Massive Attack – Unleashed (Virgin) Released 15/08/05

Their first film score – to Luc Besson’s forthcoming movie starring Jet Li, Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman – and only their second release since 1998’s ‘Mezzanine’, ‘Unleashed’ marks the return of Massive Attack, 14 years since the Bristol-based trip-hoppers released their debut album ‘Blue Lines’.

It is also their first record since the controversy of 2003, where the disappointing ‘100th Window’ (a cold and impersonal record miles from the soul and reggae influences of their best work) was overshadowed by rumours that the band had basically split – Andrew ‘Mushroom’ Vowles left after ‘Mezzanine’ while Grant ‘Daddy G’ Marshall contributed little to the record – and the subsequent arrest of Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja on suspicion of child pornography offences. Del Naja was cleared of any wrongdoing, the case against him never even getting to court, but the cloud around him lingered on, not helped by a vicious vendetta by a UK national newspaper that resulted in him having his visa for the Australia leg of the band’s world tour withdrawn.

Now, in 2005, perhaps Massive Attack and Del Naja in particular see this as an opportunity to find out if they can still make records. “Cinematic” has after all been a much used word to describe the band, while tracks such as ‘Angel’, ‘Teardrop’ and ‘Dissolved Girl’ have all featured in countless films and TV dramas.

So is ‘Unleashed’ any good? Well some of it is, yes. ‘Atta Boy’ is an aggressive slab of electro-thrash, with more blood to be found in its 90 seconds than in the whole of the last record, while ‘Polaroid Girl’ rolls along on a stoner’s groove and ‘Sam’ uses piano and strings to create an actual melody. ‘Two Rocks And A Cup Of Water’ sounds like someone playing the spoons, while ‘Montage’ could have come off the last Death In Vegas record. ‘One Thought At A Time’ is the closest they have come to prog rock.

There’s obviously a lot of filler on this record as there is on any film score – to be honest both ‘Protection’ and ‘Mezzanine’ had their fair share – but as soundtracks go ‘Unleashed’ is pretty decent. Where the band goes from here though is anyone’s guess.