Collected [DUAL DISC] [SPECIAL EDITION]

Massive Attack

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 4, 2006)
• Original Release Date: April 4, 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Dual Disc, Special Edition
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B000ENBNT0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,368 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The group who single-handedly created the woozy, sexual, cinematic, and meditative dance genre known as trip-hop with their 1991 masterpiece Blue Lines later went on to craft gorgeous soundtrack music and generally emerge as one of the most forward-thinking, fastidious, and s-l-o-w production teams in pop music. Collected, a best-of compilation straddling the group's career, is the kind of record that reeks "contractual obligation," but that's not meant as a diss. If a kick-ass collection like this is what it takes for this heady group to keep the record execs happy while they slowly hone a new album, so be it. Much of the older tunes sound remarkably contemporary, which isn't surprising when you consider Massive Attack have always mixed styles in radical, new ways. The one new tune included to entice die-hard fans, the slowly percolating and deeply bluesy "Live With Me," is what soul music will sound like in the future. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description
One side of the disc contains audio, while the other side offers DVD content NTSC/Region 0). The dual disc features additional new tracks, unreleased material, rarities, remixes, all of their videos to date, including the new single and rare live footage. EMI. 2006.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the price for the dual cd/dvd disc., June 17, 2006

By	Jim Reed "Jim Reed" (New York) - See all my reviews

If you're a fan of Massive Attack chances are that you already have all the songs on the 1st disc ,except the one new song Live With Me,but chances are you don't have anything on the 2nd disc.Filled with all their rarely seen music videos on the dvd side and rare music on the cd side this is a collector's dream come true.Featuring different versions of songs,an even creepier version of Black Milk from Mezzanine and hard to find collaborations like Mos Def and Massive Attack from the Blade 2 soundtrack and even a song with Madonna this 2nd disc is more interesing and satisfying than their 100th window release.A must for all fans.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, The Best Of Massive Attack!, April 8, 2006

By	Leonard Huang (Nanuet, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I knew this group was special ever since I heard UNFINISHED SYMPATHY way back in 1991 and unsurprisingly, they've only gotten better with time. Their hypnotic, dub-by grooves, known in the UK as trip-hop, is often accompanied by sweeping, elaborate string arrangements that lodge a big hole in your collective memory. It's no surprise to hear that Massive Attack sound as claustrophobic and menacing as ever before. This has to be of the most satisfying Greatest Hits packages I have ever bought--all their best singles, remastered to bring even more aural pleasure.

Ltd Ed is a little pricey, but worth the buy for three discs' worth of material. MASSIVE ATTACK IS THE COOLEST BAND IN THE WORLD!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reflections on Collected., April 14, 2006

By	S.J.R. "Sander" (Belgium) - See all my reviews

After more than 15 years of existence, Massive Attack recently release their "Best Of"-compilation, even though they're not too fond on the idea. Pushed by the record company, this collection might have taken the risk of being quickly slapped together by the band, just to get rid of it. Thankfully, that's not how Massive Attack work. There went a lot of thought in this, just for the sake of the fans. I'm going to take each of the 3 aspects of this collection apart, to get you an idea of why this is worth its money.

First, we get the actual `best of'-disk which isn't enough if you're already a big fan and have all of their 4 official albums. It is however a very good start for people new to this band or casual fans. Even though a `best of'-tracking list can never make every fan happy, I think it's very well chosen from my side of view: 3 song represent "Blue Lines", easily the best ones were chosen. Famous singles such as Safe From Harm and the timeless Unfinished Sympathy go without saying, but compliments on the band for including Five Man Army, an outstanding early masterpiece of smooth rapping. I personally would have put the title track on it too, but it doesn't fit on a best of, it doesn't have enough character. "Protection" is represented by its 3 singles. Protection and Karmacoma can't be missed, but Sly was a bit of a surprise for me. That's the only real flaw on the disk in my opinion, the omission of Eurochild. That said, Nicolette had to be represented too, so there you have Sly. "Mezzanine" got its 4 singles, its so called 1-2-3-4-punch (though not in the same order as on the album). I personally would have left off Inertia Creeps, and put on Black Milk instead. "100th Window" got the more surprising picks. A different, shorter version of Butterfly Caught (logical), Future Proof (one of the most acclaimed songs on the album), but also What Your Soul Sings instead of Special Cases (100th`s lead single), which came as a big surprise for me. A pleasant one, because WYSS is one of my favorite MA-tunes ever, so I think its place on Collected is well deserved. To round things off we get the new single Live With Me (with Terry Callier), which is extremely good, it has become one of my favorites too, unsurprisingly.

Now we get to the extra disk, the CD-side with the unreleased and rare stuff on it. This is the reason why most fans bought Collected in the first place, and I'd say it's pretty good, but it does have flaws. `False Flags' accompanies Live With Me as its B-side, and it's a pretty good song, with a cool Radiohead-sample at the end of the song (from the song "The Bends"). I don't love it, but most people seem to do, so whatever. Bluesy soft raps of 3D with a piano. `Incantations' is an interesting short version of Everywhen, I quite like it. `Silent Spring' is an unfinished song of the Mezzanine-era, with Elizabeth Fraser on vocals, singing in a made up language. It's good, even though you can hear it's an unfinished track. We've already heard `Bullet Boy' last year, as an internet-only download for the BB Soundtrack, but it's nice to have it on CD, and it's a very good song. `Black Melt' is the live-version of Black Milk, but without the beautiful sample in it. It proves even without the sample that the song remains good, too bad there's a hole in the song (only one second).
Joy Luck Club is the highlight of this disk. A peaceful, floating song with singer Debbi on vocals from the new English band `Oom' (check out the song Poison). It has a bit of a Sigur Ros-feel to it. Amazing track, and makes up for the occasional laws on this disk. `Small Time Shoot `Em Up' is an alternative version of Small Time Shot Away, with a lot more synthesizers in it, and an almost unrecognizable Damon Albarn (2D) to back up 3D's vocals. I prefer the original version. `I Against I' from the Blade II soundtrack is a good inclusion on this disk, I always wanted it on CD without having to buy that soundtrack, great track by the way. Same situation with `I Want You' (with Madonna). It was included on a Madonna-album, and I didn't feel like buying that just for that song. Anyway, I think the song is really good, although it needs some spins to be appreciated. The last track `Danny The Dog' is an unnecessary inclusion, since I already have it on the DTD-soundtrack. But I guess for the many people who didn't think that soundtrack was worth it (it hardly is), it is included here. It's a really good instrumental track, one of my favorites on that soundtrack. [Too bad Wire (full version) and Just A Matter Of Time weren't included, those would be real treats to the fans. Reflection would have been nice too, I'd say.] Now, I'm not going to talk about the video's since that would make my review too long (and it's pretty damn long already), so I'll just say they're worth it.

To make the conclusion, this is one hell of a great best of, easily the best one I own. Oh, and the art-work is amazing too, it looks so damn fine, the whole coverage of the CD, very very nice all. Now all we have to do is wait for the new album next year, but this will definitely keep me sweet until then.