No Protection: Massive Attack Vs. Mad Professor

Massive Attack, Mad Professor

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 23, 1996)
• Original Release Date: 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Gyroscope
• ASIN: B0000035DC
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,562 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Protection (Radiation Ruling the Nation)

2. Karmacoma (Bumper Ball Dub)

3. Three (Trinity Dub)

4. Weather Storm (Cool Monsoon)

5. Sly (Eternal Feed Back) [*]

6. Better Things (Moving Dub)

7. Spying Glass (I Spy)

8. Heat Miser (Backward Sucking)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This is the studio work of London's prodigious dub godfather, Mad Professor, who takes Massive Attack's Protection album as raw material to create a completely new experience. Bits are added, dropped out, accentuated, run through sonic effects, drenched in reverb, turned inside out until the songs disappear and in their place emerge reborn textural soundscapes. No Protection gives a sort of discursive aural commentary on Protection's original songs, pointing out all the obscured details--the minutest percussive rings and beeps, the most mesmerizing bass loops. --Roni Sarig

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great concept, but lacking Protection's original beauty. . ., June 24, 1999

By A Customer

When I first heard about a the dub version of Protection I nearly wet my pants (being a big fan of that album), but I held off for nearly two years while I built up my "proper" dub collection of various essentials and oddities from such greats as King Tubby, Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo etc. Finally I figured I'd buy No Protection. Boy was I dissapointed. This album lacks the charm that comes with any good dub record. It's stark, and devoid of the beauty that made Protection so great in the first place. This sounds like "dub by numbers" executed by a computer program. Gone (completely) are Tracy Thorn and Nicollette's beautiful vocals. They are brutally reduced to miniscule snippets and misplaced samples; a grave mistake on the Mad Professor's part. A dub artist making versions is supposed to accentuate the best parts of the track whether it be the beats or the melody or the vocals, and drop them in and out of sequence accordingly. The album lacks warmth. It's much too digital and clean cut. Random stabs of deafening static and distortion don't make a good dub record either; they only jar the ears and divert your interest. No Protection was a great idea to begin with, but didn't exactly deliver the goods. You'll either love it or hate it. My recommendation: just stick with Protection and buy yourself some real dub music.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Comparison, May 31, 2003

By A Customer

Re-mixes and dub remixes are two different animals. Often, as is the case with Mad Professor's take of Massive Attack's Protection, dubs radically manipulate and reshape a recording. Dubs, and particularly those of the Mad Professor, should not be compared to the original, per se, but should be judged on their own merits. Remixes by non-dub producers play it rather safe in comparison. Which is fine, of course. To say that the Mad Professor "ruined" Protection, as several reviewers have, is incoherent. This isn't a slight tweak, this is a reworking, and a damn good one at that.

No Protection is deep and spacey, with heavy bass. While there is a dark undercurrent, it generates plenty of warmth as long as you are not expecting the same plane of soulfulness found on Massive Attack's original. No Protection is one of the heaviest grooves of any downtempo album, and if you are in the mood, you'll feel it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely amazing. One of the best., July 21, 1999

By A Customer

This CD hasn't come off my player for about 4 months. Definitely better than the original (and that's saying quite a lot). Most people I know are disappointed when they first hear it, expecting something altogether different. However, after three or four spins on their player, they can't take it off. A masterpiece.