Mezzanine

Mezzanine is the sound of a band nearly tearing itself apart, and you can hear it. The dread is total and it never lifts; 'Angel' and 'Teardrop' and 'Inertia Creeps' turned trip-hop's comedown into something closer to menace. It's the darkest thing Massive Attack made and it has aged into permanence rather than out of fashion. 'Exchange' is the one moment of padding that keeps it from climbing higher.