Mezzanine

Mezzanine is the third studio album by English trip hop group Massive Attack, released on 20 April 1998. It was produced by Neil Davidge along with the group. The album was released on Virgin Records. The entire album was provided on their website for legal download many months before the physical release was announced. It was one of the first major uses of the MP3 format by a commercial organization. Musically, Mezzanine is a major departure from the jazzy and laidback sound of the first two albums (Blue Lines and Protection), invoking the dark undercurrents which had always been present in the collective's music. The album's textured and deep tone relies heavily on abstract and ambient sounds, as demonstrated in the song "Mezzanine" among others. Similar to their previous albums, the majority of the songs consists of one or more samples, ranging from Isaac Hayes to Led Zeppelin. In 1998 Manfred Mann sued Massive Attack for unauthorised use of a sample of the song "Tribute" from Manfred Mann's Earth Band's eponymous 1972 album, used in "Black Milk". The song has subsequently appeared as "Black Melt" on later releases and at live performances, with the sample removed.