a Spoon' and the title track 'Danny The Dog' Massive Attack is in top form. This album has elements of all of their earlier works with the exception of vocals, and in addition to a rather theatrical wall of sound (violins, lots of deep throbbing bass, and synthesized chorus creating eerie waves upon witch MA float their classic and tantilizing dub beats). This has to be MA's most complicated work, and my only real complaint is that most of the tracks are very very short, ranging from 1 to 3 minutes with the exception of 2 or 3 of the tracks at the end wich run at a healthier 4-6 minutes. The lack of vocals seems rather unimportant, this album was meant to work without them, and it does. If you are a Massive Attack fan, this is a must. If you like trip-hop and ambient techno, this is a must. Must I continue writing? Just buy the darned thing!

This is the original motion picture soundtrack to "Danny The Dog", which has been renamed to "Unleashed" for the US audience. It is brought to you by Luc Besson's company, Europa Corp., responsible for bringing you such classics as Leon (aka The Professional), Big Blue, and La Femme Nikita. I believe this is more the score to the movie since it is an all-instrumental track.

Unmistakenly Massive Attack, but far from their well-loved Mezzanine, Blue Lines and Protection trip-hop album. I can only wish they can re-invent that era once more, but it is clear they have certainly grown up to try and find a new route. A change evident starting with "100th Window", which was a big anticipation for a come-back that turned out to be a big disappointment.

Don't fear. This album is a welcome change. Good, but not edgy to harvest some oohs and aahs from fellow fans like me. If they were going to go this route, I wish they asked some collaboration from BT and DJ Tiesto.

It would be cool if they spawned a follow up album that included vocals from artists such as Kirsty Hawkshaw and Jan Johnston. But enough wishful thinking. The tracks have been created, so on to the contents

There is supposedly an IMPORT version and a local version. Don't make a mistake getting the more expensive imported one. They are the same. The only difference is on the distributor, EMI Internationsl (Imported) and Virgin Records (local). But not even the local version is local. It is made in Holland, so it's still imported. There are 21 tracks in both and no bonus on either.

Yes, 21 tracks. But these are mostly short songs. I haven't seen the movie, for obvious reasons that it hasn't been released yet, but it is described to have been created to reflect the mood of the movie, which as one reviewer mentioned resembles the mood of a Michael Mann film.

Most of the tracks are either moody pieces or upbeat trance which have good tunes. But my only problem is that they don't develop into anything further. Once you hear the first 30 seconds, you already get the idea until the end - a very short end. But understandably it is due to the album being a score for the movie.

Here's the killer information - the best tracks (three distinctive tracks) which people will hear in the trailer circulating online is NOT from the Massive Attack soundtrack album. Nada. The third track (begins where the woman begins to remove the collar), however, is from the artist MUSE and is an instrumental to the song called "Apocalypse Please" in the album THE ABSOLUTION. This is so people who want to buy that particular song from the trailer won't make the mistake.

That's why this album has been rated 3 stars only, which I will soon be faced with unhelpful votes from Massive Attack fans. Face it, it has short tracks that don't develop and a killer song from the trailer that isn't Massive Attack. It's a shame. Maybe the third come-back album from this band will finally help them reach back to their fans. Maybe.

...Which might prove to be hazardous to all concerned. This is the original version of the soundtrack to the Jet Li vehicle entitled Unleashed. The Massive is my group of choice when I get into electonica, with an ambient and/or trip hop thing spiced thru it. For listeners who want to listen to something different, this is it. Played in its entirety, in the same track sequence, it amounts to another Massive masterpiece (100th Windows I think wasn't well received in my opinion because it risked it's audience with the addition of Sinead O'connor on vocals. Even so, it is still a masterwork better than most of the sludge being presented as pop music nowadays, but I digress.) What you need to 'really capture' this is either 1) a relaxed, kicked back evening with a bottle of scotch in tow or 2) an aimless post-midnight drive through city streets-preferably from the downtown to the more sordid parts of the city-with this in your CD/Mp3. If you don't get it by the time Polaroid Girl or Sam appears, then you won't get it. As always these workings of buzzes and blips, razoring guitar work and redemption searching have a sense of menace and fear in the under-current. This soundtrack makes you want to see what's in the movie that's for sure, but, for me, for now--I can do with the imagery already placed in my head.

This soundtrack is for the film 'Unleashed'. The music here is great, Massive Attack is awsome...that's pretty much all there is to be said here. i wanted to rate this album mostly because i loved to movie so much....read my review on the movie and you'll see why. The album does run in order throughout the film, so thats pretty neat too...

I don't want to start arguments about 100th Window but this album is much better. It has a more electronic feel that's closer to 100th Window, however it has the much needed edge that 100th Window was missing. This album is totally instrumental but most of the tracks are enjoyable nonetheless. I would recommend using this more as background music because it gets very slow at times to fit the movie. The production is still very good and the tracks show the creativity and darkness that made Massive Attack so popular.

I rated the Unleashed soundtrack with 3 stars because the bonus tracks suck severely.