Search - Tricky :: Maxinquaye

Matt F. from LE CLAIRE, IA
Reviewed on 8/20/2006...

Atmospheric, thoughtful, pretty darn cool.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Just simply Amazing!

Un Anglophile | Davis, California, USA | 05/07/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When you first look at the CD case, you're struck by it's cover; is it a suitcase or a door or something burned? What the heck is this? It begins a mystery. You put the CD into your player, expecting something, and almost immediately, the dark resonating beats of the first track "Overcome" hit you in a face. It sonically rolls over you hypnotically, sexual yet the heavy bass and dismembered flutes and samples give it an all too deep, heavy apocalytic feel. And that's only the beginning. Here comes Tricky, former Massive Attack and Wild Bunch collaborator, straight from the hip-hop hedonism of "Blue Lines" and the soncially diverse "Protection." Armed with samples, ideas, angst and crooner Martine's whispy soulful voice, he gives you an album that refuses to leave you at the end. Call it trip-hop or abstract electronica...it all seems undescribable by how many styles are weaved into this album; so seamless and flowing are they that you wonder how someone could have thought of it. There's "Black Steel," a remake of Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos," yet instead of using Chuck D's bullish activism, Martine makes the song sound so desperate until it feels that there can't be any escape from it. The slow rap of "Hell is Around the Corner" under the Isacc Hayes samples is downright eerie, while "Aftermath" feels like you're floating on air in the tropics; its hip-hop/blues fusion runs flawless. But there's still blood on the tracks. "Brand New, Your Retro" is straight out hip-hop/electronic/industrial, angry and never ending. The final track, "Feed Me," leaves you at the end of the album just like how you entered it with a deep bass line and hard hitting beats, fading away slowy to leave you at the end of a rollercoaster, yet still intact and wanting to listen to it again. Despite the few 'up' moments in this album and the constant dark feel of it all, it fails to isolate the listener, who's always anxious to hear more of what our tortured friend Tricky does next."

Essential Trip-Hop Album

Manny Ramirez | 09/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Former Massive Attack member, Tricky, strikes gold with his debut CD, Maxinquaye. This album has an almost surreal effect to it. The fact that the lyrics can be undistinguishable at times adds to that effect. Each track has its own mood to it and this is a CD that you will not get bored listening to. All the tracks are excellent but especially, Overcome, Black Steel, Abbaon Fat Track, and Strugglin'. If you are getting into trip-hop then you must buy this CD. Especially recommended for those who have all 3 Massive Attack CDs and Dummy by Portishead."