NEW LP
New sealed copy. 2016 reissue on 180 gram vinyl.
Protection is the second studio album by English electronic music group Massive Attack, released on 26 September 1994 by Wild Bunch Records and Circa. DJ Mad Professor remixed the album in 1995 under the name No Protection.
Like most of Massive Attack's albums, the music often defies categorisation, ranging from R&B (title track and "Sly") to hip hop/rap ("Karmacoma" and "Eurochild") to reggae-tinged synth-pop ("Spying Glass") to classical-influenced electronica instrumentals ("Weather Storm" and "Heat Miser"). The album follows Blue Lines structurally, to the point that the font used on the cover of the album is the same, Helvetica Heavy Italic. The album cover also nods to Blue Lines, revealing a futuristic, impenetrable wall behind a mostly-burned version of this previous album's artwork—implying that the depicted "flammable gas" had been ignited.
Tricky again appeared on the album, rapping on the tracks "Karmacoma" (whose video was directed by Jonathan Glazer, and which featured a sample from The KLF's "Dream Time in Lake Jackson" at the 2:00-minute mark) and "Eurochild" (which featured samples from Startled Insects' "Cheetah" and Liquid Liquid's "Lock Groove (In)").
In 2011, Rolling Stone ranked Protection at number 51 on its list of the "100 Best Albums of the Nineties". The album is also listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
As of February 2010, the album had sold 292,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
TRACKLIST:
A1 Protection
A2 Karmacoma
A3 Three
A4 Weather Storm
A5 Spying Glass
B1 Better Things
B2 Euro Child
B3 Sly
B4 Heat Miser
B5 Light My Fire (Live)
