Vulnerable [Enhanced]

Tricky | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 17, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Sanctuary Records
• ASIN: B00009PJRI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,906 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #13 in Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > International Rap
  • #99 in Music > Dance & DJ > Trip-Hop

Editorial Reviews

From URB Magazine

Like it or not, Tricky is already a legend. His smoked-out rasp marked some of the finest moments on Massive Attack’s instant classic Blue Lines. His solo debut Maxinquaye single-handedly created the ‘trip-hop’ genre, as a new tag was the only way blown minds could come to grips with the sounds and ideas found on that groundbreaking album. But of course, you can’t be such an original and nonconformist artist for too long – the masses (no matter how hip) simply can’t keep up. Somewhere after the abstract-to-the-point-of madness Nearly God album, Tricky disappeared into a cloud of smoke, sporadically releasing records to an ever-dwindling audience. Of course, he could care less. True artists are like that. Still, the fact that Vunerable finds Tricky actually facing the audience is something to celebrate. With the impossibly beautiful Costanza as his angelic foil, the album bristles with a new urgency, as tracks like "Car Crash" are among the most realized and breathtaking of his career. A sexily gothic take on the Cure’s "The Love Cats" shows he’s still a master of reinterpretation.

Timothy Brown

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm Not Afraid to Love This, August 13, 2003

By 

Shanghaied (Carrollton, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vulnerable (Audio CD)

After sampling this first 3 tracks at Virgin, I decided that if I were going to leave that record store with a CD that night, "Vulnerable" would be it.

I don't know how to define what Tricky was or what he's becoming, but I do know that if you have some idea of what those things are you're taking his work too seriously. Music doesn't have to be inaccessible to be great; Bethoven's 9th is fairly accessible to the casual listener and completely genius to the trained ear. Either way it's enjoyable, and regardless of what many may think, neither method of appreciation is more profound than the other.

In a way Vulnerable appeases both fronts as well. Most of the tracks feature strong, accessible, even "repetitive" beats, and in compliment to that the music and vocals sound beatiful and pragmatic. This album seriously reminds me a lot of PMT in the sense that the music is fairly simple even if the overall sound (rhythm, vocals, and harmony) is a little abstract or disjoined.

Tricky's emphasis on one major vocalist (Costanza) was a smart move because it makes the album that much more relative to itself. Tricky also placed a strong emphasis on placing strong beats uniformly throughout the album, and generally speaking this is a more upbeat album than his earlier works like Maxinquaye. While individual tracks may lose some of their identity, the album itself has it's own overall voice and method. There is just enough variation to signify movement between tracks throughout the album. While there are several plateus of heavy drum abuse ("Moody and "Where I'm From"), there are in counter slow-flo ravines with more laid back grooves ("Hollow and "The Love Cats"), and this gives the listener variation while allowing the music to flow from strong central focal points. This really was Blowback's biggest problem; despite certain points of interest within the work, it was, from a larger perspective, a mess. That's not a problem here; the songs generally feature a strong rhythm with Tricky's raspy vocals polarized by Costanza's sweet voice. It is these familiar features that crop up throughout the album and give the listener a reference point and a bearing within the album, even if it does so at the sake of making things a little more predictable.

This album overall is very accessible, and that alone marks a difference between Tricky's earlier work. The fact this album is a little more upbeat may turn off some Tricky fans, but I don't think it circumvents the fact that Vulnerable is still a great album. Unlike Blowback, this album does in fact have an identity and a core sound, while at the same time moves through different emotions and flavors. Vulnerable is probably Tricky's best work since PMT, and I really hope long time listeners can cast away pretense and truly give Vulnerable a chance.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Suspended Opinion- Triumph and Tragedy is "Vulnerable", June 23, 2003

By 

Liza (RI/ nyc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vulnerable (Audio CD)

I just bought Vulnerable last week and I haven't been able to make up a definitive opinion yet. Heres why: each song on this album, like most of Tricky's albums (excluding the monumental Maxinquaye, is either really good or really bad. The good songs are nearly phenomenal, and the bad are simply mismatched. I've read reviews that deem this album more upbeat or positive than his ahh shall i say moody/broody past. This is true only in sound. The beats and vocals are more pop-y, but if you read the lyrics (which are clearly printed in the cd booklet for the first time) you'll see Tricky's consistent deliverance of the deliciously sinister. His poetry is the soul vehicle that drives the songs away from mediocrity. I am thoroughly disgusted with the female vocals, absolutely nothing compared to Martina. They are at best insuffiecient and worst: annoying. In theory, I'd say this album is alot like his previous ones (Pre-Millenium Tension, Blowback, etc) in that its simply great and simply bad songs on one album. But the album itself knows no middle ground-its a sheer amalgamation of triumph and tragedy.
If you are a die hard Tricky fan- you'll buy it
If this is your first introduction just go out and buy Maxinquaye because it is the ultimate trip-hop album...

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Could Get Tricky...., July 15, 2003

By 

Jim Galligan (Denver, Co United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vulnerable (Audio CD)

The best way to destroy your music career is release a debut as brilliant as Maxinquaye. Just ask Tricky. He will never be able to release anything that doesn't get compared to that masterstroke album. But Maxinquaye was as much about the time as the music and couldn't be duplicated in a lab. Not that Tricky ever wanted to. He moved on. The only problem is being a fan requried more and more patience as he exlpored some very experimental territory with some occasionally brillant results.

Now comes this album that lyrically tops Maxinquaye (oops, he didn't just say that; did he?) and music that is at its worst orginal and at its best amazing (Car Crash, Wait for God and Hallow worth price of admission alone).

But what is so great about Vulerable is that it is completly listenable. Its the first Tricky release in a long time that every track is enjoyable. Every one. No self-indulgent stray avenues exlpored. Just pure murky introspection. And for the record: Costanza may not be Martina, but nobody is and she has a very angelic vocal, best heard near whisper level.

Trust in Trikcy again, take a shot and explore the words on this effort. I can't imagine you'll be disapointed.

Ps, the enhanced portion is dope and contains the definative remix of Antimatter. Check it out.