― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 30 January 2003 00:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 30 January 2003 13:56 (twenty-one years ago) link
The title of the album ain't some obscure Idlewild reference, is it?
― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:01 (twenty-one years ago) link
― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
THE ALBUM TITLEThere's been some fuzz around the title of the album (100th Window). Lazy journalists misunderstood the point, saying that it was critisism towards filesharing or something like that. Just to clear everything up, here's the official first explaination to the album title by 3D, in his own words:1OOTH WINDOW-AN INTERNET PRIVACY METAPHOR WHNICH BECAME THE TITLE OF A BOOK BY CHARLES JENNINGS AND LORI FENER-THE IDEA THAT NO MATTER HOW CAREFUL U ARE-NO MATTER HOW MANY SECURITY DEVICES U HAVE ON YOUR WINDOWS-U WILL LEAVE JUST 1 OF THEM UNPROTECTED-EVERYONE CAN AND WILL KNOW EVERTHING ABOUT U AND THERE WILL BE TRULY NOWHERE LEFT TO HIDE-100TH WINDOW I FEEL IS A GOOD METAPHOR FOR THE WINDOW TO THE HUMAN SOUL ETC ETC... And here's his response to all the fuzz:100TH WINDOW HAS NO REFERENCE TO INTERNET PIRACY WHATSOEVER-IT IS THE IDEA THAT NO MAN IS AN ISLAND-THE WINDOW TO THE SOUL ETC-THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY IN AND A WAY BACK OUT OF YOUR HEAD-PLEASE LISTEN
― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
A friend and I were contemplating how this album would sound before we'd heard any material from it and definitely came up short. The last released Massive Attack material was the soundtrack collaboration with Mos Def (I Against I), which we thought sounded a lot like some of Andrea Parker's material. Another possible parallel was Leftfield's last album, since we thought there were some sonic similarities. All of this based on that collaboration, mind you.
I still have mixed feelings on 100th Window. There's a lot of ammunition here for the accusation that MA is joyless. I'm hard pressed to find a vocal moment I can really say I enjoy. O'Connor's voice works pretty well, but it never seemed work work lyrically. Horace Andy is given these really average "Horace Andy-sounding" tracks. Del Naja does a raspy singing thing that's different from his raspy rapping, but I don't think it works as well.
I think what made other Massive Attack efforts work as albums was the alternating of solo vocalist songs balanced by the pieces where the members of group would trade lines. I think this was known, to an extent, because there's no songs with 3d rapping solo.
Several years on, I'm going to have to say that "Future Proof" and "Small Time Shot Away" are probably my two favorites, but even they are really tied to the album as a whole and sound empty outside of that context.
As a side note, the released version of the album cut off the first few beeps at the beginning of the first song, but they later reappeared on a Smirnoff vodka advertisement!
― mike h. (mike h.), Friday, 18 March 2005 14:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Jena (JenaP), Friday, 18 March 2005 15:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― paulhw (paulhw), Friday, 18 March 2005 16:54 (nineteen years ago) link
This makes absolutely no sense.
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 18 March 2005 16:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sven Bastard (blueski), Friday, 18 March 2005 16:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― paulhw (paulhw), Friday, 18 March 2005 17:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Horse of Babylon (the pirate king), Friday, 18 March 2005 17:00 (nineteen years ago) link
Dug this out today. Love how it sounds but there's hardly anything memorable about it.
― Moka, Tuesday, 24 June 2014 00:45 (nine years ago) link
extended intro on first track was longer on the promo I think
― mh, Tuesday, 24 June 2014 01:10 (nine years ago) link
The only two tunes I really ever go back to are Everywhen and Small Time Shot Away.
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Tuesday, 24 June 2014 11:55 (nine years ago) link
Hmmm, I might do a poll for all of MA's post-Mezzanine songs.
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Tuesday, 24 June 2014 11:56 (nine years ago) link
yeah this thing sounds so damn lush and steely but with little in way of hooks, it just amounts to very expensive-sounding sonic wallpaper.
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 24 June 2014 12:01 (nine years ago) link
it just amounts to very expensive-sounding sonic wallpaper.
This kind of thing is fine if you're in the mood.
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Tuesday, 24 June 2014 12:07 (nine years ago) link
I think this album is massively underrated
― Star Gentle Uterus (DJP), Tuesday, 24 June 2014 14:57 (nine years ago) link
oh you
― mh, Tuesday, 24 June 2014 15:21 (nine years ago) link
this album is massively underrated
― american bradass (BradNelson), Saturday, 3 August 2019 02:22 (four years ago) link
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Saturday, 3 August 2019 02:24 (four years ago) link
Brad is correct.
― Tim F, Saturday, 3 August 2019 03:05 (four years ago) link
the kind of album where the hidden track is so good it makes you less mad at the idea of hidden tracks
― american bradass (BradNelson), Saturday, 3 August 2019 03:13 (four years ago) link
Their first four albums are discrete marvels.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 3 August 2019 03:32 (four years ago) link
Yeah this is a very good album in retrospect. The highs of Heligoland are perhaps higher, but 100th is more consistent and forges its own style more.
― chap, Saturday, 3 August 2019 12:01 (four years ago) link